queatlllg ;the opbqwietlon ,reaaa a8 

324 

. . 

i 

326 

Emmable B. Y. ffayford, 26&e 3 
Ponotable R. ‘J. '4yr0rd, Pa&o 4 
328 
329 

Honorable R. V. ib;yf0ra, Page 6 

After oarefullp oollsldaring tha oontraot, heretofore nantioned, it is apparent that Rusk County through its 

Commlsslonerst Ccurt raises n question presenting that then, 

Is a possibility that Rusk County is not enjoying the maxlmm partioipation and benefit to whioh it may be entitled 

under the Bona Assunptlon Law, and that the oounty m&ht 

have a claim against the Board for pertloipatlon in the 

Bond Assumption Hu.ud on bonds whi@h have been paid by the 

county but not assumed by the Board, aepeaially with referenoe to those bonds on whloh the Oounty haa already paid the 

amounts maturin& prior to the aooeptanoe of aortain roads 

by the Stats tiighway Comlsslon top malntaname purposes; 

ana there ls a posslbllity that through law, oourt aotlon or 

oorreatira leglslatlon, that these bonds might be deolarsd 

eligible by the Soard so tabat Rusk County mi.ght reoslve reiolbureement rOr payments made by the W#unty pSi.OT to t?OOWCber 13, 1941, the date when the Board began partioipatilon 

and payment on sala bond& 

Artlole 66749-7, Varnon*s Annotated Civil Statutes 

pr0viaOfi that the Boera 0r count and Dlstrlot Road IIldebt& 

2te88 ~hati 00i3dt or the state iI ighweiy hginaor, sm0 

Goaptmller of Pub110 Amount6 eml the fitate Tmasurar. Ths 

Board is oharged with ths duties of adalnistaring t&e sot: 

One or the duties of the Board 1s t0 a8Oerbln and &8tWmiM 

rram the data ma lnfonaatlon tuxnlehsd by the Oount~ &dges 

or the State fina by the Chairman or tha State Highway comlssion and by the 2tate COmptrollsr of’ Pub110 Aoaount.8, anl 

f’rom auoh iurther Investigation that said Board may de- II@- 

auaary, the mount of lndebtedne8s eli 

dona or this seotion or this aot (Art f 

ible under the proti01s 667&p7) to partloipate in the moneys coming into aaid county and road dir tsiot highway fund. This provision of the statute fuP&ar 

pr0+iae9 

“The asoertainment and detenaination by the 

Board of County and Diatrlct Read Inaebtednasa, 

after reasonable notice and hearing, 09 the amount 

of any oounty or daflned road dfstriot obligations 

eligible under the provioions of this aot to partloipate in any moneys coming into the county end 

road district highway fUnd or aB to the amount of 

any obl&ations the proose d s of whloh wert aotually 

expended on state highways or on roade, hetmtof'ore 

oonstitutln~ stats hl&ways, shall be final and 

conolusioe and shall not be subject to review 
330 

Bonorable R. V. Rayford, Page 7 

in shy other trlbunsl. But said a00ra of couuty 

t3ua Distriat Road Indebtedness shall have the 

right at shy time to Oorreot any errors or mlstskee 

it my h8~8 =a%.” 

Paragraph (8) of hrtiole 667&q-7 providesr 

“The Board shall keep adequate timtea or 

its prooeediqs ana semlafmually, within thirty 

(30) day8 arter February 28th and August 3lst, 

of eaoh year, shatl make Itemize& reports to eaOh 

oouhty with respcwt to the reoeipt, dlsburaement, 

and investneht of the funds oredited to suoh 

oountg. The Conmlssioners Court of any Oounty, 

and/or its aooreaited representatives shall have 

the right to inspeot the reoords 0r eald Board 

tmd of the State Treasurer, at any reasonable tlnm 

ror the purpose or making any lweetlgatlon or 

audit of the amounts artecrting its 00uuty.~ 

Under the terms of the oontraot, Rusk Gouhty employed the party namd therein as attomey and aooounknt 

=ror the purpose or na king suoh survey of bond fuhd 8xpaditures ror highway purposes, end to assemble suoh lnfomatloh 

and other evldewe or proof neoessary to propsrly present 

and subetantiate any claim for reimbursement and oash refund 

to whloh Rusk County may be entitled, either by aotlon befor% 

the Board under the present law or any amhdment thereto,~ or 

by court aotlon thereundsr.” 

The party oontraoting with Rusk County -agrees to 

do all of the neoessary things outlined above, furnish 

a skilled aooountant or aooouatante to assist him if It 9 s 

deemed neoessary, to make the survey and to properly perform 

any other servloes as may be required in an effort to seoure 

suoh reimbursement end cash mba8, and to pay all expem5es 

inaurred in connection therewith”. 

It is well established 5.n this State and has been 

consistently held by this department that a oounty has the 

right to employ an attorney to perform Mrtain duties where 

auah duties are not required to be performed by the county 

or aistrlot attorney in his offlolal oapaoity. 

In vlsw of the foregoing It ie the opinion Of this 

department that the foregoing oontraot is a legal ona whlOh 

the Conariissloners’ Court has the a,uthorlty to make end execute. 
Bonorable R. V. Rayfe~d, Pa&e 6 

In mnneotion with the foregoing we want to point 

out that the cOxillselonera' court is not authorized to pay 

the oompensatlon provided In said oontraot out of the Lateral 

Rosa Amount in view of the provisions of Article 66749-7 

and Artiole 667&q-80, Vernc~n~s Annotated Civil Statutes. 

Suoh ompsnsatfon must be paid out of the general fund of 

the oounty and paid in acoordame with the oounty budget 

providing for suoh. All oounty expem¶itur@s lawfully autk~- 

bed to be made by a oounty aust be paid out of the oounty'a 

general fuod unlese there is scsm law whloh makes than a 

charge against a epeoial fund. (Williams v. Carroll, 182 

5. K. 29, Carroll. v. Klllianre, 202 S. ::. 504; Bemr County 

et al. v. Mnnn, 157 3. Ye (21 134). 

Yours very truly 

m 

ArdollMlUama 

Assietant