Hon. CharlesH. Thsobald, County Attorney, Galveston,Texas.
Dear Xi-.

Theobald: opinion 30.

Rs: Appoint

Your letter of December 28, 19319, kklressed to Attorney General i’ il~lla6”%f,kaw, has beea referred

or this CountY have beiore then the question of th'enumberor deputieswhich the .d?mifr or .%.lveston County is entitiedA.oapsoiat 'x?itb,their approval. ?~lvestoa,

Cowlty, aOOotdin3 to the last Onited StatesCensus, contains a pqmlaone of WWI!Iis t5e qifioe deputy and handles the acoounts in the Sherifrfs ofrioe and the other

--'the county oourt and, in addition to that, they serve the processes in olvil and oriminal onses, as well as summons the jurors for the oourts, Including special vcnires in onpitnl osaes **and.** in raot, all the duties of the Sheriff, and naturally they are always crowded ior time.

,’

, **‘ Ty**  **purpose in**  writing **you Is**  **to** ask

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. _lon.

CharlesH. Theobald, January 5, 1939.

ifArticle 6809 of Vernon's Annotated Civil statutes (pooket) is still in effeot in that it limits the number of deputies to be appointed by the Sheriff in any one aounty to not exceeding three in the justicepreoinot in zhloh is located the,County Seat and one in each Justice Preoinct. The reason *or my dirriouity in determining if the said statute is still in eifsot is thnt at that time the Sheriff W&S vJ0rkin.y

entirely on a fee basis and no3 he, as well as other officials of this county,work on a salarybasis. J "Article 39'02,

Vernon's Annotated $ivil statutes, (pocket) AotS of the 45th Lcgislnturz, 2nd Coiled 5esaion, senate ijill"10,section. $1, provides for the aqo ntaent cf deputies by T county offioials. You will sotc that the first ;?aru,sraph Thereofprovides that, ~&on any dlzztriot, oounty 01 ;reoinct off?c::r

shall re?uirt:the services 0P deputies, at;sistnnts or olcrks In the performanoe of his duties ha shall apply to the County Comnl~sioners' Court of his oounty for authority to appoint suoh deputies, assistants or clerks; then follows the re0glrements cf the applioation. Itwould seem that under Artiole 3902 the 5herifr of this county, having a population of 64,401, (20a. 4) is entitled to a first assistant or ahief deputy and other assistants, deputies or clerks, the salaries being named.

"Inview or the forer;oin.y, it ooours tome that the Sherirr of this Tounty is nnt ll-nited

to the three deputies at the Count:'ssat snd 028 in conch justlcepresinct, but tbnt he may meke :3nplization to t?.e

Cc:~nis3ioners'':ourtin tl1.3 form, settin; out t?a number of ic!putlcs,ussistaut3 or clerks th<lt he requires for the performanceof the duties of his offloe,

_.i

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nanin< the salariee to be paid them, of coursewithin the limitaticnprcse:ibcdby lsw; and then, the Commlssicners' Court, aoting within its di~oratlon, say determine the number to be appointed as to the Courtmay appear proper.".
You ara respectfullyadvised that it isthe opinion of thisdepartment that you are oorraot in
your oonslusion of law as to the above question.

The depsrtaont is not in possession of any Jefinite decisionntfeotin~ the question on ~hand, and thereforemust arrive at the oonclusion that :r!iole 6069, Vernon'sAnnotated Texas Civil Statutes v%ich sFplies to the sheriffsundsr the ?ee La:\*, has beon supersoded insofar as it ap:lles to 5alveston SOrint7, TdXSS, a oounty havlnn, a ;?opulotion

of 64,601, asc‘ordinr to the 1~st~Ynlted States ~%%wuc, by I'rticla ,113 02, **ihvised** 'Civil Statutesof icxas, snJ.Section 1 t'.ieraof,

and by t5e Officers' 3a13:y La;:- Of the .It3ti$ of Texas.

It 13 :he further opinion of this department that it rests -vithin the discretion c? the Xon. Co-rrlssioncrs' Court sf Glveston County, Taxas, ns to the numher of deputiesvrhiohthe sneriff should employ. You will note in Article 3902,qevisod ~Civil Statutes, that the sheriff shallr&co sgpllaation to the Commissioners' Court for the e~pointmcntof deputies, and ato., and t-at, furthsrrzore, he shall show the orobabla receipts and disbursementsof his office in o&m for the Commissioners' Court to determine the number and necessity therefor. I It in therefore the ophion of this de?artsent

, that suoh a~pointaents of deputies should be determined by the Commisslonors'Court of Galveston County, Texas, through the necessity o,P such sppointaents md dS0 :Toverndby t'ng

r~vnnu~s of the s::eri.ff's offloe. It is very evident t>zt no sue? apFo1ntwct.s should axcccd that o'.' necessity :!nd

that Gue oonsiderationof ~11 condltlcns nuoessitat1nC 3aii appointments s!loull be the coctroll!nE f~iotorin suc:1

acnsidcraticn~1s

31.:ht. 3rise affzcting A<. Lo, :an,ountg

2:tlari:e. "hsrofore, ::ou

are ronpeotfullp advised that the law oontemplstes the safety end seourity of the pro-” 

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Zion.CharlasH. Theobald, January 5, 1939, (14

perties ot ~eoplc sn;:theirpersonal care and protecticn aridsuch action takenby the Honorahle Coxnlssioners~ Court shouldbe governedaccordingly, all In their sound disoretion.

YOUI- respoottully,
ETORmY C3E:RA3..

OF ?ZXAS

'ZJF :.aw