OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Bonorrbls Oeargr 

County Attorney 

Jonea Count7 

Anron, Tex~r 

Dear Sir: 

P. Huaron 

a6 follows In thI6 

money6 3aId Into 6Sia fund 6hall be expended In 

eaoh wcclnot aocorllng to the amount collected 

from epch zreclnct unle66 In the 6OUnd dlecretlon 

of the oourt 6 neceesIty 6XiEt6 to extend said , 

fund In another woportI.zn due to oondltlonr 

of rO&d6 In the VarIoua precinotr. The court Is 

In queetion a6 to what 16 meant by 'neceeslty' 

and whet letltude they are allowed In exeroltlng 

their Judgment.' 
. 

*f; 

Ronorablo Oeorge P. Ituaron, pagr 2 

From our underrtrnd~ng of the faotr II rtatba In 

your letter, the fecr derIVea from automobile reglrtratlonr 

in Jon86 County are now being alvldea ma dietrlbutrd to thr 

roveral prooInot6 In thr proportIon mentloned by you. Eaoh 

oommirrIon6r then ependr the amount allooatrd to his orsolnot 

-withIn thr bounderlee of 6uoh pr6OinOt. 

After providing that th6 automobile rrglrtration 

fee6 whioh the oounty 16 permitted to retsln rhall be plaoed 

to the ore&It of the Road and BrI4$e tLna of the oounty, Seotlon 10 of Art1016 6675a, prerorlber the di8206itiXi of u 

gortlop cf the Road 6nd Bridge Fund 8.6 follow6 : 

(I* * l None of th6 monlcs so place3 to 

the oredlt of the Roe.d and Bridge Fund of I 

County rhrll be wed to pay the relary or compensatlon of any County Judae or County Coami6- 

slomr, but @ll-sold abnlcs-rhrll be used for 

the oonstructlon and nalntenanae -?I Latera 

road6 In 6u.ch oountr under th6 rupervI6:~n of 

the County Engineer, If there be one and If 

thers I6 no 6uch engineer, then the Eounty 

CommI66Ionsr6~ Court rhall have authority to 

command the aervlces of the Di~??aIon Engineer 

the St6te Highway Depertmcnt for the ?urpoee 

of rupervislng the oonstructlon ana eurvsylng 

of 

of lateral road6 in their respeotLv6 counties..., 

: 

j ou red In the oonstruotlon of the Inorovement 

0: sil roe4s. Includln~ State KIuhweYs of 6uoh 

gountlex and dirtrlct6 tk.ereln: or the im?rovement of the rcsds car?rinlni: the County Road BPB- 

&g. 1 

ArtJole 5740, Vernon’6 Annoteted Civil Ste,tutes :roVide6 a6 fO11OW6: 

“The oommIe6Ioner6 court aktll see th?t the 

rO8d and bridge fund of tk6Ir county Ic Judlcl@uely end equitably extended on the roads and 

bridge6 of their oounty, and, 6.6 nearly 6 = the 

oondltlon and neceesity of the rends will -:>ermit, it 6hall be txzlsnded In eaoh oounty commisrlonarr pr6oinct In >ro?ortion to the amount oollooted In 6uch oreolnot. Money u66d In building 

permanent road6 6h611 fIr6t be U6ed Only on flr6t 
Ronorable George P. Hudson, page 3 

or eeoond-olaee roade, and on thoeo vhloh l hall 

have the right of war furnI6hed free of ooet to 

make 68 etraight 6 road a# Is waotIoablr and hcvIng the groateet bonus offered by the oltlrrne of 

money, labor or othrr property.’ 

While the fete from automobile regletratlone are 

plao6a In thr oounty’e Road and Brlagr Fund, the expsndlture of 

thIe portion of eald fund Is not 6ubJeot to the rrqulrement of 

Art1016 6740, that *It ehall be, expend& In eaoh oounty oommI6eIonere preolnot In proportion to the amount oolleoted In 

euoh preclnot.’ ThIe provIsIon In Artlole 6740, ha6 rcfercnoe 

only to that,.portlon of the Road and Bridge Fund derived fro& 

county taxer. A6 etr.ted In the 0888 of Stovall V. Shlvere 

(Clv. Apg.), 76 8.Y. (2d) 276, efflrmea (Con. App.) 103 8.w. 

(26) 363, at page 367 of the letter oplnlon: 

*As to that portlon of automobllr 

regletratlon fees retained by Van Zandt oounty, 

artlole 6676a-10, Vernon’s Ann. Clv. St., sxpreesly provider how sent shell be expended, and for 

that rea8on It Is obvloue that artlole 6740 ha6 

no applIcatIon to same.' 

Art1016 66758-10 etatee that such funds shall b6 

USCd *for the construction and maIntenrnor of lateral roede 

in such counti,’ or ‘In the payment of obll~etlone, If any, 

Ireued ;nd Incurred In the oonetructIon or the Improvement of 

~11 roe c # n In the county. c 

The reeponeIbIlIty for the proper rxp8ndlture of these 

funds, therefore, neceeearliy re6te upon the ooma16610nere1 

court. In thle connection WC ouote further from the oD:nIon 

of the CommleeIon of h3?eele of Texer, Sectlon A, In the Stovall 

v. Shivers 08ee, 66 follrnrr: 

“By article 2342 of the Revlsed Statutee, 

It I6 provided th6t the several oommIealon~r6, together with the oountp Judge, shall 001c306c 

the ~commI6eIonere court.’ Suoh court Ie 

ms~nIftetly 8 unit, and I6 the agency of the 

whole county, The respective mrmbere of the 

com~I6eIonere oourt are therefore prIxLarllr 

repre6ent~tIve6 of the whole oounty, and not 

merely reprc6entatlve6 of their rerpeotlvo 

preolnotr. The duty of the oommIeeIonere court 

Is to transact the buelnees, protect the Intcrestr, 6nd oromote the uelfere of the oounty 66 a whole. Among the 3owere conferred upon 
. 

Honorable George P. Hudron, page 4 

ouoh oourt by l rtiale 2351 cre the following: The portr to lay out and rrtabllrh, 

change and Ulraontlnuo roads and hlghwayr, 

the power to build brldgtr and keep them In 

repair, and the power to l xrroira general 

oontrol over all roach, hlghwayr ferrIcI, 

and bridgtr in thelr oountire. #her hate 

the power to Levi a tax not to rxoeed 16 

otntr on the $100 valuation for road8 and 

bridge a. This fund 18, of oourm, for 

the benefit of all roads and bridgea of 

the county. These provlrlonr of the lttw, 

a8 well a8 other6 whloh might be mentioned, 

clearly oontem?late thst the copmisricntrr 

owrt of te.oh county shell regard the ,roadr 

and highways of the county ac a system, to 

be laid out, changed, rt~alred, improved, 

and melntalntd, a6 far ae practlonl, a8 a 

whole to the btrt lnttreets and wtlfert of 

all the peoolt of the county. It ir clearly conteeolsttd thet all roadr and bridge8 

of the county ehcll be telntalned, rsoalrtd, 

end improved when necessary, 8.1 the aondltlona 

may require, regardlena of the oreoinct in 

v5lch oeAe mey be looeted so far a8 ths fund8 

vi11 equitably Ju6tify. this being true, 

ve think that a oommlssloners oourt cannot 

voluntarily dieable itrelf from performance of thla gencrel obllgatlon by arbitrarily dividing the roeA end bridge fund 

sccordlng to soat fixed rtsndard, end apDortlonlng aeue to be ex~endtd in a nartlcular preclnot, to the detriment of roadr 

and bridges In other precincts;” 

tilnlon !:o. C-1091 of thl6 dewrtaent, holds that 

Article 6C75a-10 c=ntrcle the ex:.enbiture of that 3ortion of 

the Ropd enc! FrlCge Fund derived from automobile regietretion 

fees, end thet in exqendlng the seat, the commlesloners’ court 

ehall resard the roaCf end hlghxeys of the county ae a cystem 

to be built, lzzroved enC melntelned as a whole to the beet 

1ntertFts cnc? welfare of ell the r;eoTle of the county and of 

ell t3e precinct8 of the county. Kt are enoloelng htrewlth a 

copy of said ocinlon for your :nrormc.tion and oonvenlenot. 
Ronorablr Oeorgr P. Hudron, page b 

You are rerprotfully l dvl66d thst lt 18 the opinion 

of thlr department, under thr faotr rteted, that thr aommirrioner 

oourt of Jon66 County la not l uthoriwil to alloaate the automobllr rrglrtratlon ire6 to the verlour preolnotr In thr proportion 

-rtctrd In your letter If ruoh an apportionment would rerult In 

one prooinot being able to maInt6In a better ola6r of road8 

and highway6 than other preolnotr. The60 runa8 6h0ula be exp6ndrd In ruoh a manner aa to give to the’ oounty a8 a who16 

a unltoro ryrtem of roads and highway6 without rcfrrenoe to 

preolnot liner. This rerpon6lbIllty rsrtr upon the ooPilnI66lon6r6~ 

Court and murt be determined by them In l ooortlanoe with all the 

raotr and olrCum6tanoe6 involved. 

Very truly your6 

ATTORNEY OENEFUL OF TEXAS 

EP:Jr ( 

ENC: 1 

By ~~~f.11 

Asrletant 

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APPRDYED 

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O?iNlOH 

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