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Zsnoreble L. D. Eatliff, yTr. CountyAttorney Dickens County Spur,Texas
Dear Sir:' OpinisnNo. O-3138 i?e: Conpensat;ion of the county judge for presiding over the Commissioners'Court.
Your recent request for an opinion of this department on the above stated,subJecthas been received.

We quote from your letter as follows: "The Cowty Judge af Dickens County, Texas has requestedme to secure from your Depertment an opinion concernifig his compensetionfor presiding over the 'Comndssioner's Court,and he has prepared, and I hand you herewith, a brief on this question.

your "For your informationI~have a copy of opinionNo. 0-lC17."
Your brief reads as follows: Vlease give us an opinion of the~following ^ statezent or acts: "Dic'kens

County is s.county of (7,SG4--parenthesisours) populationacccrdizg to the census of 1940, EM its officers ore psi;?on a fee basis. Is the county judge thereof,who receivesa salary of $lEC.CC per month for the county, entitled tc additional compensation **for** &se_?(?iythat:Icnorable L. D. Datliff,Jr., Page 2

he actually serves as chairmanof the CommissionersqCourt thereof? Section 3 cf Article 3926, H. C. S. as hmended, resds'as follows: "*Tar presiaing over the Commissicners' Court, -

ordering elections and making retilrns thereof,.hearingsnd deterrinirgcivil causes, If any, and transactingall ot,her official business not ctherwiseprovided for, the Cou.nty

Judge shail receive such salary frc:i:

the County Treasuryas the Co:~%iseioners*

Court may allowhim by order, payablemonthly from the general funds of the county, provided, that in counties~

having ~$290,000,000.00 'assessed valuation, or more, and which have established therein institutionsfor the care of both dependent and delinquentboys and girls, the County Judge shall receive as ex-officio salary, not to be accounted for as fees of office,~and,inaddition to all amounts allowed under.theb5aximum Fee Bill, the further sum of #3,000.00 per annum, payablemonthly out of the general funds of the county.' ":le are well aware of your opinionNo. O-1017 which states that the County Judqe of Willacy
**.~- CouIlty,**  who was receiving $195.00 per month kxofficio,was not entitled to an additional fee for presiding over 'theCommissioners*Court.
"It is to be observed however that in the case of Nillacy County the County Judge -ijould receive in ex-'officio the sum oft$2380 per year which is only 320.00 less than'the total **of** ;;2400.00

provided for in Article 3883, sec. 1, K. C. S. as amended. 'VEEFXAS the County Judge of Dickens Countywill receive in ex-officio only .$19X0 for the year and his fees of officr;togetherwith the ex-officio ~511 no? net hi.12 .+ '"140Q.00,

therefore the situationBonorable L. D. Ratlifr', Jr., Page 3

in Dickens county is different from that in 'iiillacy

County. "Article 3926, referred to above, read.s 3na can be interpreted the same as Article 2450, R. C. S., 1895,which statutewas ccnstrued;~and t.hescr;e Guesticn raised in that case as is now under ccnsideration. In that case and construction,namely, Farmer, County Treasurervs. Shaw! 93 Texas Reports 43S-445,Chief Justice Gaines held that the County Judge is entitled to additional compnsaticn for presidi~ng over the Com!tAssioners* Court, etc. As far as we can tell t,his case has neverbeen overruled,and in spite~of the fact that the reading of the statute has been changea some, no material alteration has beer? mtideand the construc- ,/'..*.. tion is similard.sto the point under consideration. It is our opinion therefore that the rule laid' dozn by ChiefJustice Gaines in Farmer, County Treasurervs. Shaw, should apply to Dickens County and that t.heopinion of your DepartmentRumberea O-1017 is not in conflict because of the exorbitant ex-cfficio salary allowed in the case',of



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County." Article 3895,Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, reads as follows:

"The Commissioners1Court is hereby debarred fror:.

allowing compensationfor.exofficio services to county o~fficiels when the ccripensationan~d

excess fees which they are allowed to retain shall reach themaximum provided for in this chapter. In cases where the compensationand excess feeswhich the officers are ailolved to retain shall.not reecti the maximum provided for ins this chapter, the Commissioners'Court shall allow cor;pens~ation

for ex officio serviceswhen, in their judgr;;ent, such compensation is necessary, provided, such compensationforHonorable L. C. Ratliff, Jr., Page 4

ex officio services allowed shall not ihcrease the conpensationof the cfficial beyond the r!a.xiakm cotipensaticn

and excess fees aliofied

to be retained ‘oy bin under this chapter;. Provided, however, the exofficio h;creir.

authorized shall be allmed only after an opportunity for a public hearing end only upon the affirmative vote of at least threeker;:bers of the COD L3issioners'

Court." The only statute now in force referring directly to compensation for a county judge presiding over the COD missioners' Court is subdivisicn 3, Article 3926, supra.

We have carefully,consideredthe case of FarEer v. Shaw, 93 Tex. 43S, 54 S:W. 772, 55 S. W.~l115, but do not think that this case governs or controls the questicn here icvolved.

In the abovementicned case the court had under considerationArticles 2450 and 2466, R. S. ,1895,Article 2450,which authorized the Ccmissioners* Court to allow the county judge a salary for ex officio services, read as follows:
"For presiding over the comissioners court, ordering elections andmaking returns thereon,hearing and detemining civil causes, and transactingall other official busioess not otherwise provided for, the county judge shall receive such salary fron the county treasurer as ;;iay

be allov~ec?

him by order of the cormiseionerscourt." firticle2466 read as follovm: "Zach county commissioner,and tee county judge .&en acting as such, shall receive from the county treasure:, to be paid on order of t.he cozziseicners court ~,the sun:of three dcl.lars

for esch day he is engaged in holding a teri;;

of'the co:izissioners court, but **SUC?_** comzissicnersshall receive no pay for holdihg zore thaa one sy~ecinl term of their court per niohth."Honorable L. D.Ratliff, Jr., Rage 5

In discussing the two above mentioned stxtutes, the court said:

n 'Bedo not think there is a conflict

. . .s between i.hese

two statutes, and it is apparent to us that the purposewas to allow the county judge an extra cor;;,7ensaticn as presidingofficer of the coiznissioners csurt, and that by virtue of article 2466, he should receive cotipensstion

as a ;neGber

of the cozzissioners court. That article expressly includes the county judge as entitled to three dollars a day as compensationv&en he is engaged in holding a tez of court. By virtue.of the constitutionand the statutes thereunder, he is made a member of the coszissioners court and the purpose of the law evidently was to entitle him to compensation for the see services .rendered by other coinmissioners, and additicnal compensation for presiding over that body. The.legislature evidently thought the county judge, as the presiding officer,was burdened with more dutieswhen sitting with the coaissioners court than the commissioners,and the purposewas evidently, by article 2450, to allow him some compensation for these extra services. Viewing the two sections of law in this way, we think they can be reconciled. .~.."
At the present,we have no statute such as Article 2466, supra, specificallyprovidinga certain coqpensation for the county judgewhen presiding over the Commissioners' Court. It is true thatArticle 3926,Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, contains, substantially,the same language as Article 2450, supra, but, as above stated, there is no statute such as Article 2466 now in force and effect. It is evident from Tour letter that the county officials of Dickens County are compensatedon a fee basis, and in. addition to the fees of.office, the county judge receivesan ex officio compensationof 3160.00 per month. We think thatArticle 3895 and Article 3926, supra,must be considered tcgether, and it must be keRt in mind that it is the established law of this state that "an officernay not,

Konorable L. D. Ratliff, Jr., Page 6

claim or reach any money without a law authorizinghim to do so, and clearly fixing the amount to which he is entitled." 34 Tex. Jur. 511. In other words, an officermay not
_. _ _ . _ claim a fee for a particular service renderedunless,the statutehas prescribeda fixed fee for said service. This is the rule;even though the fee or compensationfixed is unreasonable~

or inadequate. An officermay be required by law to perform specific servicesor dischargeadditional duties for which no compensationis provided. 34 Tex. Jur. pp. 530, 531.

The $160.00monthly ex officio conpensaticnallowe,d by the CorcJissioners' court compensates the county judge for presiding over the Commissioners'Court, ordering elections and making returns thereof,and transacting all other official businessnot otherwiseprovided for. Therefore, you are respectfullyadvisedthat it is our opinion that the County Judge of Dickens County is not entitled to additionalcompensation for presiding over the Commissioners*Court.

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry,we are

Yours very truly
ATTORXZY GEBEML OF TEXAS By S. Ardell Williams Assistant 

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APPROVED FEB. 15, 1941
S. GERALD C. Iv&E ATTORNEY GERERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED OPINION COUWCTEE
BY S. EW'B,

CHAIRMAN