E OBEY GENERAL 

OFTEXAS 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0-2699 

Re: Commissioners' Courts - PaupersCemeteries. 

Your request for opinion has been received and carefully consrdered by this department. We quote from your req.uert as follows : 

If T - 9 it permis:;".ble for the Commissioners 

"r,l~~t of a count7 to levy a general property tax, 

the proceeds of whLch will be used in maintenance 

of the public cemeteries of the county? 

"After searching all of the authorltles, Lneluding your opinions, I have been unable to find 

any holdings either way on this question. Several 

cases do hold that county funds may be spent to 

bury paupers and in maintatning secttons in a cemetary ,for burial of paupers, but none touch the question of maintenance of cemeteries or taxation for 

that purpose. Not being able to ffnd any opinions 

on the subject I cannot brief it. 

"I will appreciate It very much if you will 

hand me your opinion on the above question." 

We quote from 11 Texas Jurisprudence, pages 563-4-5, 

as follows: 

I, ..,.I Counties, being component pasta of the 

State, have no powers or duties except those 

which are clearly set forth and defined 1n the 

constitution and statutes. The statutes have 

clearly defined the powers, prescribed the duties, 

and Imposed the liabilities of the commissioners' 

courts, the medium through whrch the different 

counties act, and from those statutes must come 

the authority vested In the counties..... 
Honorable Harry Schultz, page 2 o -2699 

,! . . . ..The commissioners' court....mag provide 

for the support and burial of paupers who are 

residents of the county..... 

. . . ..Commlssionersf courts are courts of 

limited jurisdiction, In that their authority 

extends only to matters pertaining to the general 

welfare of their respective counties and that 

their powers are only those expressly or impliedlg conferred upon them by law, - that is, b$ the 

constitution and statutes of the state..... 

Article 2351, Vernon's Annotated Texas Civil Statutes, 

reads in part as follows: 

"Each commissioners court shall: 

,t . . . . . . 

"12. Provide for the burial of paupers. II 

. . . . . . 

We quote from 32 Texas Jurisprudence, pages 612, 613, 

as follows: 

"It is Incumbent on commissioners' courts also 

to provide for the burial of paupers, and it has 

been said that this is a duty which counties owe 

to every pauper regardless of whether or not he 

has been formally declared to be a pauper. But in 

order to fix the liability of a county for burial 

expenses, notice should be given to the proper 

authorities and their permlsslon obtained for the 

burial. It has been held that a county Is not 

liable for the coffins of those who died in a pesthouse while the State had charge of it under the 

quarantine laws....." 

We have been unable to find any statute which would 

authorize a county to establish a "public cemetery" nor have 

we found any statute which would authorize a county to levy 

taxes to maintain such a cemetery. 

However, it is the duty of the county to provide 

for the burial of paupers. The commissioners' court is 

charged with this duty and undoubtedly has a large amount 

of discretion in selecting the meana,and methods of carrging out such duty. Undoubtedly the commissioners' court 

would have the power to secure land for the county and establish there a cemetery or burying place for paupers. 

If such a cemetery or burying ground was established by the 
Honorable Harry Schultz, page 3 o-2699 

county for the purpose of burying gauoers the commissioners' 

court would have authority to expend county funds from the 

peneral fund of the oountg for reasonable maintenance of such 

pauper cemetery. 

It Is the opinion of this department that your 

question should be answered In the negative, and it ia so 

answered. 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s,&m. J. Fanning 

Wm. J. Fanning 

Assistant 

WJF:AW:wc 

APPROVED SEP 9, 1940 

s/Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEYGENmAL OF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chalrman