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.aOFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS _. 

AUSTIN 

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Zl&=z 

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no& 0.r. ‘tillde, County &ditoZ? 

mlcccs Cowty Corpus Ghriati; Texas, . 

pear sir1 

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record ca ths 
@xi. P.S.’ Viilde, p&o i 

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Cburt that Ean De Cordova be &t%~~oyed for 

. a period of -12 months Sroz i)oce=?5cr 15th. 

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1930, as Tax Ferret c&a shlar”l or ~300.00 

.. per math, trnder the suporvlsion OS the Co?- 

. ty Tti Assea8or-Goileotor.~ : ‘_ 

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Y” $~-i’. ‘i; 

- WpOn. s&&ion by ComIas.iooar dslsger, 

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seooadod bg Co:rAssioxler +‘snlz~, it was voted .s 

. . ‘:~i .,by- the Court that LX. ,‘stoa. be ozqloyed.as 

~:.. Wcx ‘Ferret* to represent the Coznis.sioners’ 

Court and assist it In the tsx as~essoss depnrtxent, to keep up and mintain the Stoner .‘.‘. .~ 

:...-- .Valuation Systen; said 9.X. Estoo to.be ox- 

. ; ployed at a salary of $250.00 per oonth and. 

.tbat said salary be paid out OS the Ccmmxl 

*. .:_ L Fund OS the County, under supervision o$ the 

.’ county Tax *saeseor-Coll.ootor.” ;:.. 

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.‘. By. the provisions OS the above’ @wted Minutes 

of tho Co~sIlseloaers~ Court; the pai%i’tfCs mmtiosad . 

therein, are eqloyed ,as Tax Z’arrats. ‘. 

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.-_ : Artioleo 7264a’and 7335a,. Vernon*s Cd.+. mno-. 

tat& Statutes. rasd as Sollmm: ‘. -. 

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@Art. 7EbCa.. Adjustnant -- OS delincu;.nt tcrxes 

and collection thereof, - -. 

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Ea. 1. Iit is deroby declared the Polici 

of the State to.cd:ust dollrquent taxes, correct errors, to elkinete conflicts ir.- surveys 

of land, and to collect thb delinquent, ocoupation, Sranchise and Ad Valoraa Tzxos,’ in 

order to oieor this Stuto of such taxes, exyors 

ana cor.Slicts at the earliest dnto gosslble, 

and to provide a q&m--for. asoasors; in order 

to ollnlnute the uuz~rous errors thct new a,?- 

~30~ on the tax rolls osch riiclui+:12 rem.” 

Gt. 73’35% Dell scmxt tizx contracts --- 

SOC.~ 1. 

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30 ocatrsct ~::a11 tc pn,Ce or entered icto by the Co:~~lssioners* Court in connection wltt the collection 0S dolln~~eut tams 

vxhere the coqensation under such coctrsot 1s 

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ciore'than fifteen pia! omit @'the a;lo&t ocl18Oted. Said oontreot mst be agprovod by 

'.both the Co~#,roller end the Attorney Gkeral. 

.of the Stete of Terzs, bath de to substwo 

end fern. Provided hovfev& tlx County or 

. . piStdCt .kttGZl87 &.a11 IlOt ree,J$V8 Oll7 OOCi?. 

-pamatior. ~:or any services ho my render la 

commotion Viith fhe'perfcrsefice of the oon- 

-traot or the tnxee oolloctsd the~knder." 

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The cake of XYATT YO. L?oCILL, County ‘SW&Z, ..~. 

et al, 114 S.Z. (Sd) 860 holds thut the statutes Governing costmets emdo "in conmotion with the colleotion 

of delinquent taxes", tbo words edelincjueat taxes? ere 

not used in ths‘todhnical oonae, but ttc stntuto'ncni- . 

isst lctent to check existing evil resultinS .fro3the 

ez$loyzent of tax:forrcts, and not only to fpeolfy fzaxi-~ 

mm cor;ipinsztion but to require wprovzl oi such contracts 

by both the Coziptroller of Public Accounts end the Attcrney General of tho State oi Texcb end that a oont&mt .~ 

timreby the county agreed to pny tax ferrets for polntlng 

ptmmnaltg Vhich the.ocmsrs havo~failed to as6888 for th8 

currept yem or prior yecrs, at a rate of tiftoon per 

c8nt of the state and county thrcs collected on property 

thus pcinted out, Or If the State Cozptrollar 0P Attornay General should refuse to alloYI paysent, for twXtyfive per cent of the county taxes only, such a coztrect 

~V&s in oor?nsctior.wfth the colloctlon of dollnr,uent 

taxes sod cltkin the statute roqu.irlrg. suoh oontl'ncts to 

be a;groVed by both the Cozptrollcr and~the Attomcy 

General, an8 VXJS void rithout ~uch,g~~roval. 

This ocso furthsr bold3 l&t the Comissioners~ 

Court my vaU.dly ezq~loy wski.lled experts" to velua for 

taxstloz3 purposes progorty in special lnstewos~> Where 

technical epsi~33it is required. 

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.-In Gpieion 30. O-1512, wr:rritt+n by iion.~Sll~y 

Coldbaq, JkiJist&nt Attorney Cmcral, 'dir&ted to Eo3. 

J!W?d Xorris, County Audltcr of Polk County, this depcrtavant held th2t the co'mty Coz.~irsl.orora~ Collrt hcd nuthorlty tG oziplqy txi en~;iccora to reiwese$ the Co.~aissionersl ' 

COIL"~ In errlvitig Bt ver:tius,oll vsluc?tions in Folk 

CountJ. And thct EUCh coIitri;Ct.Vi:;aS note.EnlGSOuS to 8' ' 

cor?trect,,for tits collection OLC doli3r~uant taxos. :, , 

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..mn. c* J* -Yildo, . . p~S8 4 _ 

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The oese XkXUAXT, -L 

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' & AL vs. EA:121s COIXTY, I% 

& 117 S.YT.-(2d) 494, holds that a oostzact \;hereby Ed 

oorunty ezz?loyod ahilled cxzerts to discover end &law 

on rolls for teration ?rcgarty whioh hss theretofore 

. escaped taxation ms a co::tWaot "in cooncotion with the 

00118CtiOn of delinquent taX8J” Ed Within the ststute 

.requlrlng ouch contracts to be ai;provod by the Co@trolfor of z'ublio Accounts aed Attornojr General of tho Strte 

of Texes nod was void klthout such ar?proval. .Thi.a cn3c 

further holds that the portioipation~~f.the Coz@troller .'~ 

was'8n indisponsoblo reqtiiremnt for the validity of a 

oontreot vkorcby sklilcd 8xperts'aSrsed to search for,’ 

survey, idontify the oznern of, ard.mke at.a>praisal 

~oi all the taxable personnlty ifi a bxnty akoviia the 

vaiuo or such pmperty es of Sanuary 1, 1958, cod to coc1- 

ploto 6 lmd acd building valuations survey for the entire ooxunty and file the cozqlete. rocort of suet; iond 

and buildings end tt.elr values for the use of the Boevd 

of Equalization er,d tho Tex f,ssessor and Collaotor. 

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In view of'tha foregoing huttorities you em 

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respectfully advised that it Is the opinion of this de- 

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partment that aostmcts M-mrebg tex ferrets aro exployod 

EU& contraots zmst be in writing and approved by the 

Ccaptrpllcr of ?ublio ,?ccounts and the httcimoy Ggnorol.- 

of the Stste of Texas nod without such a;.provel, jucb. 

coatrecto are void. 

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“Youpi very’ truly 

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.:.:.: : ‘,:~ ._ A?‘TQzJ~EY Gz;szhL &? ,&?,S 

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. . 'Arttoll %liims. 

hY!:ob ; ,Asslstant : 

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