Honorable Doug Crouch 

District Attorney 

Tarrant Countv 

Fort 

Opinion No. Ww-1469 

Re: Whether a fee aaid to a deoutv 

Dear 

gard 

Worth, Tkxas county clerk for signing an ikventory and appraisement in a 

probate matter, as an appraiser, 

is a fee of office that must be 

paid into the county treasury as 

Mr.Crouch: a fee of office. 

You have requested an opinion from this office in reto the question of whether: 

II . . . the fee paid to the deputy clerk for 

signing an inventory and appraisement as an appraiser in probate matters a fee of office such as 

must be paid into the county treasury and accounted 

for as a fee of office?" 

You have mentioned in connection with the above-quoted 

question that: 

"Here in Tarrant County as in many other 

counties in the state, the practice has developed 

over quite a period of time whereby in probate 

matters, attorneys will take into the office of 

the county clerk an inventory and appraisement to 

be filed in connection with the probate proceedings. 

The attorney will then ask one or more deputy clerks 

to sign the inventory and appraisement for them before it is filed. This is done, I am sure, as a 

matter of convenience to the attorneys. For signing 

these instruments the deputy clerk is usually paid 

some fee, and I am informed this fee is usually 

about j610.00 each.'l 

Article XVI, Section 61, of the Texas Constitution, provides in part that: 

"All district officers in the State of Texas 

and all county officers in counties having a population of twenty thousand (20,000) or more, according 

to the then last preceding Federal Census, shall be 
Hon. Doug Crouch, page 2 (WW-1469) 

compensated on a salary basis . . . All fees 

earned by . . . county . . . officers shall be 

paid into the county treasury. . . .I' 

In State v Glasg,, 167 S.W.2d 296 (Civ. Ap 1943, 

error ref., State v.'Glass 141 Tex. 83, 170 S.W.2d Is* 70), it 

was held in Section 61 of Article XVI of the Texas Constitution 

that: 

11 . . . all fees earned by district 

county and precinct officers shall be pa!d into 

the county treasury . . . indicates an intention 

that all fees of every character collected by a 

county officer officiallv in counties having a 

population of twenty thousand or more shall become fees of office, and that the officer is limited to his salary as compensation, and any fees 

collected by him official& must be paid into the 

county depository as directed by the constitutional provisi0n.l' (Emphasis added) 

In addition? the Supreme Court of Texas in the case of 

Wichita Countv v. Robinson, 155' Tex. 1, 276 S.W.2d 509, in commenting upon State v. Glass, su-ora, states that: 

,I . . . Section 61 of Article XVI, Constitution of Texas, required that the collection be 

limited to his salary as compensation and any fees 

collected by him offi 

Depository. . . . 

+&d&a;;d',:'o the County 

The language of the courts in the cases cited above 

makes it readily apparent that the fees or compensation received 

by county officers to which Section 61 of Article XVI of the 

Texas Constitution applies are those fees which are received by 

the county officer in his capacity as a county officer and which 

are considered a fee of the county office which he holds. Such 

being the case, it is necessary to determine in the instant case 

whether the fee received by the deputy county clerk for signing 

an inventory and appraisement as an appraiser in a probate matter is a fee of the county office he holds or is merely remuneration which he has received in a capacity other than in his official capacity as a county officer. 

Section 248 of the Probate Code, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides that: 

"When letters testamentary, or of administration or guardianship, are granted, the court, in the 
Hon. Doug Crouch, page 3 (W-1469) 

order granting such letters, shall appoint three 

or more disinterested persons. citizens of t& 

gountv, a majority of whom may act, to appraise 

the property of the estate to be administered. 

. . . ‘I (Emphasis added) 

Section 250 of the Pro’bate Code, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides that: 

“It shall ‘be the duty of every personal representative of an estate. as soon as he has collected the estate, and within sixty days after he 

has qualified and received letters, with the assistance of a majority of the appraisers appointed 

by the court, to make or cause to Abe made a full 

and correct inventory and appraisement of the property . . . and such appraisement shall be duly 

sworn to and subscribed by the appraisers.” 

Section 253 of the Probate Code, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides that: 

“Each appraiser appointed by the court, as 

herein authorized, shall be entitled to receive a 

minimum compensation of Five Dollars ($5) per day, 

payable out of the estate, for each day that he 

actually serves in performance of his duties as 

such. ” 

A study of the above-quoted provisi,ons of the Probate 

Code reveals that the court may appoint as an appraiser in a 

probate matter any disinterested person who is a citizen of the 

county. There is no requirement that any of the appraisers appointed by the court be a deputy county clerk. In turn, there is 

no requirement set forth by statute that the County Clerk or any 

of his deputies serve as appraisers in probate matters. 

The fees earned or collected by deputy county clerks 

which must be paid into the county treasury pursuant to Section 

61 of Article XVI of the Texas Constitution are those fees earned 

or collected by the deputy county clerks in their official capacity as deputy county clerks and in performing their functions as 

deputy county clerks. As there are no statutory requirements 

placed upon a deputy county clerk, in carrying out his official 

functions, to act as an appraiser in probate matters; and as the 

duties of an appraiser in probate matters can be fulfilled by 

any disinterested person who is a citizen of the county, we are 

of the opinion that any remuneration paid to a deputy county clerk 

by virtue of his having been appointed an appraiser in a probate 
Hon. Doug Crouch, page 4 (WW-1469) 

matter is not a fee of office as contemplated by Section 61 of 

Article XVI of the Texas Constitution, and it would not be 

necessary for such compensation received by a deputy county clerk 

to be paid into the county treasury. 

SUMMARY 

Remuneration received by a deputy county clerk 

in acting as an appraiser in a probate matter is not 

a fee of office as contemplated by Section 61 of 

Article XVI of the Texas Constitution and would not 

have to be paid into the county treasury. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

PB:wb 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Frank Booth 

San. Stone 

Paul Phy 

L. P. Lollar 

Pat Bailey 

Assistant 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Leonard Passmore