GENERAL 

AUSTIN. TEXAS 78711 

Deoember 13, 1965 

Honorable Adolph F. Spltta Opinion No. C-567 

County Attorney 

Kendall County Re: Whether the sheriff of KenBoerhe, Texas da11 County has t,he exclusive right of furnishing 

me+ to his prisoners and 

Dear Xr. Spitta: related questions. 

You have reoently requested awopinion from this oftlO0, your inquiry being as follows: 

“The $heriff of Ken&all County prepares, 

with the arslstance of his wife, me&I8 for 

the prisoners in his jail. The County repBIt& 

burses the Sheriff the sum of 75+! per meal’, 

so furnished upon the Sheriff $lvlng a sworn 

aooount at the end of each month. The restaurants and o&em, in thin qrea, have protested suoh aotlon, malntalpS.xg that the 

Sheriff rhould take bids, or at any rate give 

eaoh buelnerr a pro Fata share of Surnlshing 

the meal6 to said prisoners. 

"Your opinion Is respeotfully reqF*sted 

oonoernlng the following points: 

“a. Does the Sheriff of Kendall Coianty 

have the exclusive right of furnishing meals 

to his prlaoners? 

“b. Ii the Sber2ff of Kendall County etnploya his wife to prepare raid meals aoea that 

ootutitute a violation of the Texas Wepotien 

La*? 

“0. Doee the Sheriff of Kendall COuntf 

have to make an aoourate report ha to the oost 

of the meals prepared by his wife, or is It 

merely necessary for him to report the number 

of meals to be reimbursed in the amount of 754 

pcrerp, +r, agreed by the COnaPi88lOne~‘E 

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. 
Honorable Adolph F. Spltta, page 2 (C-567) 

“a. Is It necessary for the wlfe of the 

Sheriff of Kendall County to have a health " 

card by virtue of being the supplier and preparer of said meals of prisoners?" 

In answer to your first question, you am, advised that. 

the Sheriff of Kendall County has the exoluslve right of operating the jail kitchen and furnishing meals to prisoners. 

Wlohlta County,vt Vanoe, 217 S.W.2d 702 (Te~.ci~.App., error 

r . 1949) Att orney (tenercil’q Op*nlon Ho. v-1232 (1951). 

~liem&e~herlff'mlght legltlmately oontr&ict with cafes te 

furnish meals to prisoners properly ‘aooounting for expendltures to the Commissioners Court, (Attorney Qeneral's Opinion. 

Wo. V-1232, supra), he Is under no duty or obligation to contract with any cafe to furnlsh'meals or to take bids from the.~ 

cafes If he decides to use'thelr servloes In feeding those lncarcerated In the Kendall County jail. 

As lndloated, the answer to your first question Is In 

the afflnnatlve. 

With regard to your remaining questions, Seotion 61 of 

Article 16 of the Constltutlon of the State of Texas has made 

It mandatory since 1949 that all sheriffs be compensated on a 

salary basis. 'It has been uniformly held that where a sheriff la oompensated on a salary basis that the Commlsnloners 

Court may only allow the sheriff the actual expenses lnourred 

by him in feeding prisoners In his oustody and oannot allow '~. 

the sheriff any speolflc sum for the boarding of prisoners. Attorney General's Opinion No. V-1232, aupra. Accordingly, the., 

arrangement between the sheriff and the Kendall County Commissioners Court, whereby the sheriff 1s reimbursed the sum of 

~$#1~~ meal for each prisoner fed, would be in contravention 

. 

With regard to your second question, although the aherlff 1s authorized to recover from the Commlssloners Court the 

aotual expenses lnourred In the feeding of prlsoners, any fee 

or any oompenaatlon paid to his wife for,the preparation of 

euch meals would not be allowable because her employment would 

be a violation of the Nepotism laws of the State of Texas 

whloh forbid an offloer of a county to employ any person re-. 

lated to him within the second degree of affinity. This offloe, In Opinion No. V-359 (1947) held as follows: 

"The sheriff 1s an offloer of the oounty and his wife Is related to him 'within 

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. . 

Honorable Adolph F. Spltta, Page 3 (C-567) 

the seoand degree by afflnlty.1 ,See Attorney QeneralVe Oplnlons NOB. O-31 and 

o-4973. It 1s therefore our opinion that 

the sheriff ie prohibited by the plain 

provisions of Article 432, V.P.C., from 

his rife an a cook for such 

$!#%a ft is our further opinion 

that the oounty z&rUt’or. le ‘not authorized to approve for payment any claim of 

the sherlff~e wife for such services.” 

0~ a3 

In anewer to your third queetlon, you ati referret ~to 

.souselons above. The aherlff la only entitled to recover the actual expenses’ for feeding prleonera In hla ouatody 

end oare and he muet accurately report all euoh expendlturer 

in order to receive such reimbursement. Any compensatloq paid 

to his wife would not be properly allowable ae an expense of 

the feeding of the Inmates of the jail. 

,,The dlsousslone oonoernlng your flrst,three questions 

make an anewer to the fourth que8tlon, “Should the wife of the 

sheriff have a health oard,” unnecessary. However, we do not-,- 

mean to say that a wife oannot assist the eheriff %ti the preparation and serving of ,meala, but there a’an be no oompeneatlon 

to her for any labor bhe::performa. If she .-does render yo$untary and gratis eervloee in the feeding of prisoners, we are 

of the opinion that it would not be neoessary that nho have a 

health aard. There is no universal- requirement under the laws 

of.the State of Texaa that food handlers have a sanitary h,ealth 

card; rather, Section 6 of Article 7058, Vernontw Penal Code 

of Texas, confer8 on oltles the power to adopt ordfnances whioh 

require the obtaining of a health aard a8 a prerequllslte to 

the handling of foods. However, even if the munlolpallty in 

which your jail la’located has such an ordlnanoe, it Is our 

view that the county jail does not come within the definition 

of a pub110 eating plaoe 81) defined by Section 1 of Artlole 

7054. 

SUMMARY 

.The Sheriff of Kendall County haa the 

exoluslve right to furnish meals to hla 

prisonera. mployment of the sherlffls 

wife to prepare the food for prlaonerz 

would be In violation of the Nepotism Laws. 

di sheriff Is only entitl&a to recover the 

aotual expenbes for feeding prisoners in 

his custody and care and he muet accurately 

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. . 
-. . 

Honorable Adolph F. Spltta, Page 4 (C-567) 

report all suoh expenditures in order to 

receive reimbursement. It Is unnecessary 

for the person who prepares meals for the 

prisoners to have a health Oard. 

Very truly yours, 

QJP/at/br 

APPFtOVEDr 

OPINION COM4I!L"FEE 

W. V. Qeppert, Chairman 

Edifard R. mffett 

Sam L. Kelley 

Tom Routt 

W. 0. Shultz 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORWEX QE%l?ZRAt 

By: T. B. Wright 

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