HonorableTony Hileman Marion CountyAttorney 105Austin Street Jefferson,Texas. 75657 OpinionNo. JM-753
Re: Whether a countymay furnish rent-free office space in the county courthouse annex to a chamberof commerce
DearMr. Bileman:
You ask whether Marion Countymay provide rent-free office space in the county courthouse annex building **to** the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. Article 2351(7),V.T.C.S., authorizes the commissioners court of each county to

provide and keep in repair court all necessarypublicbuildings. Article 1603,V.T.C.S.,provides thathouses, jails and

The Marion County Commissioners Court has only the powers conferred either expresslyor by necessary implicationby the consti-

[t]he commissioners court of each county
. . . shall provide a courthouse and jail for the county, and offices for county officers

. . . and keep the same in good repair.

tution and statutes of this state. See Tex. Const. art. V, §18; CanalesV. Laughlin, 214 S.W.2d 451, 453(Tex. 1948).
The question of renting space within a courthouse has been litigated. In Tarrant County V. Rattikin Title Company, 199 S.W.2d 269 (Tex. Civ. App. - Fort Worth 1947, no writ) the court found authority for the commissioners to assign space in the courthouse basement for use by five title companies to inspect and copy real property records. The companieswere viewed as "agents of the public who examine and copy the records as agents of the individualmembers of the public after receiving orders for the preparation of an abstract." 199 S.W.2d at 272. The Rattikin court disallowed the county's attempt .tocharge rent for the space provided to the title

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companies,because it was space that the court required the companies to use to perform their examinations of public records. The court considered that rental charges under those facts would constitute a prohibited fee for the examinationofpublic records.
In Dodson v. Marshall, 118 S.W.2d 621 (Tex. Civ. App. - Waco 1938.writ dism'd), the court approved the rental of an alcove in a courthouse rotunda for a cigar and cold drink stand as a permissible exercise of the county's duty to provide a courthouse. The court viewed the stand as a "necessary convenience incident to the carrying on of the county's business in the courthouse." 118 S.W.2d at 623. The court noted that the rented spacr was not suitable for use for county offices, that no public funds were expended to maintain the space, and that the use did not interferewith the proper use of the courthouse. 118 S.W.2d **at** 622 and 624. Relying on the rationale in Rattikin and Dodson, this officehas determined that a county **may** allocate free space in the courthousefor use by the news media and by a county employees' credit union. See - AttorneyGeneral OpinionMW-200 (1980).
In our opinion, theMarion County Chamber of Commerce is not "an agent of the public" equivalent to the news media or title companies. Nor is it an entity similar to a cigar stand or a credit union whose presence in the courthouse is necessary to the convenience of county employeesor those transactingbusiness in the courthouse. Therefore, we do not believe that the commissionerscourtmay provide free office space in the courthouse to the chamber of commerce without violating article III, section 51, of the Texas Constitution. See Attorney General Opinion JM-716 (1987) (paymentof chamber of comaiie duesby county is illegaldonation of county funds).
Your question involves office space in a courthouse annex, not space in the courthouse proper. If the annex is considered to be an addition to the courthouse building, the preceding discussion controls. However, if the annex is a separate public building distinct from the courthouse,other statutesmay apply. Article 2370, section 1,V.T.C.S.,provides:

The CommissionersCourt of any countymay, when necessary,providebuildings, rooms, or apartments at the county seat, other than the courthouse,for holding the sessions of the County Courts, District Courts, and for carrying on such other public business as may be authorized by the Commissioners Court, and may lease or rent such part of any such buildings, rooms, or apartments

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asmay not be necessary forpublic use. (Emphasis added). Article 2370b.V.T.C.S.,provides. inpertinentpart:

Section 1. Whenever theCommissionersCourt of any county determines that the county courthouse is not adequate in size or facilities to properly house all county and district offices and all county and district courts and all justice of the peace courts for the precincts in which the courthouse **is situated,**  and to adequately store all countyrecordsand equipment (includingvoting machines) and/or that the county jail is not adequate in size or facilitiestoproperly confine prisoners and other persons who may be legally confinedor detained in a county jail, the Commissioners Court may purchase, construct, reconstruct, remodel, improve and equip. or otherwise acquire an office building or buildings, or courtsbuilding or buildings, or jail building or buildings (in addition to the existing courthouse and/or jail), or an additional building or buildings in which any one or more of the county or districtofficesor county,districtor justice of the peace courts, or the county jail or any other county facilities or functions may be housed, conductedandmaintained;andmay purchase and improve the necessary site or sites therefor, and may use suchbuilding orbuildings for any or all of such purposes, provided that any such building orbuildings so acquired shallbe located in the county seat.
. . . Sec. 2. Such building or buildings,when purchased, constructed **or** otherwise acquired and equipped may also be used for the purpose of carrying on such other public business as may be authorizedby the CommissionersCourt, and/or the Commissioners Court may also lease or rent any part or parts of any such building or buildings, (whichmay not be presentlyneeded for any of the above purposes) to the State of Texas and any of its political subdivisions, and the Federal Government. (Emphasisadded). Article 1577,section l(a),V.T.C.S.,provides:

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The CommissionersCourtmay, by an order tobe entered on itsminutes, appoint a Commissioner to sell or lease any real estate of the county at public auction, and notice of said public auction shall be advertised at least twenty (20) days before the day of sale, by the officer,by having the notice thereof published in the English language once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks preceding such sale or lease in a newspaper in the county inwhich the real estate is located and in the countywhich owns the real estate, if they are not the same. (Emphasisadded).
None of these statutes authorizes the donation of space in a **county** building other than the courthouse to be used for private purposes. However, pursuant to the above-quoted statutes, the commissioners court may lease space in a building other than the courthouse to a private or public entity if the space isnot currently needed for countybusiness.
SUMMARY

Marion Countymay not donate office space in the county courthouse annex to the .MarionCounty Chamber of Commerce. The commissioners courtmay lease space in a county building other than the courthouseto the chamber of commerce.

AttorneyGeneral of Texas
MARY KELLER ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral
JUDGE ZOLLIE STKAKLEY SpecialAssistantAttorneyGeneral
RICK GILPIN Chairman,OpinionCommittee Preparedby Karen Gladney AssistantAttorneyGeneral

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