OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AU8TIN 

Honorable J. B. Allred 

County Auditor 

Baylor County 

YF---+- =ym our, -LXAS 

Dear Sir; 

ion of this departmmt 

on th* aboro 8 reaaioed. 

as follbas : 

Court ot Baylor County 

O\mty AuaZtOr to get a 

to payment ot expens6e 

fw a period running 

ers for extra help aa 

derstanding that thle offied to aover any extra help 

th:‘ce,eLFhLYKty 

tidy, whfoh ln cmlr part 

oounty ie not large enough 

the oounty has paid tU8 

en srnount for oonnty and 

iag around4l,4OOdM per year, 

8 should hsri 

et from them 

fast that the 

expenoe &atement monthly to the emrtl which ha ‘has done amI 

in whlah hs has not alai&ml the&~ expenses, it 

Is mg belief that M Ia not entitled to alah 

them at thlls late date. 
ITOn. J. B, Allred, pace S 

matter for the full period or any part of the 

nine year period.” 

Article 3899, Vernon’s Annotcitofl Civil Statutes, 

rea&a In part au follows: 

*(a) At the elose of eaoh month of his 

tenure &$ offioe eaeh offlaor named herein 

who is oompensated on a Pee basle shall make 

as part of the report now required by law, 

an it&.zsd and sworn statement of all the 

aotual and neeessaq expenses lneurred by 

him in the oonc¶uet of hia offlee suoh aa stntlonerp, stampe, telephone, premknns on offiatslat bon&a, inaluding the, eoat of surety 

bon&e for hie 

glary, theft, robbe 

premium on fire, burpub110 funds, 

nsuranoe proteatlng 

expenses an& other 

neoesaary expenses, Ihe Commiesioners~ Court 

of the oounty of the Sheriffte reeldenee may, 

upon the written and 8w:rn applioation. of the 

bherlff stating the necessity therefor, purehase equipment for a bureau of oriminal Men-- 

tlfleatlcn suoh-as eemerae, finger print, ear&s, 

inka, ohemieals, &@rOsoopes, radio and lsboratory equipment, filing oards, filing eebinete, 

tear ~:as and other equipment in keeping with the 

system in use by the Department of Pub110 Qafety ~of this State of the United States Departsmnt 

;foiustioe enU/or Bureau of Crlmlnal’fdentifloaIf suoh expenses be ineurre& In eennaotlon 

with’any partioular aase, sueh statement nhall 

neme euoh aaee. Sueh expense aoeount shall be 

aubjsat to the eu(llt of the County Audzttor, ~ii 

any otherwfse by the Connnlsaioners~ Court1 an4 

Y it appears that any item of such expense wae 

not incurr& by auoh oflioer or eueh item wae 

not a neoessary expense of offioe, s~ueh item 

ehail be by suoh auditor or court rd$eoteU, 3.n 

whloh &se the aolleotlona of .lsueh item ma’y be 

adjudioated in tiy oourt of ooripetent~ &trlsdietlon. 

The am&& of salariee pai& to Aesietante aab Deputies shall also be, el~:~arly shown by suoh~offiowl plvinC the name, position an8 amount peicl 

eaoh; and in no event ahall any offioer show 
Hon. 3. 5, Allred, page 3 

any graater amount than actually paid any such 

Aseistant or Deputy. The amount of suoh exPensee, together with the amount of salaries 

paid to Assistants, Deputies and Clerks nhall 

be paid out of the Pee8 earned by such offioer. 

The Commlsulonerst Ijourt of the oounty of the 

Sher$ff*s residenee~may, upon the written and 

sworn applloation of the Sheriff stating the 

neeesnity therefor, allow one or more nutomobile8 to be uPred by tile Sheriff ln the disoharge of hie oifiaial dutlee, which, if purohaeed by the County, ehall be bought in the 

manner preaoribed by law for the purchase of 

supplieli and pald for out of the Oeneral .Fund 

of the county and they shall be and remain the 

property of the county. The expenee of maintenanee, depreolation and operation of suoh automobiles a8 may be allowed, whether purehaeed 

the aounty or owned by the Sheriff or his Deby 

puties pereonnlly, shall be paid for by the 

Sheriff and the amount thereof shall, be reported 

by the sheriff, on the report above mentioned, 

fin the seme manner as herein provided for other 

expenses.* 

The Commlssloners~ oourt Is a oreature of the 

State aonutltutlon, and In the exooroise of its functions, 

the oourt’e power, authority and duties are strlotly limited to those expreivsly or impliedly conferred upon it b 

the Constitution and the ‘laws of this aitate~. Aats outai l e 

of these definite bound6 are null and void. 

88. Lampabaa dounty, 40 S1 W. 403 

(Mills County 

Oommis6lonere~ Court of 

Madison county va. Wallie 15 8. 4 (Sd) 55881 Satsfleld v. 

Sheppard, 59 9, W. (8d) lhlg Van ~oeenberg v& ~J.ovett, 

173 5. PI. 508 Miller ~~8~ Brown, 515 S, V. 45St Texa8 Curia. 

Vol. ll, pp. L-5). 

Oonee uently, from the proposition and, authoritlers 

eited above, be P ore the aommissionars oourt in the aituation now oonfronting UB ean legally pay the aounty olerk 

money representing expenses of that office over a nine year 

period, there muet be mome expreseed or implied authority 

found in the Conetitutlon or the laws of this State eonferring that right or Juetlfying that aetiO& 

The county officials of Baylor County are aompensated on a fee basis. Artlole 5899, supra, ragerdlng ths 

expen8es of oounty offlaiale, with few exaeptions~, has been 
IIOn. J. B. Allred, page 4 

dn the same form during the nine year period WC now have 

under oo~slderation. This atatuts has alwape allowed the 

expenaoe enumerated therein for oounty offioials oompensated 

on a fee basis, inourred by them in the oonduat of thair 

offioae. Howeqer, these expenses wera never paid by the 

oounty, but the amount of suoh expenees, together with th8 

&mount OS 5alarlee paid to assistents, deputfss and olerka 

wera to be paid out of the fess earned by auoh offioer. 

Under the old statute (3899, 234397) suoh expanses and salarice were to bs paid out of the cixoess feee earned by suoh 

officer. ??ow, under the present statute, suoh expenses and 

salaries are to be paid out of the fees earned by suoh offi0er. Said offloer oan le@.ly dedaat the salaries of his 

assistants and deputies and the authorized expenses under 

Arti 3099, supra, in arriving at his maximum oompensatlon. 

Tha county has paid the count 

oompensation in the approximste 5um Of $ 

olerk ex-offlolo 

1400.00 per year during the above mntioned nine year period. The aonnnlealoner5~ 

oourt Is debarred from allowing oompensation for ox offloio 

asrviaee to oounty offioials when the oompeasation and axOesa fess whloh they are allowed to rotain ehall reaoh the 

nudmm provided by law, A5 above stated, oounty offioialll 

who.am oompeaaated on a fee baste must pay their expense5 

out of fees earned by their respeotfve OfflOes, and the oommissioners' ootWt ia without authority to allow payment of 

the aam by the oounty. 

You 'are respeotfull 

of thitl departmsnt that the a g; 

advised that it is the opinion 

ove mentioned erpenass Of tb6 

oounty ulerk should have been paid by h&n fxom fees of offios 

and the oounty has no suthority to pay suoh expenses. 

Truetlng that the forego@! fully ansWrs your 

inquiry, we remain 

Your5 very truly 

Al'TORhT&pCZ!XERAL OFTEXAS 

BY ISl8ned) 

Ardell Pll.lianw 

Afmla tant 

A%GX 

ApprMre&,Aprfi 80. 1940. 

Or#ves SeLlbra, First Assistant 

Attmney General 

ApprQVad1 Opinion Cor;rmlttee by BWB L Ohairman