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 onth* aboro 8 reaaioed.

as follbas : Court ot Baylor County O\mtyAuaZtOr to get a to payment ot expens6e fw a period running ers for extra 

### help aa derstanding that thle offied to aover anyextra help th:‘ce,eLFhLYKty tidy, whfoh ln cmlr part oounty ie not large enough 

### the oounty haspaid tU8 en srnountfor oonnty and iag around4l,4OOdM per year,

8should hsri et from them fast that the expenoe &atementmonthly to the emrtl which ha‘has done amI in whlah hs has not alai&ml the&~expenses, it Is mgbelief that M Ia not entitled to alah themat 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 namedherein whois oompensated on a Pee basle shall make
as part of the report nowrequired by law,
an it&.zsd and sworn statement of all the aotual andneeessaq expenses lneurred by him in the oonc¶uetof hia offlee suoh aa stntlonerp, stampe, telephone, premknns on offiatslat bon&a, inaluding the, eoat of surety bon&efor hie glary, theft, robbe premiumon fire, burpub110 funds, nsuranoe proteatlng expenses an&other neoesaary expenses, Ihe Commiesioners~ Court of the oounty of the Sheriffte reeldenee may, upon the written and8w:rn applioation. of the bherlff stating the necessity therefor, purehase equipment for abureau of oriminal 

### Men-- tlfleatlcn suoh-as eemerae, finger print, ear&s, inka, ohemieals, &@rOsoopes, radio and lsboratory equipment, filing oards, filing eebinete, tear ~:asandother equipment in keeping with the system in use by the Department of Pub110Qafety ~ofthis 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
nemeeuoh 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

## itemof such expense wae not incurr& by auoh oflioer or eueh itemwae not aneoessary expense of offioe, s~uehitem ehail be **by** suoh auditor or court rd$eoteU, 3.n whloh &se the aolleotlona of .lsuehitem ma’ybe adjudioated in tiy oourt of ooripetent~ &trlsdietlon. Theam&& of salariee pai& to Aesietante aab Deputies shall also be,el~:~arlyshown by suoh~offiowl plvinC the name, position an8 amount peicl eaoh; and in no event ahall any offioer showHon. 3. 5, Allred, page 3

any graater amount than actually paid anysuch Aseistant or Deputy. The amountof 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 uPredby 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 andpald for out of the Oeneral .Fund of the county andthey shall be andremain the property of the county. Theexpenee of maintenanee, depreolation and operation of suoh automobiles a8maybe allowed, whether purehaeed the aounty or ownedby the Sheriff or his Deby puties pereonnlly, shall be paid for by the Sheriff andthe amount thereof shall, be reported by the sheriff, on the report above mentioned, fin the sememanneras 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 andthe ‘laws of this aitate~. Aats outai e l of these definite bound6 are null and void. 88. Lampabaadounty, 40 S1W. 403 (Mills County Oommis6lonere~ Court of Madison county va. Wallie 15 8. 4 (Sd) 55881Satsfleld 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 ore

P the aommissionars oourt in the aituation nowoonfronting UBean legally pay the aounty olerk moneyrepresenting expenses of that office over a nine year period, there muet be momeexpreseed 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 beenIIOn.J. B. Allred, page 4

dn the sameform during the nine year period WCnowhave under oo~slderation. This atatuts has alwape allowed the expenaoe enumerated therein for oounty offioials oompensated
on a fee basis, inourred by themin the oonduat of thair offioae. Howeqer, these expenses wera never paid by the oounty, but the amountof suoh expenees, together with th8 &mountOS5alarlee 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 andsalarice 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 bysuoh offi0er. Said offloer oan le@.ly dedaat the salaries of his assistants anddeputies andthe authorized expenses under Arti 3099, supra, in arriving at his maximumoompensatlon.

Thacounty has paid the count oompensation in the approximste 5umOf $ 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 whenthe oompeasation and axOesa fess whloh they are allowed to rotain ehall reaoh the nudmm provided by law, A5above stated, oounty offioialll who.am oompeaaated on a fee baste must pay their expense5 out of fees earned by their respeotfve OfflOes, andthe 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 Oftb6 oounty ulerk should have been paid by h&nfxomfees of offios andthe oounty has nosuthority 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 Afmlatant A%GX ApprMre&,Aprfi 80. 1940. Or#ves SeLlbra, First Assistant Attmney General ApprQVad1 Opinion Cor;rmltteeby BWB LOhairman