Honorable B. F. MaKee 

County Auditor 

Hidalgo County 

Edinburg, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3777 

Re: Senate Bill 61, 47th Legislature of Texas, is unconstitutional. 

Your request for opinion has been received and 

carefully considered by this department. We quote from 

your request as follows: 

"The recent Legislature passed Senate Bill 

No. 61 authorizin 

iI 

an increase in the salary of 

the County Judge 1,500.OO. 

"Please advise if this iseffective upon 

date of passing or if it is discretionary as 

to the effective date or is it effective 

January first of the next calendar year 

without aation on the part of anyone." 

Senate Bill 61 of the 47th Legislature of Texas, 

reads in part as follows: 

eaE IT EXACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF 

TEXAS : 

"Section 1. In all counties having a 

population of not less than one hundred five 

thousand (105,000) nor more than one hundred 

twenty-five thousand (125,000) according to 

the last preceding or any future Federal Census, 

the County Judge shall receive the sum of 

Fifteen Hundred ($1500.00) Dollars annually 

In addition to his salary now or hereafter 

provided by law, such addition in salary to be 

paid~ such County Judge as a member of the 

Juvenile Board provided by Article 5139, 

Revised Civil Statutes, 1925; such additional 
- . 

Honorable B. F. McKee, page 2, O-3777 

salary shall be paid in twelve (12) equal 

installments out of the General Funds of such 

county, upon the order of the Commissioners* 

Court. 

"Sec. 2. The crowded condition of the 

calendar creates an emergency and an imperative 

public necessity that the Constitutional Rule 

requiring all bills to be read on three. several 

days be suspended, and such Rule is suspended, 

and this Act shall take effect and be in force 

from and after its passage, and it is so enacted. 

"Passed the Senate, May 6, 1941; Yeas 27, Neys 

0; passed the House, May i3, 1941: Yeas i20,. 

Nays 7. 

"Filed vdthout the Governor's signature, May 

1941. 

"Effective May 28, 1941." 

28, 

The population of Hidalgo County, Texas, according 

to the 1940 Federal Census, is 106,059 inhabitants. The 

population of Travis County, Texas, according to the 1940 

Federal Census, is 111,053 inhabitants. Hidalgo and Travis 

countres are the only counties in Texas coming within the 

population brackets set out in the bill. 

Article 5139, V.A.C.S., a general statute, applicable 

to counties having a population in excess of 100,000, inhabitants, constitutes the County Judge a member of the 

County Juvenile Board but does not provide any additional 

compensation for such services. The statute provided 

additional compensation for District Judges who serve on 

the Board. Said statute reads as follows: 

"in any county having a population of one 

hundred thousand or over, according to the preaeding 

Federal census, the judges of the several district and 

criminal district courts of such county,.together 

with the oounty judge of suah county, are hereby 

constituted a Juvenile Board for such county. The 

annual salary of each of the judges of the civil and 

criminal district aourts of such county as members 

of said board shall be $1,500 in addition to 

that paid the other district judges of the State, 

said additional salary to be paid monthly out of 
,- 

Honorable B. F. McKee, page 3, O-3777 

the general funds, of such county, upon the 

order of the commissioners court.tl 

The county judge of MoLennan‘County (population 

101,898) receives no additional compensation for his services 

on the Juvenile Board. The county judges of Harris (population 528,96x\, Dallas (population 398,564), Bexar (population 338,176), Jefferson (population 145,329) and El Paso 

(population 131.,007) counties receive no additional compensation for their services on the Juvenile Board. 

The county judge of Tarrant County (population 

225,521) receives $900.00 per annum additiona, compensation 

for his services on the Juvenile Board under the provisions of 

Section 15 of Article 5142b, (applicable to counties having 

a population of not less than 220,000 and not more than 

320,000 inhabitants).~ The act now applies to Tarrant County 

alone. At the time the Act was passed it applied to Bexar 

County alone and at that time discriminated against Dallas 

and Harris Counties and the county judges of Dallas and 

Harris Counties. There was no reasonalbe basis for the 

classification adopted by said Section 15 insofar as it 

applied to county judges receiving additional compensation 

at the time the Act was passed. 

We think it canbe safely-assumed that the county 

judges of Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrsnt, Jefferson, El 

Paso and McLennan GOUnti8S, as members of the Juvenile 

Boards of their counties, have duties just as onerous and 

important as the County Judges of Hidalgo and Travis counties. 

Senate Bill 61, discriminates against the counties named 

above and their county judges. We can see no reasonalbe 

basis for the classification adopted in Senate Bill 61, supr . 

Senate Bill 61 supra, is clearly unconstitutional. 

See the recent case of Miller et al., vs. El Paso County, 

150 S,W. (2d) 1000, (Supreme Court of Texas--opinion 

delivered by Chief JustIce Alexander). Also see the 

following cases: 

City of Ft. Worth vs.~Bobbitt, 41 $.W. (2d) 228. 

Bexar County vs. Tynan, 97 S.W. (2d) 467 _ 

Clark vs. Finley, 54 S.W. 343 

Smith vs. State, 49 S.W. (26) 739 

Fritter VS. West, 65 S.W. (2d) 414 

Wood vs Marfa School District, 123 S.W. (2d) 429 

Leonard vs. Road Distriot, 61 S.W. (2d) 70 

Altgelt vs. GUtZeit, 201 S.W. 400 

Duolos vs. Harris County, 263 S.W. 562 
Honorable B. F. McKee, Page 4, O-3777 

Ward vs. Harris County, 209, S.W. 794. 

You are therefore respectfully advised that it is 

the opinion of this department that Senate Bill 61 of the 

47th Legislature of Texas is unconstitutional and that 

you would have no authority to sign or approve warrants 

for the salary mentioned in said bill. 

We also hold that Section 15 of Article 5142b, 

V.A.C.S., insofar as it attempts to allow additional compensation to county judges for their services on juvenile 

boards, is invalid, under the above cited authorities. The 

county auditor of Tarrant County has no authority to sign 

or approve warrants for additional compensation for the 

County Judge of Tarrant County under Article 514213, 

V.A.C.S. 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

s/Wm. J. Fanning 

BY Wm. J. Fanning 

~Assistant 

Approved July 29, 1941 

s/ Grover Sellers 

First Assistant 

Attorney General 

Approved Opinion Committee 

By BWB, Chairman 

WJF:eaw/cg