Honorable B.F. MaKee

County Auditor Hidalgo County Edinburg, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3777 Re: Senate Bill 61, 47th Legislature of Texas, isunconstitutional.
Your request for opinion has been received and carefully considered by this department. We quote from your request as follows:

"Therecent Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 61 authoriziniIan increase in the salary of the County Judge 1,500.OO. "Please advise if this iseffective upon date ofpassing or if it isdiscretionary 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 ofTexas, reads inpart as follows:
eaE IT EXACTED BYTHE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: "Section 1. In all counties having a population ofnot less than one hundred five thousand (105,000) nor more than onehundred twenty-five thousand (125,000) according to the last preceding orany future Federal Census, the County Judge shall receive the sum of Fifteen Hundred ($1500.00) Dollars annually Inaddition tohis salary now orhereafter provided by law, such addition in salary tobe paid~such County Judge as amember of the Juvenile Board provided byArticle 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 theGeneral 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 allbills tobe read on three.several days be suspended, and such Rule is suspended, and thisAct shall take effect and be in force from and after itspassage, and it **is** so enacted. "Passed the Senate, May 6, 1941; Yeas 27,Neys 0;passed theHouse, May i3, 1941: Yeas i20,. Nays 7. "Filedvdthout theGovernor'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 inTexas coming within the population brackets set out in the bill.

Article 5139, V.A.C.S., ageneral statute, applicable to counties having apopulation in excess of 100,000, inhabitants, constitutes the County Judge amember of the County Juvenile Boardbut doesnot provide any additional compensation for such services. The statute provided additional compensation forDistrict Judges who serve on the Board. Said statute reads as follows:

"inany county having apopulation of one hundred thousand or over, according to thepreaeding Federal census, the judges of the several district and criminal district courts of such county,.together with the oounty judge of suah county, arehereby 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 asmembers of said board shall be $1,500 inaddition to thatpaid the other district judges of the State, said additional salary tobe paidmonthly out of,-

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

thegeneral funds,of such county, upon the order of the commissioners court.tl The county judge ofMoLennan‘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 ofTarrant County (population 225,521) receives $900.00 per annum additiona, compensation forhis services on the Juvenile Board under theprovisions of Section 15 ofArticle 5142b, (applicable to counties having apopulation ofnot less than 220,000 andnot more than 320,000 inhabitants).~ The actnow applies to Tarrant County alone. At the time theAct was passed itapplied toBexar County alone and at that time discriminated against Dallas and Harris Counties and the county judges ofDallas 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 thetime theAct was passed.

We think it canbe safely-assumed that the county judges ofHarris, Dallas, Bexar,Tarrsnt, Jefferson, El Paso andMcLennan **GOUnti8S,** asmembers of the Juvenile Boards of their counties, have duties justas onerous and important as the County Judges ofHidalgo 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 inSenate Bill 61, supr .

Senate Bill 61 supra, is clearly unconstitutional. See the recent case ofMiller 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. 562Honorable 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 61of the 47th Legislature ofTexas isunconstitutional and that you would have no authority to sign or approve warrants for the salarymentioned in saidbill.

We also hold that Section 15 ofArticle 5142b, V.A.C.S., insofar as itattempts 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 Countyhas 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 OFTEXAS 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
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