PRICEDANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENEIWI. 

Hon. R. S. Wyche op1a10n No. v-101 

County Auditor 

oregg county Re : Authorlt Jr of a County to 

Longview, Texas make contribution to an 

incorporated city for the 

purpose of oonatruct ing 

an airport end to purchase 

Dear Sir: fire f lght ing equlpmnt . 

Reference is made to your letter of Maroh 3, 

1947, In which you request the opinion of this department on the questlous: 

‘%as the Commlsslouera 1 Court authority to make a contribution out of the Permanent Improvement Fund to the City of Qladewater, au incorporated city of Greg County, 

for the purpose of construotiug an f lrport 

near that Cit . 

f? 

said Airport to be owned 

and operated y that City?, 

%aa the Commissioners I Court authority to contribute funds to incorporated 

cities in Gregg County to purchase fire 

fighting equipment to bs use& outside the 

city 1lmi.t 87 n 

Seotion 18,‘~rtlcle V of the Constitution of 

foxas provldes for the dlvlsiou of oounties la ‘cosmlsaloners’ precincts, for the eleotioh of oountiy oomalssiouers, an& limits the powers of Commlssloners~ Courts 

aa follows : 

“The oounty oommlssloners so chosen, 

with the county judge, as presiding officer, 

shall compose the County Commissloners~ 

Court, which shall exercise such powers and 

jurisdiction over all aounty business, as 1s 

conferred by this Constitution and the laws 

of the State, or as may be hereafter prescribed. ” 

In Mills vs. Lampasas County, 40 S . W. 403, 

90 Tex. 606, decided in 1897, the Supreme Court had 
uttdtti ooasiderrt&oa powew of Oo~~~issiaasro~ Ooor6s 

‘-@lad rldt 0 

Ia 1942, Lk, 8aw of Oelvestea tl.‘, and 8. A. 

w. OO. VI. Uvalde Oouat~, a67 9. W. ;c#l 305, was de+ 

oidod by the Ooart a$ O$vh &po&io ate (klnst,on 46 

“’ a writ of error war refuod lR that oue. koly other 

thittgr the hurt satit 

Beetion 3 of Artiolo XI of @he Ommtltutlon 

.:..alted by tin Gourt mad8 a# fJbltrt 

%aorraa’y. 60 oefm , oity er other 

nioLgaloerperatloe @h&oredtw boaomm 

olt&fhaatr our4 

8ffoblsa 53 of Art1ele III of the 8tdte oscstlta6iottprovia,e that the bgislatum till have ho 

power to authorlse the payment of any alalm orsated 

agsinat any county or munwlpallty of this State utuler 
Hon.. 81, 8. Wyche, Page 3, V-101 

any agreement or contract made without authority of law”. 

Article 2351 of the Revised Civil Statutes of 

Texas, 1925, prescribes the powers of Commlsalonera~ 

Courts and the pertinent provision of that Article 1s 

in Section 15, which reads: 

“Said court shall have all such other 

powers and jurlsdlctlon, and shall perform 

all such other duties, as are now or may 

hereafter be prescribed by law”. 

The queatlon of powers’of Commlssloners8 

Courts as administrators of the affairs of aountles 

ia covered in Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 11, pages 563 

to 565, from which we quote: 

“Sect ion 36. Powers - Qenerally. - 

Counties, being component parts of the State, 

have no powers or duties except those that 

are olearlg set forth and defined la the 

Constitution and statutes. The statutes 

have clearly defined the powers, presorlbed 

the duties, and imposed the llablllties of 

the Commissioners1 Courts, the medium through 

~~ which the differeat counties act, and from 

those statutes must come all the authority 

‘- vested in the counties.” 

We have not found any provision in the Constltution or any law of this State which attempts to 

authorize Commlssiouers~ Courts to contribute any couuty money to a olty for the purpose of oonstructlng an 

Airport to be owned and operated by such city, Our answer to your first question 18 in the negative. 

Your second question involves the conatruotlon of ~iiouse Bill No. 262, Acts of the 47th bglslature, Regular Session, now appearing as Article 2351a-1, 

in Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which reads as fOlloWa: 

” * * * The Commissioners* Court of any 

county of this State shall also have the authority to enter into contracts with any city, 

town or village within the county and/or a%- 

joining counties, upon such terms and condltlons as shall be agreed upon between the Commlssloners I Court and the governing body of 
hon. R. 5. Wyohe, Page 4, V-101 

suah city, towa,or village, for the use of 

the fire truoks and other fire ?l&htlng 

tqzir@ of the olty, town, or village. 

The Uoassissiotwrs ) Oaurt king give0 authority by law to enter into suoh oontraota, rash l uthorlty must be liberally aonstrued tb lve effooti to tm 

purpose. Conmis~ioners~’ Court 0. Ua1 f coo, 13 8. lf. t 2a8) 

525. 4 

opinion lVe. O-6160, of thir *partmat wa ,” 

mitten lo anawe@ to qusstlms rutim-lt.ted by Hoamable 

‘Joha T. Butohinioa,. County Atlmrtit of hrar, ,obcmhy, 

as- follows i 

:,; ! :‘!lf .your ant&or.: 66 tih ilret ~quer~i0tt 

~lr’~‘jes;. then la tha Oounty Auditor of Lulrr, ‘, ., 

~~Qounty’authorlred to pay ia;d’ $100 pas awmb’ 

,and If so, out o? ulpt fund would ,h6 be m&h- 

*riced to ,pay same? 

.~ 

‘We quote, frq8 ,tltrt opltilo~ 9 +lourt “’ 

%rtlole ,2)5la-1, ‘aupra, q4sltlball~, , ,~ :

i$iith&itelp the ~o~mairrionorr ? aourt or 0ag ,’ ‘. I, ,~’ 

e~out~t,y~ oi’thls ‘State fo enteb lato OoQtmM, ,,’ ” 

kith:~aay pity; ~toua,/oti village w$t&Witho., ‘al 

bounty a@or adjolsiag c,ow~~ss “upon’ rtttd’ ‘, :” 

teras sad dondit lam as ehall k amued: :upoo 

“bstreeit the commlrslotters~ mart and tbm 

overning body Of the oity, tova or tll~ 

f, or the use of fire trwks 8txI ohor flro 

tightin 

8 

equlpmnt, of the olty,. tom or, ~11: 

)wrefore 

t%i that it ls’the opfuloa of. bhlr dofmrb 

mu are mspe0tfPlly atlP 

nt that the Oou&lssioners * adurt of &alum 

ounty is authorl6ed under the law ,to. enter 

Late a aoatraot with the Oity of Parla to 

k 

rovlde for fire-fighting fmoilitiM t0 proect property located. outalde of the city 
. - 

Hon. 8. 9. mhe, Page,~5, Q-101 

,’ lludts of Paris, Spec if lcally acmverlng 

our 

E 

first question, you are advlaed that the 

omlasloaers~ Court of Lamar County is authorl&ed to coutract with the City of Paris to 

protriad for fire-fl*ting facilltles ana w 

the Gt 

x 

$109.00 per moath for suoh aervI*ea, 

p8wvide au& bxpahdlt urea are m40 in aamplimce Pith tbra otmity bnd@tt rad t&m law 

~applicable to the aouutJ b-t. 

“IQ m8vor to ‘pour wooad queattom, you 

alrcl *bprisea thet it is our optiiocl, tn vimi 

of our anmer to your rmt queatioa, the 

amtf *editor is authorized to approve claimu 

for tha mam or 1)100.00 per month for the above 

Yntbt~d w~tleea, PCov.lbed that a &Bat#Wt 

ha8 ‘Iyy1p uldr, b7 and between the ooslPtr *aa 

CitJ iOr SUOb *otiiCeS, actd that et& 

rGtu r*da out of the gamecal fund a Ip” 

ywQtxJ 

the 

aill oouut 

orrUed’to k laatke 3: 

expenditures Mwf’ullf authy (I oountP must be ~14 out 

of trh0 4Qwty’l IMP*1 rua4, mlew thaar, 18 

wem lry vhiah 

smaial f =a. 

thea a ohwge agaiaot tb 

08. W-roll, 1182 J. U. 

29 &ae~ Cotutty, et al, vs. II&an, 157 S.W. 2d, 

14, D * 

We are of tha opinloa that the Coma~isslonem 

&NH of &egg County is authoriEed to contribute Suads 

to lacorporate4 cities In Oragg County to purahase filn 

r*t~4tqulp1813t to ba used far Llre pPol;vctioP iQ 

f3rcrgg 00bwy t2wa30 0r SW~ ,0ity umt5, it 8wh emtr1buW.m is masonable, and ii prde tn aoooMaace 

uith ‘(rhs county by&et and otimr applicable statutobr 

1. The Ommissloriars ( Court 0r OFS@ 

County does not have authority to make a oo?ktributlon to the City of Oladelsate* out of the 

Permaneut mmprovercnt ha 0r that cou6tf rm 

the purpoaa of constructln$ aa l irpmt to ba 

ovnad and operated bj that city. 

The Commissioners I Court or BEem 

Counti’haa the authority to ceatriBu&e lpMJ 
,801~. R. 9, Wyche, Page 6, V-101