. . 

Honorable J. D. Looneg 

County Auditor 

Bowle County 

Boston, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-4266 

Re: How should the wages of men working by the month for the various 

county commlssloners be set? 

Your letter of recent date requesting the opinion 

of this department on the above stated question reads as. 

f bllows : 

'%ow should the wages of nien working by. 

the month for the various commlssloners be set, 

should it be made by each com+ssioner as be 

see's fit 6Fshould it be made by an order of 

the.Commr..Court and placed in the minutes of 

the Court." 

Artlcl~e 2351, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes provides in part: 

"Fzch commissioners court shall: 

9, 

. . . . 

“3. Lay out and establish, change and discontinue public roads and highways. 

“4.’ Build bridges and keep them in repair. 

“5 . Appoint road overseers,and apportion hands. 

“6 . Exercise general control over all roads,' 

highways, ferries and bridges In their counties. 

,, II 

. . . . . 

'Title 116, Chapters~ l-15, inclusive, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes and amendments thereto contains many. 

statutes with reference to roads, bridges and ferries'and the 

powers and duties of the Commissioners' Courts relative thereto. 
Honorable 3. D. ~LooneJi, page 2' ~0-4266 

Bowie County hasa population of 50,244 Inhabitants 

accoralng to the.1940 Federal census. Article 6762, Vernon.'~ 

Annotated Civil Statutes provides In part: 

"In all counties of this State, as shown by 

the preceedingFedera1 census to contain as many 

as 40,000 Inhabitants, the members of the Commissioners' Court shall be ex offlcld road commissioners of their respective precincts; and under the 

direction of the Commlsslonsrs’ Court shall have 

charge of the teams, tools and machinery belonging 

to the County and placed in their hands by said 

court. . .'I 

Article 6763, Vernon's Annotated ClvFl Statutes provides in part: 

If . . . Sala Court may employ any hands and 

teams on the public roads-under such-regulations 

and for such prices as they may deem best." 

Article 

as follows: 

6769, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes reads 

"The provisions of this subdivision shall be 

cumulative of all general laws on the subject of 

roads, when not in conflict therewith, but in the 

case of such,confllct this law shall control. 

This law shall not be In operation In any county 

unless the Commissioners I Court thereof In their 

judgment may deem It advisable, and then only by 

an order of said Court when all of the members 

are present, made at some regular term thereof, accepting the provisions hereof. Such order shall 

be entered on the minutes of said Court, and shall 

not be void for want of form, but a substantial 

compliance of the provisions hereof shall be sufficient." 

There 1s nothing In your letter that would Indicate 

that the Commissioners' Court of Bowie County has accepted 

the provisions of the above mentioned statutes which are eommanly referred to as the optional road law. In the absence 

of any statement to the contrary, for the purposes of this 

opinion, we asstie that the Commissioners' Court of Bowle 

County has not accepted the provlslons of the optional road 

law and are in no way operating under the same. 

Bowie County, as well as & number of other counties, 

is exempted frbm certain provisions of Chapter 3, Title 116, 

Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, relative to road superin- 
” - 

Honorable J. D. Looney, page 3 o-4266 

tendents at-id theirduties as contained under the heading of 

Road Sup.eri~tendents,~subdivision 3 of Chapter 3, Title 116, 

supra. 

Article 6740, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes provides for the expenditure of the road and bridge fund of the 

various dountles and Article 6741'provides: 

"The Commidsloners Court may make and enforce 

all reasonable and necessary rules and orders for 

the Qorklng and repairing of public roads, and to 

utilize the labor to b~e.used and money expended 

thereon, riot in conflict with the laws of this State. 

Said court may purchase or hire all necessary road 

machinery, tools, or teams, and hire such~labor as 

may be needed in addition to the .labor required of 

citizens to build or repair the roads." 

It ls'stated in Texas Jurisprudence, Volt 11, p. 632: 

"The authority of the com&sloners' cc&t as 

a &vernlng body of a county to make contracts in 

its behalf is strictly 1Fmlted to that conferred 

either expressly or by fair or necessary implication 

by the constitutlbn and laws of the State. . , . . 

'The. commissioners' court must have authority 

of law for its contract, and, if the authority has 

been.given, a reasonable. construction of it will 

be given to effect its purpose-~ 

"A contract or agreement made by a county is 

valid and binding.only if made under the authority 

of a resolutldn br order auig passed at a meeting 

of the commissioners' court and entered upon the 

minutes of such meeting. . No rights can be 

acquired as against the co&ty by agreements with 

the Individuals composing the commissioners' court. 

The members of the court are not agents with general 

authority to bind the public; they are public officials who have been granted certain powers which 

must be exercised in the way prescribed by the statute. 

f, . . 0 

. . 

It is further stated In Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 11, 

P. 635: 

"The commissioners' court, in entering into a 

contract on behalf of the county, may act through 
Honorable J. D. Looney; page 4 ~0-4266 

an agent:.appointed by it; and the contract thus 

made by a duly appointed agent Is binding upon the 

county. In a suit Involving the contract it is 

necessary to show that the agreement is one which 

the agent was authorized to make, or that the 

county, with knowledge of the terms of the agreement , ratlfled It after it was maae. . 

. . 

"Authority to bind the county by coIltract 

must come'from the commissioners' court acting 

as a body; it is not sufficient that the indlvldual commissioners may have refrained from objecting to the assumption of such authority by the 

alleged agent. . . .' 

In view of the foregoing authorities, you are respectfully advised that ~lt Is the opinion of this department 

that the wages or compensation of men working by the month 

for the various County Commissioners should be set or made 

under the authority of's resolution or order duly passed at 

a meeting of the Commissioners I Court and. entered upon the 

minutes 6f such meeting. 

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your lnquiry, we are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GmERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/Ardell Williams 

Ardell Williams 

Assistant 

AW:mp:wc 

APPROTW) DEC lgj 1941 

s/Grover Sellers 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman