JIM MAlTOX 

Attorney General 

Supreme Court Building 

P. 0. Box 12548 

Austin. TX. 7871% 2548 

512l4752501 

Telex 9101874-1357 

Telecopier 512/4750288 

714 Jackson. Suite 700 

Dallas. TX. 75202-4506 

214l742-89u 

4824 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 

El Paso. TX. 799052793 

915lThe Attorney General of Texas 

June 13. 1985 

Eonorable James A. Rasmussen 

Uichita,Couuty Attomey 

Wichita County Courthouse 

1 th 6 Lamar. Suite 207 

Wichita Falls, Texas 76301 

opinion No. at-326 

Re: Whether a commissioners 

court may reduce a county 

attorney's salary after the 

annual budget has been adopted 

Dear Mr. gamussen: 

Pou have requested an opinion from this office regarding the 

authority of the cnnmissioners court to reduce the salary of the 

county attorney .afc:e!r the annual budget for the county has been 

approved.. Specifically, you ask the following questions: 

1Ml Texas. Suite 700 

Housion. TX. 770025111 

713/223-5888 

1. Doee a comDiesioners court have authority 

to reduce lthe salary of a county attorney after 

the annual budget hearing and budget adoption 

proceedinge? 

806 Broadway. Suite 312 

Lubbock, TX. 79401-3479 

8W747.5238 

4306 N. Tenth, Suite B 

MeAllen. TX. 78501.1685 

51s82.4547 

2. Is the county attorney estopped from 

claiming hwk salary by subsequently accepting 

less than the salary set pursuant to article 

3912k. .V.T.C.S.? 

To assist ue in rendering our opinion, you have supplied the following 

facts: 

200 Main Plwa Suite 400 

San Antonio. TX. 782G52797 

512Q25-4191 

An Equal Opportunltyl 

AffirmalIve Action Employer 

1. On Sleptember 12, 1983, after the annual 

budget hewing. the final budget of Wichita 

County, TaBa for the year of 1984 vae certified 

by the county judge and filed with the county 

clerk of Wichita County, Texas. 

2. The salary of the county attorney in said 

budget.wae Iret at,a sum of $38.919.00 per annum. 

.3. ,;On :Jcamber 31, 1983, the incumbent county 

attorney raraigned from office. 

4. On January 9, 1984, I was appointed county 

attorney by tbe ctissioners court of Wichita 

County, Texas. 

p. 1489 
. 

. .‘,, 

Eonorable James A. Rasmussen '- Page 2 (JM-326) 

5. On the same date (January 9. 1984) the 

commissioners court entered an order reducing the 

salary of the cowty attorney to the sum of 

$30.312.00 per annum. This is the salary 

currently being paid. 

6. Ho notice va6 provided by the commisaloners 

court aa to the proposed salary reduction. 

In most counties, the commiaaloners court must approve the yearly 

operating budget for the county at an annual budget hearing and may 

amend the budget to allow emergency expenditures in times of grave 

public necessity. V.T.C.S. art. 689a-11. The commisa*onera court may 

also make "changes in the budSet for county purposes." V.T.C.S. art. 

6898-20. 

The general rule derivei, from the aforementioned authorities was 

summarized in Attorney General Opinion E-11 (1973): 

In most situations amendments to a county 

budget will have I:O mset the requirements of 

Article 6898-11, V.'T.C.S. Whether circumstances 

exist which will warrant an amendment to the 

budget will be a question of fact in each case. 

This rule, however, assumes a different tenor when applied to the 

salaries of county officere and employees contained in the annual 

county budget: 

\ 

[Als to salaries of county officers and employees, 

the rule has been :hnpliedly amended by the enactPent, in 1971, of Article 3912k. . . . 

Attorney General Opinion E-11 (1973). 

\ Article 3912k. V.T.C.S., establishes guidelines to be observed by 

!\ 

the cormnissionera court vher setting the salaries of certain county 

officials and employees. tt contains the following pertinent 

provisions: 

Section 1. Except as otherwise provided by 

this Act and subject to the limitations of this 

Act, the conmissiorters court Aof each county shall 

fix the amount of compensation, office expense, 

travel expense, and all other allowances for 

county and precinct officials and employees who 

are paid wholly frcm county funds. but in uo event 

shall such aalarielr be set lover than they exist 

*t the effective date of this Act. 

p. 1490 
Ronorable James A. Rasmussen - Page 3 (JM-326) 

. . . . 

Sec. 2. (a) The! salaries, expenses, and other 

allowances of elected county and precinct officers -- 

shall be set each year during the regular budget 

hearing and adoptio,; proceedings on giving notice 

as provided by this ?,ct --* (Emphasis added). 

In Attorney General Opinion II-11 (1973), it was stated that section 2 

"applies only to elected county and precinct officers, [and] requires 

that their salaries be set during the regular budget hearing." 

(Emphasis added). Tbe opinion further noted that because section 1 of 

article 3912k imposes no similar limitation on the authority of the 

commissioners court to fix salaries of non-elected employees and 

officials. these salaries 

nay be fixed at times other than during the 

regular budget hearing. To the extent that this 

is inconsistent w:Lth Article 6898-11, Article 

3912k furnishes an :tnplied exception thereto. 

Attorney General Opinion H-11 111973) (citations omitted). It is clear 

that since the county attorney? is an elected official, see Tex. Const. 

art. V, 521, the salary for that office nay be considea and adopted 

only during the regular, ar.nual budget hearing and adoption proceedings. V.T.C.S. art. 391;!k, 12(a). Cf. Attorney General Opinion - 

JM-313 (1985). 

One of the established mles of statutory construction decrees 

that when two statutes affec:t the same general subject matter, the 

more specific of the two is controlling. See Sam Bassett Lumber Co. 

v. City of Eouston, 198 S.W.Zd 879 (Tex. 19 m; East Texas Oxygen Co. 

v. State, 681 S.W.2d 741, 745 (Tex. App. - Austla 

this instance. both articles 6898-11 and 3912k deal nenerallv with 

84, no writ). In 

county budget matters and th.e commissioners court's discretion in 

creating the budget. Article 3912k, however, deals in particular with 

the salaries of county and precinct officials and employees. subjects 

that would otherwise be guided by article 6898-11. Accordingly, we 

believe that article 3912k, and the interpretations of the statute by 

the courts and this offi,ce, control the outcome of your inquiry. 

Thus, in Attorney General Cplnion R-643 (1975) this office concluded 

that the comuissioners'court may not reduce the salary of the county 

attorney below the amount fixed at the annual budget hearing until the 

folloving fiscal year. This opinion noted that although article 3912k 

deals generally with salary in'-reases. -- 

[i]mplicit in thie conclusion is the corollary 

that the salaries of these [elected county and 

precinct] officials uay not be decreased until the 

next fiscal yesr. ('Emphasis in original). 

p. 1491 
,A Y.‘, 

Honorable Jataes A. ~asmusaen - Page 4 (JH-326) 

It appears. then. ~that the conmissioners court is not accorded the 

discretion to "make changes in" or to amend the salaries of elected 

county and precinct officials pursuant to article 689a-11 and 689a-20 

after approval at the regular’ budget hearing. We therefore ansver 

your first question in the negative. 

Your second question aska vhether the acceptance of a salary in 

an amount less than that set :Ln accordance with article 3912k estops 

the county attorney from claisrtng the avount he is entitled to receive 

by lav. The mle vhicb ansvera your inquiry vas first announced in 

Morrison v. City of Fort Worth, i55 S.Ui2d 908. 910 (Tex. 1941) and 

most recently affirmed in Brow v. Tyler County Commissioners Court, -- 

560 S.W.2d 435, 437 (Tex. Civ. App. - Beaumont 1977. no vrit): 

[W]e think it is the lav in this State that a 

public officer cannct estop himself from claiming 

his statutory salary 'by agreeing to accept, or by 

accepting, less than the salary provided by law. 

Your second question, accordi&y. is answered in the negative. We 

caution that our answers here should not be read to divest the 

cotmissioners court of its discretion to fix salaries in accordance 

vith the lavs of the state. or to reauire the court to award anything 

rsore than vhat it considers to be a reasonable salary. See V.%.C.SY 

art. 3912k. Cf. Vond v. Cotmlissioners Court of Uvalde~unty, 620 

S.U.2d 104. 108 -----r- (Tex. 1981 . 

The commissioners court may not reduce the 

salary of the count:g attorney, or any salary set 

pureuant to section 2. of article 3912k. V.T.C.S., 

from the amount arsproved at the annual budget 

hearing and budget adoption proceedings. The 

county attorney is not estopped from claiming the 

amounts he is entit,l.ed to receive under article 

3912k by accepting a salary less than the sum 

originally approved pursuant to article 3912k. 

L-&g+ 

Attorney General of Texas 

TOM GREEN 

First Assistant Attorney General 

P. 1492 
Honorable James A. Usmussen - Page 5 (m-326) 

DAVID R. RICHARDS 

Executive Assistant Attorney Gweral 

ROBERT GRAY 

Special Assistant Attorney Gewsal 

RICK GILPIN 

Chaiman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Rick Gilpin 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMHITTRE 

Rick Gilpfn, Chairman 

Colin Carl 

Susan Garrison 

Tony Guillory 

Jim Noellinger 

Jennifer Riggs 

Nancy Sutton 

p. 1493