OF EXAS 

September 21, 1961 

Honorable Henry Wade Opinion No. WW-1150 

Criminal District Attorney 

Dallas, Texas Re: Whether the Commissioners 

Court of Dallas County has 

the authority to acquire a 

lien on real estate owned 

by persons whom the Dallas 

County Department of Public 

Welfare has determined to 

be paupers under the standards approved by the ComDear Mr. Wade: missioners Court. 

Your request for an opinion proposes the following: 

Whether the Commissioners Court of 

Dallas County has the authority to acquire 

a lien on real estate owned by persons 

whom the Dallas County Department of 

Public Welfare has determined to be 

paupers under the standards approved 

by the Commissioners Court. 

Article 2351, Vernon's Civil Statutes, prescribes 

the powers and duties of the Commissioners Court insofar as 

they relate to paupers. This Article provides in part as 

follows: 

"Each Commissioners Court shall: 

It 

. . . 

"11. Provide for the support of paupers 

and such idiots and lunatics as cannot be admitted into the lunatic asylum, residents of 

their county, who are unable to support 

themselves. By the term resident as used 

herein, is meant a person who has been a 

bona fide inhabitant of the county not 

less than six months and of the State not 

less than one year. 

"12. Provide for the burial of 

paupers. 
Honorable Henry Wade, page 2 (WW-1150) 

11 II 

. . . 

Nowhere in the foregoing Article is there any 

wording which would create an obligation on the part of a 

pauper to secure by lien or to otherwise repay or reimburse 

the county in whole or in part for public funds expended for 

his support. A lien on either personal or real property 

arises only by virtue of a contract or some statutory provision. 28 Tex.Jur. 7, Liens, Sec. 4. 

Also, Commissioners Courts are of limited jurisdiction in that their authority extends only to matters 

pertaining to the welfare of their respective counties and 

their powers are only those that are expressly or impliedly 

conferred upon them b 

State. 11B Tex.Jur. Fl 

the Constitution or statutes of the 

3, Counties, Sec. 65. 

In addition, the case of Willacv County v. Valley 

Baptist Hospital, 29 S.W.2d 457 (Civ.App. 1930) held: 

II 

0 . a The powers and duties of county 

commissioners courts, and the obligations 

of the counties to paupers, are fixed by 

statute, and cannot be enlarged upon by 

unnecessary implication. These powers 

and duties, in so far as applicable here, 

are defined in and restricted by the 

provisions of articles 2351 and 4438, 

Rev.St. 1925. In article 2351 it is provided that each commissioners court shall 

(subdivision 11) 'provide for the support 

of paupers . . . residents of their county, 

who ase unable to support themselves,' 

. . . 

The language quoted above states the proposition 

that Section 11 of Article 2351, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

creates an obligation on the part of the Commdssioners Courts 

of this state to provide for the support of paupers resident 

within their respective counties and it in no way creates 

a corresponding obligation on the part of paupers to repay 

or otherwise secure payment of funds which may have been 

expended in their behalf under the authority of Section 11. 

Furthermore, Attorney General Opinion No. 0-6570-A held that 

the State Department of Public Welfare did not have the 

authority to accept repayment of old age assistance grants 

from a qualified recipient because the Legislature had not 

authorized this Department to accept such a repayment. Likewise, there is no statutory authority providing for any type 

of repayment by paupers to a County Department of Public 
Honorable Henry Wade, page 3 

Welfare. 

(ww-1150) 

If the person that the Dallas County Department has determined to be a pauper, is in fact not a 

wwr, we are not passing upon the right of the County 

to litigate this fact question and the right of the 

County to recover by judgment any sums spent in supporting 

a person, who in fact was not a pauper. 

SUMMARY 

The Commissioners Court of Dallas 

County does not have the authority 

to acquire a lien on real estate 

owned by paupers whom the Dallas 

County Department of Public Welfare has determined to be paupers 

under the standards approved by 

the Commissioners Court. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

1RW:ds:lgh 

I. Raymond ~lliams, Jr. 

Assistant 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Henry G. Braswell 

Joe B. McMaster 

H. Grady Chandler 

W. Ray Scruggs 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.