OF EXAS

September 21, 1961

HonorableHenry Wade Opinion No. WW-1150 CriminalDistrict Attorney Dallas, Texas Re: Whether the Commissioners Court of Dallas Countyhas 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 opinionproposes the following: Whether the CommissionersCourt 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 standardsapproved by the CommissionersCourt. Article 2351,Vernon's Civil Statutes,prescribes the powers and duties of the CommissionersCourt insofar as they relate to paupers. This Articleprovides in part as follows: "EachCommissionersCourt shall:

It

. . . "11. Provide for the support of paupers and such idiots and lunaticsas 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 Statenot less than one year. "12. Provide for the burial of paupers.Honorable Henry Wade, page 2 (WW-1150)
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. . . Nowhere in the foregoingArticle is there any wordingwhich would create an obligation on thepart of a pauper to secureby lien or to otherwise repay or reimburse the county in whole or in part forpublic funds expended for his support. A lien on eitherpersonal or real property arises only by virtue of a contract or some statutoryprovision. 28 Tex.Jur. 7, Liens, Sec. 4.

Also, CommissionersCourts are of limited jurisdiction in that their authority extends only to matters pertaining to the welfare of their respective counties and theirpowers are only those that are expressly or impliedly conferredupon them b State. 11B Tex.Jur.Flthe Constitutionor statutesof the 3, Counties, Sec. 65.
In addition, the case ofWillacv County v. Valley Baptist Hospital, 29 S.W.2d 457 (Civ.App.1930)held:

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. a The powers and duties of county commissionerscourts, and the obligations of the counties to paupers, are fixed by statute, and cannot be enlargedupon by unnecessary implication. Thesepowers and duties, in so far as applicablehere, are defined in and restrictedby the provisions of articles 2351 and 4438, Rev.St. 1925. In article 2351it is provided that each commissionerscourt shall (subdivision11) 'providefor 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 CommdssionersCourts of this state to provide for the support of paupers resident within their respective counties and it in no way creates a corresponding obligationon the part of paupers to repay or otherwise securepayment of funds whichmay have been expended in their behalf under the authority of Section 11. Furthermore,AttorneyGeneral OpinionNo. 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 recipientbecause the Legislaturehad not authorized this Department to accept such a repayment. Likewise, there is no statutoryauthorityproviding for any type of repaymentby paupers to a County Department of PublicHonorableHenry Wade, page 

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Welfare. 

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If theperson that theDallas 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 recoverby judgmentany sums spent in supporting a person, who in fact was not a pauper. SUMMARY The CommissionersCourt of Dallas County does not have the authority to acquire a lien on real estate owned by paupers whom the Dallas County Department of PublicWelfare has determined to be paupers under the standardsapproved by the CommissionersCourt.

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 ATTORNEYGENERAL BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.