## THE AYTORNEBY GENERAL OlF%-ICXAS

AUSTIN. TEXAS 78111 April 15, 1969

Honorable G. R. Close County Attorney Ochiltree County Courthouse Perryton. Texas 19070

Dear Mr. Close: Opinion No. M-374

Re:Whether the Commissioners Court has authority through itsCounty Historical Committee topurchase ahistory of the county, under the stated facts, and a related question.

You have requested the opinion of this office regarding the above question, and in this connection have provided the following facts:

In 1968 a special committee under the Ochiltree County Historical Survey Committee was formed for the purpose of the preparation, printing,publishing and sale of an Ochiltree County history, tobe known as "TheWheatheart of the Plains -A History of Ochiltree County, Texas".
By resolution ofMarch 6, 1969, the Commissioners Court of Ochiltree County authorized the purchase of 4,000 copies of the county history, through the County Historical Survey Committee, and directed that thevolumes be distributed and sold at aprice ofnot less than $10.00 per copy. As the books are sold the general fund of the County is to be reimbursed up to the total acquisition price, and any surplus is tobe held by the County Historical Survey Committee for use inhistorical projects, under the direction of the Commissioners Court.

-1848-I.

.

Hon. G. R. Close, page 2 (M-374)

Your second question iswhether the Commissioners Court has the authority tomake an emergency amendment to the county budget in order tomake the payments authorized in the aforementioned resolution, thenecessary amounts nothaving been included in thebudget at the time of itsadoption.

It isaxiomatic that the Commissioners Court isa court of limited jurisdiction, andhas only those powers expressly granted by constitution or statute, or those necessarily implied therefrom. Canales v. Laughlin, 147Tex. 169, 214 S.W.2d 451 (1948).The March 6, 1969 resolution adopted by the Commissioners Court here involved relied uponArticles 2372r and 6145.1, Vernon's Civil Statutes.
Article 6145.1 authorizes the county judge to appoint a County Historical Survey Committee, and reads, inpart, as follows:

II

...Thecounty ishereby authorized topay the necessary expenses of such committee. Such committees as are appointed shall institute and carry out a survey of the county to determine the existence ofhistorical buildings, battlefields,private collections ofhistorical memorabilia, or other historical features within the county, and shall thereafter continue to collect data on the same subject as itmay become available. The data collected shall be made available to anyone interested therein, and especially to the Commissioners Court and to the Texas State Historical Survey Committee. This Committee shall make any recommendations concerning the acquisition ofproperty, real orpersonal, which are ofhistorical significance, when requested todo soby the Commissioners Court."
The foregoing statute only authorizes the Commissioners Court topay thenecessary expenses of the County Historical Survey Committee. These expenses may onlybe those properly incurred incarrying out the assigned duties of the committee. The assigned duties relate only to the gathering ofhistorical data concerning the county- At this point we are not prepared

-1849sHon. G. R. Close, page 3 (M-374)

to say that correlated historical datamay not be presented inbook formby the committee, but it isour view that the necessary expenses of the committee certainly do not include the printing and publication of a county history for sale to thepublic.

We are leftwith the question ofwhether the Commissioners Court has the authority tobuy 4,000 volumes of a county history, with the objective of resale to thegeneral public. The Commissioners Court isgiven specific authority tomake certain expenditures forhistorical purposes inArticle 2372r, which reads as follows:

"TheCommissioners Court of each county of this State, inaddition to the powers already conferred on itby law, ishereby empowered to appropriate from the general fund of said counties, monies for the purpose of erecting historical markers, monuments, and medallions, and purchasing objects and collections of objects of anykind which are ofhistorical significance to such county."
Research has revealed no other statute or constitutional provision fromwhich the Commissioners Court may derive authority tomake the expenditures contemplated here, and it isour view that the above-quoted provision cannot be extended to include thepurchase of county histories such asplanned by Ochiltree County.

A "collection" isdefined inWebster's Third New International Dictionary, 1966, as "anassembly of objects or specimens for the purposes of education, research or interest". Under such a definition, several thousand copies of the same book could not constitute a "collection of objects" within the terms of the statute.

You are accordingly advised that it isthe opinion of this office that under the facts presented, the Commissioners Court of Ochiltree County does nothave the authority topurchase copies of ahistory of the county.

-l&50-Hon. G. R. Close, page 4 (M-374)

Although not expressly made the subject of inquiry, it is not necessary to reach the problem involved, as to the question of the authority of the Commissioners Court topermit the sale of county property without declaring it tobe surplus and unusable, andwithout taking bids thereon: nor is itnecessary to answer your question concerning emergency amendment of the county budget.

SUMMARY

Under the facts presented, Articles 2372r and 6145.1, V.C.S., do not provide authority for the Commissioners Court of a county to expend county funds for thepurchase ofvolumes of a county history, and no other authority exists toprovide abasis for such expenditures.

very tr ly,

.~ dd //iszzL D C.MARTIN y General of Texas
Prepared by Malcolm L. Quick Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE

Kerns Taylor, Chairman George Kelton, Vice-Chairman Alfred Walker Richard Chote Tom Bullington Harold Kennedy

W. V. GEPPERT Staff Legal Assistant

HAWTHORNE PHILLIPS Executive Assistant



## -1851-