The Honorable Gene Stump 

Franklin County Attorney 

200 North Kaufman Street 

Mount Vernon, Texas 75457 

Dear Mr. Stump: 

KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

November 13, 2017 

Opinion No. KP-0174 

Re: County authority related to a court's 

registry account (RQ-0167-KP) 

You ask about county authority over a court's registry account. 1 You state that Franklin 

County has a population of less than 190,000 and has a county auditor. Request Letter at 1. You 

inform us that the county commissioners court granted the county treasurer "view-only" access to 

all accounts having the county's employer identification number and appointed the auditor as the 

county's "online bank account access administrator" for all county accounts at the county's 

depository bank. 2 You are primarily concerned about the treasurer's and the commissioners 

court's respective authority concerning .the court registry accounts for the county. See Request 

Letter at 1. 

You first ask whether the county treasurer has "administrative authority [over] a court's 

registry account, including permanent online view-only access rights." Id. The county treasurer 

is the chief custodian of county funds, who "shall keep in a designated depository and shall account 

for all money belonging to the county." TEX. Loe. Gov'T CODE§ 113.001 (emphasis added); see 

also id. § 116 .113 (a) (requiring the treasurer to deposit all of the county's funds in the county 

depository). Chapter 116 of the Local Government Code governs the treasurer's duties with 

respect to the general depository for county funds. Id.§§ 116.001-.060. However, funds paid into 

the registry of the court do not belong to the county. See Sellers v. Harris Cty., 483 S.W.2d 242, 

243 (Tex. 1972) (stating that funds paid into the court registry "are not owned by the county but 

are only held in trust"). Court registry funds and certain other funds the county holds in trust must 

be deposited in an account separate from the county general depository account. See Tex. Att'y 

Gen. Op. No. JC-0195 (2000) at 4-5 (distinguishing between the county general depository 

account under chapter 116 and the county trust depository account under chapter 117).3 

1

See Letter from Honorable Gene Stump, Franklin Cty. Att'y, to Honorable Ken Paxton, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 

I (June 23, 2017), https://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinions-rqs ("Request Letter"). 

2

See id. and attached minutes ofthe Franklin County Commissoners Court's meetings on May 22, 2017, and 

June 5, 2017. 

3Your question concerns a county with a population of Jess than 190,000, and we limit our opinion 

accordingly. Within chapter 117, some provisions do not apply to a county with a population of less than 190,000. 

See TEX. Loe. Gov'T CODE §§ 117.058 (accounting and disbursing provisions for counties with a population of 

. 190,000 or more); 117.111-.126 (provisions applicable in a county with a population of 1.3 million or more). 
The Honorable Gene Stump - Page 2 (KP-0174) 

When funds are tendered to ·the registry of the court, the district or county clerk must 

deposit the funds in a special account of the depository bank called the "registry fund." TEX, Loe. 

Gov'T CODE §§ U 7.001(3), (5), .052. The commissioners court selects and designates the 

depository bank for the registry fund. Id.§§ 117.023, .025. The account must be held in the name 

of the county or district clerk. Id.§ 117.021(a), .052(b). The district or county court clerk has the 

responsibility to deposit court registry funds paid from the following sources: 

(1) funds of minors or incapacitated persons; 

(2) funds tendered in an interpleader action; 

(3) funds paid in satisfaction of a judgment; 

(4) child support funds held for more than three days; 

(5) cash bonds; 

( 6) cash bail bonds; 

(7) funds in an eminent domain proceeding; and 

(8) any other funds tendered to the clerk for deposit into the registry 

of the court. 

Id. § 117.052(c). The county or district clerk must keep registry funds secure until the clerk 

deposits them in the court registry depository. Id.§ 117.081(b). Once the registry funds have been 

deposited, the county or district clerk acts in a custodial capacity only. Id. § 117.0521. Except as 

a statute may otherwise provide, the clerk may make payments out of the account only pursuant to 

court order. Id.§ 117.053(b); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-1162 1990) at 3 (stating that 

"the first duty of the clerk is to follow the instructions of the court that directed him to hold the 

funds"). While chapter 117 of the Local Government Code assigns these duties to the county or 

district clerk, it assigns no duties or powers to the county treasurer. Therefore, the treasurer does 

not possess administrative authority over a court registry account. 

You next ask whether the county commissioners court has "authority over a court's 

registry account, apart from selection of the depository." Request Letter at 1. A commissioners 

court has only those powers expressly conferred by the constitution or statute or necessarily 

implied therefrom. City of San Antonio v. City of Boerne, 111 S.W.3d 22, 28 (Tex: 2003). Chapter 

11 7 authorizes the commissioners court to select, designate, and contract with the depository bank 

for the special account for court registry funds. TEX. Loe. Gov'T CODE§§ 117.021(a)-(b), .023, 

.025. Also, the commissioners court may require a depository to execute a new bond "for the 

protection of the county clerk's and the district clerk's registry funds." Id. § 117.057(a). Chapter 

117 does not assign the commissioners court any other duties or powers with respect to the court 

registry depository. Accordingly, a commissioners court does not possess authority over a court's 

registry account except as necessary to fulfill these express statutory duties under chapter 11 7. 
The Honorable Gene Stump - Page 3 (KP-0174) 

Finally, you ask whether the county may use the county's employer identification number 

for a court registry account, or whether the court registry account must obtain its own number. 

Request Letter at 1. An employer identification number, also known as a Federal Tax 

Identification Number or Taxpayer Identification Number, is a number provided by the Internal I 

Revenue Service ("IRS") for administering tax laws and certain other purposes. See 26 C.F .R. 

§ 301.6109-1. No Texas statute regulates the use of tax identification numbers for depository 

accounts. Because the use of a tax identification number for particular purposes is ultimately an 

issue for the IRS, your question is more appropriately directed to that agency rather than this office. 

See, e.g., Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. GA-0130 (2003) at 4 (declining to answer a city's question 

about compliance with Internal Revenue Code), JC-0482 (2002) at 7 (suggesting that the requestor 

direct a question about tax deductibility to the IRS); JM-1263 (1990) at 2 (not resolving whether 

the tax assessor-collector was entitled to obtain a separate employer identification number because 

"[t]hat is a matter within the jurisdiction of the Internal Revenue Service").4 

41RS assistance with local government issues can be accessed at https://www.irs.gov/governmententities/federal-state-local-govemments/fslg-customer-syrvices (last visited Oct. 24, 2017). 
The Honorable Gene Stump - Page 4 (KP-0174) 

SUMMARY 

A county treasurer does not have administrative authority 

over a court's registry account. A county commissioners court has 

only the authority necessary to perform its duties to select, 

designate, and contract with a depository bank for court registry 

accounts and to require adequate security for the accounts. 

JEFFREY C. MATEER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Deputy First Assistant Attorney General 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

WILLIAM A. HILL 

Very truly yours, 

KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee