WNEY GESNERAL 

TEXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY CF.NER.4,. 

A~wrxiu 1s. mxas 

April 30, 1952 

Hon. Sam W. Davis Opinion No. V-1453 

District Attorney 

Houston 2, Texas Re: Liability of the State and 

county for publication 

charges in tax foreclosure 

suits when the property is 

purchased by one of the 

Dear Mr. Davis: taxing units. 

You request the opinion of this office upon the matter 

presented in your written opinion to Hon. H. L. Washburn, County 

Auditor of Harris County, which you submit with your request. 

You present the following question: 

Is the State or county or both liable to the publisher for the charges made for the publication of 

citations in delinquent tax suits filed by the State and 

county and for the publication of notices of sale: (1) 

if incurred prior to the effective date of S.B. 431; 

(2) if incurred subsequent to the effective date of 

said bill? 

You correctly state in your opinion to the County Auditor 

that prior to the enactment ,of Senate Bill 431, Acts 52nd Leg., R. 

S. 1951, ch. 334, p. 576, amending Article 7333, V.C.S., there was 

no law that made the State or county liable for publication costs 

in delinquent tax suits. Baldwin v. .Travis County, 88 S.q. 480 

(Tex.Civ.App. 1905); Nunn-Warren ublishm 

:!;~~45 S.y.2, 651 iTex. Civ.Az!. 

o. v. Hutchinson 

1932, efrk ref.); qigC%;; 

lifford, 156 S.W.2d 1006 (Te Civ.App. 1941); Tex. 

ule 11 a, Subdivisien 3. Section 9 of Article 734513, V.C.S., 

expressly provided that where a taxing unit bought in the property, 

the costs and expenses should not be payable “until sale by such 

taxing unit so purchasing same.” Section 12-a of Article 7345b 

provided that where property was redeemed for a purchasing taxint unit, the redemption money should be distributed and applied in 

the same manner as provided in Section 9 for the application and 

distribution of the proceeds upon resale of the land. 

As amended by Senate Bill 431, Article 7333 now reads: 

“In each case such fees shall be taxed as costs 

against the lands to be sold under judgment for taxes, 

and paid out of the proceeds of sale of same after the 
: 

~Horb SC un W. Davis, page 2 iv-1453) 

taxes, penalty and interest due therein are paid, and in 

no case shall the State or county be liable therefor oxcept that where the State or other taxing unit is thencessful bidder at the tax sale, all charges due newspapers for the publishing of citations and notxes of 

sheriff’s sale shall be paid by the county and State a& 

other taxing units in proportion to thetaxes adjudicated 

to each.” (Emphasis added.) 

In the emergency clause to this bill the LegMature recognized that there was no prior law that authorieed a taxing unit 

in a delinquent tax suit to assume and pay publication charges, but 

that such charges must be paid from the sale or redemption vi the 

land. The emergency clause reads in part as follows: 

“The fact that existingstatutes do not provide for 

the payment of such charges . . .” 

This statute is limited’by its, express terms to cases 

where one of the taxing units becomes th&,purchaser at the tax 

sale and has no application to tax sales where an individual is the 

purchaser at the first sale. In other words, the law remains unchanged where an individual is the purchaser at the tax sale. In 

such a case the publisher must collect his publication charges as 

a part of the costs of the proceeds from the sale of the land or its 

redemption. 

It is our opinion that Senate Bill~‘431 has no retroactive 

effect and speaks only prospectively and not retrospectively. State 

v. Humble Oil & Refi.ning Co., 141 Tex. 40, 169 S.W.2d 707 (1943). 

A,s to publicatlon rests inc:czed prior to September 7. 1951, the 

effective date uf Senate Bill 431, the purchaser must still await a 

second sa1.e by the State o r r:ount:y or &her purchasing taxing unit, 

or until there is a redemption within the statutory time. 

We pass next ta the second part of your question, that is, 

the liability of the State and county for publication costs in delinquent tax suits accruing subsequent to the effective date of Senate 

Bill 431. Senate Bill ,431. was passed to ameliorate the hardship 

that might sometimes r,esult from the long delay in the collection 

of publication costs where one of the taxing units became the purchaser at the first sale. l3y the express terms of this bill, this 

liability arises against the taxing units upon a pro rata basis in 

proportion to the taxes adjudged to each immediately upon purchase by one of the taxing units. While Senate Bill 431 constitutes 

pre-existing law for the payment of this cost against the State, 

there is presently no appropriation or other source from which 

the State’s part of such cost cou1.d be paid. The publisher will 

therefore be required to wait until the Le@?slature provides the 

means by which the State’s part of these costs can be paid before 
Hon. Sam W. Davis, page 3 (V-1453) 

he can obtain payment from the State. However, the county and 

other taxing units may pay their pro rata share of such costs incurred subsequent to the effective date of Senate Bill 431 by appropriate proceadings applicable to the payment of claims by such 

taxing units. A claim for these costs against the county does not 

necessarily rest upon a contract between the commissioners’ 

court and the publisher, but upon a liability arising from the enpress term,6 of Senate Bill 431. In other words, it may be paid 

by the county in the same manner as any other legal claim arising 

under statutory liability* We do not know whether there is any 

provision in the current budget of Harris County to pay court 

c,osts, but if so, such costs cou1.d be paid out of this fund. If no 

such fund is provided for in the budget, we think the budget might 

be amended to take care of it under the ruling of Attorney General’s 

Opinion .v-857. 

SUMMARY 

Neither the State nor the county is liable for costs 

incurred for ~publishing citations and notices of sale in 

delinquent tax suits prior to September 7, 1951, the effective date of S.B. 431, Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 1951, c& 

334, p. 576, amending Art. 7333, V.C.S. Such costs can 

be collected only from the proceeds realized from the 

sale of the property by the purchasing taxing unit or 

from the proceeds realized from a redemption of the 

propertyQ 

The State and county are llable for publ.ication . 

costs incurred in delinquent tax suits subsequent to the 

effective date of S.B. 431 where the State, i,ounty, or 

other taxing unit becomes the puri.haser of the property 

at the first sale. The Sta,te”s p.co rata share of such 

t.:osts cannot be paid until the Le,gisl.ature makes an appropriation or provides some other means for payment, 

but the county may pa,y’ such claims in the same manner 

in which it may pay any other legal~ clah properly presented. 

APPROVED: 

~W. V. Geppert 

Taxation Division 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

Mary K. Wall 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

ByL d iz%2cFJ * 

Assistant 

LPL:meh