**OFFiCE OF**  **THE ATTORNEY**  **GENERAL OF**  **TEXAS AUSTIN** 

Honorable Farris Pirtle 

### CountyAuditor, Fannln County Bonham,Texas

Dear sir:

ion on a questionw equest for akopinabove in substance.

vldes ae follovs:

Fauuin Countyhas.8 popula~lon of 41,064 inhaDits&a; according-~to the 1940 Federal Censuti a@ the County **Attorney** thereof iyaompensafed on'8 sale.ry basis under ~&Ithority of Art. 3912e,V.A.CiS.

Section (b)of Article 3899, V.A.C.S., provide8 ln part as follows:.-

Honorable Farrie Plrtle - Page 2

"(b)Each officer namtid in this Aat, where he receives a salary aa'aompensatlonforhis servlce8, shallbe entitled and permitted to purchase or charge to his county~al.1reasonable expensesneaeseary in the proper and legal conduct of his office, premlwns on offlclai~s bonds, premiums on fire, burgiary, theft, robbery lusuranaeprotectingpubila tunds, and lncludlng the coat of surety bonds for his deputies,provided that expenses laourred for premiums on offlolals*bondsfor the aounty treasurer, county auditor, aourity.madcomlssloners, county sahool supmlntendent, and the hide aud anlmailuspeator, l.no1udl.n~~ the cost of suretybonds for any deputies of any such .offlcers,

may be also included, end such expenses to be passed on, pre-determlneed and allowed In the time and amount,- as nearly as poeslble,by the Comlssloners Court once each month for the ensuingmonth, upon the appllaatlon~ ofeach officer, stating the .&lnU,.probable amount of expenditureand the necessity for the exp ~nsesof his office for such anmlng month, which appilcatlon ahall,before presentation to said oourt, first be endorsed by the totmty. auditor, if any, othervise-the aounty treasurer, ~oniyas to whether iunda are avaliable.forpayment of such expenses.,The Commlssloners Court of the County of the sherlffga zesldenoe mayI upon the written andsworn applicationof the sheriff stating the aecesalty therefor,purehaS equipment fora Bureau of Crlmlnai Identlfloa- ,tlon,such as cameraa, fingerprint carda, inks, chemicals,microscopes,radio and laboratory equlpsmnt, flilng cards, flilng cabinets, tear

‘gas and other equipment, in keeping with th8 system ln use with the Department of Publlo Safety of thls State, or the United States Depsrtment of Jimtlceand/or Bureau of Criminal Identification.

"Suchpurchases shall be made by 8aOh Officer, when allowed, oniy by requisition in manner provided by the county auditor, if any, ot!?erwls8 by the ConmlsslonersCourt. Each officer, shall at th8 close of eachmonth of hla tenure of offlC8, make an ltemised aud 

### swornreport of ail approved exp rises incurred by him and chargedHonorable Farrls Pirtl8 - Pane 3

to his county, accompanying such reportwith lnvoices covering such purchases and requisitions Issued by hlm In support of such report. If such expensesbe incurredby connectionwith any particular case, such report shall'nsme such case. Such report, invoices,and requisitions shall be subject to the audit of the countyaiditor, if any, Otherwiseby the Connnisslo~ers Court, .and if it appears .that'any

### itemwaSnot incurred by such officer, or that such itemwas not a necessary or legal expense of such office, or purchased upon proper reqtisltlOn, such item shall be by said county auditoror court rejected, In whLah cas8 the payment of such item may be adjudicated ln any courtof competent jurisdiction. All such approved claima end accounts shall be paid from the Officers Salary Fund unless'otherwlseprovided hersin."



### Ii8 ment (No. UOte from a Conf8renC8 OpltiOn'Of thisdepartO-3 70.)

written by Wm. J. Fanning,AssistantAt2 tome? General and approved July 3, 1941, by Grover Sellers, then First AssMant Attorney General as foll~wa:

“We hav8 considered the cases of St&e 

### Vs. dhrnes, 106 S.W. (2d) 397, and 

### Caseyvs. 

### State, .289~S.w..428, which construe Seatian (a) .of Ar- ~~;tlcle 

### 3899,Q8Z%On'SAMotated Civil Statutes, ..an&hold that the rule of construction tejtisdem gegerlsc qualifies the genaral l.anguage,(other aecessary expenses)by the anteaedent 811sSp- &ally enumerated Items of expenses (statidaery, stamps,~

~telephone,

premiums on officials1bands, including the uost Of surety bonds for his deputies, premium on fire, burglary, theft, robbery insurance rotectlng public funds, traveling expenses P and restricts and limits the meaning of the general language (othernecessary expenses) to expenses of the same kind and class of the above specially enumerated items of expense. We have also considered the
case of Crasthvait vs. State, 138 3.W. (26)1060, which construes Section 19 (1) of Article 3912e, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, and ~holds that the rule of construction 18usdem generisl 1s applicable to said section. Said se&ion 1s in all material respects hereto virtually the
same as section (a)of Article 3899.)Honorable Parris Plrtle - Paae 4

"The rule of Construction r8jusd8mgenerisl has been defined by 19 corpI.m Jurls, page 1255,
as follovst
"~Literally "Of the same kind or species." A well &own maxim of construction,to aid in ascertelnlng themeaning of a statute or other vritten instrument, the 

### doctrti8beingthat, where an enumerationof specific things la followed by somemore generalword or phrase, such general word or phrase is to be held to refer to things of the same klnd.1 :

"It la our opition that the rule of aonatructlon lejusdemgeneral! 1s not applicable to Section (b) of Article 3899, Vernon?8Annotated Civil Statutes,because the generalwords
. / 'all reasonablh 8 nea&s

xDen.5489 anTleRa conduct of $& o flcel do no~ollow T---- = th8 !2zcEs! the speolflowords~premlums z officlals~bonds,
a.. tbut On the contrary antecede said specific vorda. C18s.rlg the miles of conatruotlon teusdem generisfwould not apply to SeotlOn d of Article 3899, VernonIs Annotated Civil E3tatutes.r (Underscoringadded)

Other oplnlons of this department holding YaHous items of expense, thoughnot of the same kind 

### or.speclea 8s those specificallyenutnerated'in said Sec. (b)of Art. 3899, supra, 30 be alloifed as reasOnable expenses‘n&essary id the proper and legal conduct Of office, ar8 as followerHOS. o-995, o-3076, O-3571, o-4284; o-4380 and o-4399.

It is knoM ai Sr

matter of common experlenoe that it.18 frequentlynecessary in the proper conduct of his Office for a county attorney to us8 transarlbed testimoriy 

### Of a vltneas taken ln a former trial for the purpose of aldlng him in his exemlnatlonof such vltness on another 

### crlmlnal trial.

The county would not be authorlsed to pay the court reporterupon a bill pmS8nted directly by him for said services rendered but would be authorized to msame under the provisions of Section (b) Of Art. 3899.JIonorabl8 Ferris Pititle

- Pares!j

'therefore

it.18 the Opinion of this **d8pdment** 

### &at i reasonablecharge**for** 

### tlie transcrlptlon

of the 

### testlmany of a witness ln a fkaer 

### trialforus8 in e criminal .trlalmay be an allowable expense Of aSflc8 of the county attorney ordbQ.g and using same, and, if properly presented and-found to be neaessaFg in the proper and legal conduct of the oiflce, samemay be pald out of the offlcerrs salary fundof 

## Fennln County under the cedxre preffarlbed ferpresentationof 

### claimsin saidSe&,. of Art. 3899, supre.

TO& Y8l7 ttiy

ATTORiBY GRRRRAL OF TEXA3



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. .XLL;zd 

### BY**Robert &.**  

## Ibitt3.i$!$i Aassistant*

BY iid* w‘z%$’

. k3slstant

APPROVED "8p$lllOfi--COmmitt88 

### By /s/ 

### B.W.B. 'ChSirman