OFFiCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Farris Pirtle 

County Auditor, Fannln County 

Bonham,Texas 

Dear sir: 

ion on a question w 

equest for akopinabove in substance. 

vldes ae follovs: 

Fauuin County has.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: 
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Honorable Farrie Plrtle - Page 2 

"(b) Each officer namtid in this Aat, where 

he receives a salary aa'aompensatlonfor his 

servlce8, shall be entitled and permitted to 

purchase or charge to his county~al.1 reasonable expenses neaeseary in the proper and legal 

conduct of his office, premlwns on offlclai~s 

bonds, premiums on fire, burgiary, theft, robbery lusuranae protecting pubila 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.mad comlssloners, county sahool supmlntendent, and the 

hide aud anlmailuspeator, l.no1udl.n~~ the cost 

of surety bonds 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 ensuing month, upon the appllaatlon~ ofeach officer, stating the .&lnU,.probable 

amount of expenditure and the necessity for the 

exp ~nses of 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, 

~oniy as to whether iunda are avaliable.for payment of such expenses., The Commlssloners Court 

of the County of the sherlffga zesldenoe mayI 

upon the written andsworn application of 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 Jimtlce and/or Bureau of Criminal 

Identification. 

"Such purchases shall be made by 8aOh Officer, when allowed, oniy by requisition in manner 

provided by the county auditor, if any, ot!?erwls8 

by the Conmlssloners Court. Each officer, shall 

at th8 close of each month of hla tenure of offlC8, make an ltemised aud sworn report of ail 

approved exp rises incurred by him and charged 
Honorable Farrls Pirtl8 - Pane 3 

to his county, accompanying such report with lnvoices covering such purchases and requisitions 

Issued by hlm In support of such report. If such 

expenses be incurred by connection with any particular case, such report shall'nsme such case. 

Such report, invoices, and requisitions shall 

be subject to the audit of the county aiditor, 

if any, Otherwise by the Connnisslo~ers Court, 

.and if it appears .that'any item waSnot incurred 

by such officer, or that such item was 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'otherwlse provided hersin." 

Ii8 

ment (No. 

UOte from a Conf8renC8 OpltiOn'Of this departO-3 2 70.) written by Wm. J. Fanning, Assistant Attome? 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 Casey vs. State, 

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

~~;tlcle 3899, Q8Z%On'S AMotated Civil Statutes, 

..an&hold that the rule of construction tejtisdem 

gegerlsc qualifies the genaral l.anguage,(other 

aecessary expenses) by the anteaedent 811s Sp- 

&ally enumerated Items of expenses (statidaery, 

stamps,~ ~telephone, premiums on officials1 bands, 

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 (other necessary 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 18 usdem 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 r8jusd8m generisl 

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 the meaning of a statute or other 

vritten instrument, the doctrti8 being that, 

where an enumeration of specific things la followed by some more general word 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 lejusdem general! 1s not applicable to 

Section (b) of Article 3899, Vernon?8 Annotated 

Civil Statutes, because the general words . / 

'all reasonablh 8 xDen.5489 nea&s 

anTleRa conduct of $& T---- o flcel do = no~ollow th8 !2zcEs! 

the speolflo words~premlums z officlals~ bonds, 

a.. t but On the contrary antecede said specific vorda. C18s.rlg the miles of conatruotlon 

te usdem generisf would not apply to SeotlOn 

d of Article 3899, VernonIs Annotated Civil 

E3tatutes.r (Underscoring added) 

Other oplnlons of this department holding YaHous 

items of expense, though not of the same kind or.speclea 8s 

those specifically enutnerated'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 follower HOS. 

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 frequently necessary 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 exemlnatlon of such vltness on another crlmlnal 

trial. 

The county would not be authorlsed to pay the 

court reporter upon 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 reasonable charge for tlie transcrlptlon of the testlmany of a witness ln a fkaer trial for us8 in e criminal 

.trlal may 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, same may be pald out of the offlcerrs 

salary fundof Fennln County under the cedxre preffarlbed 

fer presentation of claims in said Se&,. 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