r’ OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL . STATE OF TEXAS
JOHN CORNYN
November 6,200l
The Honorable Tim Cone Opinion No. JC-0433
Criminal District Attorney
Upshur County Justice Center Re: Whether a county commissioner may be
405 North Titus Street reimbursed for expenses incurred in the official
Gilmer, Texas 75644 use of his personal vehicle (RQ-0402-JC)
Dear Mr. Cone:
You ask whether a county commissioner may be authorized to receive reimbursement for the
use of his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties. For the reasons set forth below, we
conclude that a county commissioner may be thus reimbursed.
Section 152.011 of the Local Government Code provides: “The commissioners court of a
county shall set the amount of the compensation, office and travel expenses, and all other allowances
for county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds.” TEX.Lot.
GOV’T CODEAN-N.$j 152.011 (Vernon 1999). In Attorney General Opinion H-992, this office said
that article 3912k, the predecessor statute of section 152.011, “gives to the commissioners court
authority to fix the amount which shall be received for travel expenses by county and precinct
officials, including the commissioners themselves.” Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. H-992 (1977) at 2.
The opinion continues:
No formula is specified for the calculation of traveling expenses. The
legislature therefore apparently did not intend that members of the
commissioners court would be required to show that traveling
expenses allowed them had been actually incurred before payment
could be made. Thus, we believe the legislature intended, in enacting
article 39 12k, to authorize counties to continue the type of lump-sum
reimbursement for traveling expenses previously authorized by the
legislature. Nonetheless, we believe that the use of the term
“expense” in article 3912k requires that the sum set by the
commissioners as “travel expense” reflect the expenses actually
incurred by county officials in the conduct of ofIicia1 business. While
county officials may receive a monthly travel allowance without the
need to account for every mile traveled when their duties require
traveling from their official stations on a continuing basis, the sum set
The Honorable Tim Cone - Page 2 (JC-0433)
as a travel allowance must be premised upon some basis of fact and
reasonable calculation.
Id.
Likewise, in Attorney General Opinion JM-148, the attorney general held that a
commissioners court was authorized to fix the amount of travel expense allowed to members of the
court “so long as the allowance is reasonably related to official county business.” Tex. Att’y Gen.
Op. No. JM-148 (1984) at 3. Another opinion said that the county auditor may not require
documentation from members of the commissioners court who receive fixed monthly travel
expenses. See Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. JM-879 (1988) at 3.
Both Attorney General Opinions H-992 and JM-879 indicate that a commissioner’s travel
to and from his residence and office is not normally reimbursable. It is our opinion that a county
commissioner may be authorized by the commissioners court to receive reimbursement for the use
of his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties.
The Honorable Tim Cone - Page 3 (JC-0433)
SUMMARY
A county cornmissioner may be authorized by the
commissioners court to receive reimbursement for the use of his
personal vehicle to conduct his official duties.
Jo\HN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas
HOWARD G. BALDWIN, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General
NANCY FULLER
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel
SUSAN D. GUSKY
Chair, Opinion Committee
Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee