Bffice of tfie iZWmep Qbneral
85tate of QCexae
DAN MORALES April IO, 1992
,Al-rORSEI
GENERAL
Honorable Terry D. McEachern Opinion No. DM-103
Hale County District Attorney
64th and 242d Judicial Districts Re: Whether a juvenile board may
County Courthouse order an increase in the compensation
Plainview, Texas 79072 paid to county judge members of the
board in excess of the compensation
ordered by the commissioners court
under Human Resources Code section
152.0411 (RQ-273)
Dear Mr. McEachem:
You have requested an opinion from this office as to whether a juvenile
board may validly order an increase in the compensation paid to county judge
members of the board in excess of the compensation ordered by the county
commissioners court under the Texas Human Resources Code, section 152.0411.
We conclude that such an order would be invalid.
Section 152.0411(a) of the Human Resources Code creates the juvenile
board for Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties, and provides that it be composed of
“the county judges, the district judges in Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties, and the
judge of any statutory court designated as a juvenile court in the counties.”
Subsection (c) of this statute provides the following:
The commissioners courts of the counties shall pay the
members of the juvenile board an annual salary set by the
commissioners court at not less than $1,200, payable in equal
monthly installments from~the general fund of the counties. The
counties shall apportion and pay the salary according to the ratio
used to pay the expenses of the 64th and 242nd judicial districts.
Hum. Res. Code $ 152.0411(c). Pursuant to this provision, the commissioners courts
of Hale, Swisher, and Castro counties have set the salaries of the juvenile board
members at the statutory mimimum. However, by orders issued September 9, 1991,
p. 524
Honorable Terry D. McEachern - Page 2 (DM-103 1
the juvenile board purported to raise the salaries of its county judge members, ef-
fective September 1, 1991. The language of the statute regarding the compensation
of members of the juvenile board at issue is unambiguous: these salaries are to be
set by the commissioners. Neither section 152.0411, nor any other provision of
chapter 152 of the Human Resources Code concerning juvenile boards, gives the
juvenile board authority to set the salaries of its members without commissioners
court approval. We therefore conclude that the orders raising the salaries of the
county judge members of the juvenile board of Hale, Swisher, and Castro counties
above the amounts set by the commissioners courts are invalid.
SUMMARY
The juvenile board of Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties
has no authority to set the salaries of its members.
DAN MORALES
Attorney General of Texas
WILL PRYOR
First Assistant Attorney General
MARY KELLER
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY (Ret.)
Special Assistant Attorney General
RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General
MADELEINE B. JOHNSON
Chair, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Faith S. Steinberg
Assistant Attorney General
P. 525