Deaombw 20, 1967
Ronorable Yayland 0. Holt Opinion No. ‘U-172
District Attorney
Scurry CounW CiWthourr, Ma
~Whethera county commleslone~e
Snydor, Tqrr oourt which desires to pur-
ahro oquijmmnt for general
USI by the county, requiring
,the expenditure df $2,000.00
br more to. be paid out of yurr
rent funds, must advertise by
neuepaper publicatioil ( or
porting) notice of its lntcn-
tlon to take aompetltlve bids
under the pro,ylBionrr ‘of Sec-
tion 2, Artlalo 2368a, Ver-
aonir Civil. Sfatufcu, and
Dee Mr. Bolt: related question..
.,
In a r#amt lifter, tb thir 6ftlcr you: roquest’bd’ our ”
0 to the abovo ‘reieronced matterr. we quote
“Tha mambirn ,o? tho Commi6rion~rr Court of
Bouwf County have objected to tho rouuirement
o? advertirlng fw bida in making puraharor of’
equipment for tho um oi tho ,County whore tho
purch@ro priao of rruahoquipniont is euch thrt
thi trlrlrrg of compotitlv0 bldr ,I8 neceerary.
Thoy agroa that whom the price Is $2000.00 or
mobo th8 takiag 0s campotitlvo ‘bids Is requlrod
but thegr do not agree that whore the equifniont
is purahared with ourrent tinds advertising by
‘publlmhing or ,poetin~, as required by Sec. 2 of
Art. 2368a, Vornon”jnkuotated Texaa Statutes,
18 nmm5mary, an0 tn k It 18 exempt under tK
‘prooir%onr o? $00. 5 ‘of euch,Articlo 2368a; ;ho
County Auditor h&r announced hle intention to
rrfu80 to approve any claim agalnet tho,County
fo rlqulmont puFaharod unleea all tho provieloni
OS ml? Sec. 2 u’a ocmplied with.
I
gon. U~~lan0 0. Bdlt, pa8 2 (W-172).
"I will approalate your maw8H.n8 the folk
lowlcrtngquortionsr
"1. Where the purchase price of .oQuIpmont
for $onoral u8e by tho County I8 )2,000.00 or
mm, th8reby~ rrquirln2 the t&king oi com-
petitWe bide, I8 it nece88sry to advertioe by,
publllhln2 (or posting) giving notice of inten-
tion of the taking of ouch bldr?'
.
"2. Whore thoro I8 a trade-in lnvol~8dr
door the term, fpuraha80prlco,l.,man the fill
prlae quotrd or bid io2i the equipment to br
.purahrrd, or doss It mean such full priae lore
‘. 3, tha rrraMt ollowod for tho trbdo-la?”
moei portlone or Irtiole 236&, Vornonlo Civil'Statutos,
whlqh are applioablo to your first quortlon re!d U'followei ,'
"8ec. IJo aountg, acti*
2. throu@ it8
Coaml8rionrr8~Court, . , .rhall horo&itOr emko
uy qontrbot or.llln( for O* rogulring thr ox-
q@ltwo ,OP wont ot Two Thourand Dollar
'pt,: 2iO00.00) or norr~out of any fund or finds gf
MJ* . ,dqanty or 8ubdlvIrlon of mj muntjr
arortln(~er impbring an obll2atIofi or lisbillty
o f a nyna tur ,o e ohawotmr
r up o nluoh county or,
anj eubditiirlon of mmh aounty, '. . .wlthout
rim mubmltting m&ohpropord~contr~~~t to oom-
petltlvo bide. Notloo of the tine and place
whrn bnd rhrro muah oontrrotr ohall bo let
ehrll bo publlrhod li euoh oounty (if oonoemlni
a oorinty contract or oontrrotr tar ouoh rub-
alvl8lor1 OS wch oauntg). . .onor e weak for
two (2) oon8ooutlvo mekr prior to the tlmo 8ot
,forletting ou’oh oontrrat, thr date of the fi$rt
publlcctlon to bo at’lrrrt fourtom (lb) Idryr,
prior to tho dbtr mt for letting rrld oontraot;
and uld oontrrot rhrll br lmt to the lowrrt
reaponrlblo biddrr. .If thoao lr no nrwr-
paprr publirhad In euih'oountg, the notlao of
tho letting of euoh oontrrot by ruoh oountg
ohall be glvrn by owrlng notlar therrof to bo,
ported at the County Court Houw door To? four-
torn (14) dry8 prior to tho time of letting ,'
euoh oontraot, . . ,
". . .
Bon. Wayland Q. Holt, pago 3 (M-172)
,.
"Any and all such contract8 or~agreements
hereafter made by. any county,. . .ln this state,
- without complying with tho terms of this Section,
shall bir void and shall net be enforceable. In
inny court of this state, and tho performme or
samo and the paymo'$t of any money thereundar may
,be onJoined by any property taxpaying citizen of
SUChCOulity. . .
,ic. . B
‘bee. 5. The noflc8 required in Seetion'i
2.. ,8hall not. be appllcable,to expendlture.8
payable out of durrentnfunds or bond funds, as
above deaaribod, . . .
Section 2 of Article 2368a provlde~ that in certain
8Ili8r~enOy~ 8itU&tiOll8 ,thc COWlli88iOn8l’8COUl’t does~ not have to
":. tioatply with tho provlsIonr of the rootion.
“,,
S&?t$On 2, Artlo~le 2368a, has bien am'ended8evel?al
.timo6 ulnae Its orlglnal eriaatmant in 1931. m,oifeot of
there aBend~ntS,in8Of& IS it iS.SOliVa& to thr:zq~eStiOn hero,
1nvolviJd is,,,$h@t, 48 ori@ally onaotod,,,tho section applied only
to ~contradt~s ?or th& c,ottstructlon of public buildinga or .tho pro-
becutlop apd, c?mpletlon of any public 'work requlrl~g ane?ipendl,ture
ih lXOO#S‘bi 42,000.00. Wh8r0a8, tho provision8 of~the~soction now
apply to; all lxpendlturos of county funds ,in an amount of $2,000,O0
Or m&o." 'rhat portion of Section 5 of Artlclo 2368a,~~uoted above,
has not beon amended,in 8ny important respect since its driginal
snactm8nt'in 1931 and was in fiat ra-enactad along w1t.h certain
amendmanta to Soctlon 5 and Section 6 of Art$clo 2368a, which are
not pertinent to tho instant quostlon by Senate Bill, lp5, Ads
52nd Leglrlature,~~Regular Serrl~n,~ 1951, Ch. 164, SEC. 1. Sectlbn
3 Pi shbt8 Bill ios,rObd~8 &S rOllOWB:
%o* 3. Them faot that the Attorney CMneral
of Texas har held that Ssbtlonr 3 and 6 ot 8ald
Chapter 163 we~o impll8dly ropralod br Chaptn
173, pagO 238, hot8 of thr 30th,kglSlature, 1947,
Atid q\uStiOnS hbV0 aX'l8en a8 to tho Validity Of
contraeta and.warrantr oi aountl48 and oItle8
thereunder, oreaten an emargonoy and an lmporatlve
pubtia nro~88ity that the Constitutional Rule
reqUi;rlng bill8 t0 bo read .on (rhrO0 SWeral dqV8
in l & ROUSo t0 bo 8U8~~68d; Sn& S&&d Rule 18
hqrbbp SUspMdedr and thI8 Act Shall becomo Of?
foot.IvelmmodIately from and aftor Its pa88ag0,
and it 18 so lna o ta d.”
-826-
eon. Wayland (I. Halt, page 4(M’-172) ”
Chapter 17 , pegs,238 (aotuslly page 283), Acts of the 50th Legle-
lature, 193 7, referred to In the,above quotation from Senate Bill
105, was the first amend,ment’ to Section’ 2. of’ Article 2368a. Those
portlone of Seotion 2, which aFe relevant to this’queetion, and
which have been”prevlouely quoted herein, have not been materlally
altered sin&e the passage of Senate,Bill 105, referred to above.
Section 3 of Senate Blll,l05.expreeses the clear legislative ln-
tect that Section 5 of Article 2366a should be operative subsequent
to the enactment of Senatd Bill ‘105, even though ,aectlon ‘5’, Article
2368a, was lmplledly repealed by the 1947 amendmentto Section 2,
Article 2368a. It le thus clear that the provlalone of Section 2
of Article 236h which require the giving of notice of Intention
to take competitive bide by newspaper ~dvertlsement (or,postlng)
are not applicable to county expenditures for the purchase of
e’qulpment for general we by the county payable out of current
funds, .even if the expenditure Is $2,000.00 or more.
In anrwir to your second question, it 1s our opinion
that when a county denirea to make a contract under the.competltlve
biddlng requlremente of Section 2 of Article 2368a the’blds must
‘. be atat*d in temar of the grourr ,price of the equipment to be pur-
chaeed W$thout conrlderiag any “trade-in”. This Is no,t to say
that a coreniarlonerr oour.t in the exercise of, Its. qund, .dlscretlon
‘.c&at require In the ,bid speciflcatlon~, t’hat ti~~detis’muet. submit,
as a ,paPt off tk)elr, bid ,the eum’OS money .whlch, ithey will, al&or the
bounty for a deri&nated ‘tzade-in” as credit on, the “bid amount0,
We do not believe that it can be eald aa a matter ‘of. law that a
oanmls6~oners coiart, bar abused lte discretion if It Includes such
a ~peclfloatlon in a bid proporal,’ and took the response of the
‘bidders to thir, rpeo$fioatlon Into irccount in,determlning which
bidder W&I the “lomrt oeeponsible bidder V
SUMMARY
The provisions of Seotion 2 oi Article
23680, which require the giving of notice of
intention to take oompetitive ,bide by newe-
paper advertlrement (or porting), are not ap-
plionble to county lx p endltu ior.r rthe
r ‘pur-
chase of equlpment~for general me by the
county whlchlue payable out oi current fundr,
even if the l pendlture 11 $2,000.00 or more.
When a county desires t,o make a contractr
under the competltlve bidding requirements of
Siotion 2 of Article 2368a, the bid8 mu& be
-827-
. :
Ron. Vayland 0. Walt, p8ge 5 (M-172)
.
in term
lt8ted of the, grore price ol the .equip-
ment to be purohrud rlth6ut oonaldertng any
“tr8de -In”. Beuever, in the exerciw of It8
8cnmd diecretlim, a ooaiuimieners court may i
lgmoify In itr bid p~oporrl thbt bidder8 ehll
include In their bid the cum of money which
thav will allow for a “trnde-in” na c+edle
on the bid amount, Gd a conr8li~lOn4ril Court
may ognrlder the rerrponae of bidder8 to this
mphfficntlon in determlnlng un l@iah bidder is
the ‘love& reeponelble sdder .
Y&Se very truly,
Prepared by Leuir ,B. mmy, !fr .
Asslotant Attorney Generrl
APPROVED:
O?rnon cm=. ,.
I.
.