Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

January 25, 1967 Honorable Jack N. Fant Opinion No. M-14 County Attorney Room 201, City-CountyBuilding Re: Constructionof Section El Paso, Texas 79901 15 of Article 5142b, Vernon'e Civil Statutes, relative to the salary to be paid the five district judges in Dear Mr. Fant: El Paso County. You have requested our opinion in the conetructlonof Section 15 of Article 5142b, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Your specific queatlon reads as follows: "IS the Commissioners'Court compelled to pay a mlnimum sum of $3,900.00 per annum, or can the Court exercise discretion and pay nothing or any amount less than $3,900.00 to the five District Judges in El Paeo County, yp;,cugd;$ Section 15 of Article 5142b* . . . . . Section 15 of Article 51&2b, Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads as follows: "The Judges of the several District and Criminal District Courts who are members of the Juvenile board in such counties, on account of the additlonal duties imposed on them, are hereby allowed an additional compensation-0T" Three Hundred Twenty-five Dollars ($32>.00) per month; and the County Judge in such countiea, on account of the additional duties Imposed on him, is hereby allowed an additional compensa- tion of Seventy-fiveDollars ($75.00) per month. The compensationherein provided for is to be paid by the CommissionersCourt in such counties and is to be in addition to all other compenaa- tlon now allowed by law to suchmcers. The ~ommisslonersCourt, in its discretion,may al60 - 52 - Hon. Jack N. Fant, page 2 (M-14) allow each member of the juvenileboard an ln- crease in such additional compensationin an amount not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($l,OOO.OO)per year, but any Increasemust be allowed uniformly for all members of the Board. Provided, however, that In counties coming under the provisions of this Act, the members of the juvenile board shall not receive any compensationunder or by virtue of Acts of 1917, 35th Le lslature,Chaeter 16, page 27, (Article 51897 , as amended. (Emphasisadded.) In construlng similar provisionscontained In Article 6819a-3, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as the provisions above empha- sized in Section 15 of Article 5142b, Vernon's Clvll Statutes, it was held In Attorney Qeneral's Opinion ~~-610 (1959) that . . .the Commissioners’ Court is compelledunder Section 2A of said S.B. 78 to pay $2,900.00 annually, and such Court cannot exercise discretion and pay a lesser amount or'nothlng." It Is noted that Section 15 specificallyprovldbs that the judges 'are hereby allowed an additionalcompensationof Three Hundred Twenty-fiveDollars ($325.00)per month? and that such compensationIs to be paid by the CommissionersCourt and Is to be in addition to all other compensationnow allowed by law to such officers. Such language Is mandatory and Is not discretionary. Hess and Skinner EngineeringCo.-v. Turney, 203 S.W. 593, 594 (Tex.Sup. 1918). Slilissen v. state, 9 S.W. 112, 118 (Tex.Sup. 1888). ' We therefore agree with your conclusionthat the compensationof $325.00 is to be paid by the Commissioners Court and that the sole discretion in the CommlsslonersCourt is in allowing additional compensationIn an additional amount not to exceed $l,OOO.OO per year. You are accordingly advised that the CommissionersCourt is compelledby the provisions of Section 15 of Article 5142b, Vernon's Civil Statutes, to pay a minimum of $8,900.00 per annum to the judges of the several District and Criminal District Courts who are members of the juvenile board and such sum Is to be in addition to all other compensationnow allowed by law to such officers. SUMMARY The provisions of Section 15 of Article 5142b, Vernon'6 Civil Statutes, stating that the judges of the several District and Crlmlnal Dlatrlct Courts who are members of the juvenile board are hereby allowed an additional compensationof $325.00 per - 53 - Hon. Jack N. Fant, page 3 (M-14) month Is mandatory and the Commissioners Court cannot exercise discretion and pay a lesser amount. truly yours, d%== '2;MARTIN General Of TeXaS Prepared by John Reeves Assistant Attorney Qeneral JR:ra:mkh APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Hawthorne PhillipS, Chairman W. V. Geppert, Co-Chalrman J. C. Davis Malcolm Quick Pat Bailey William Craig STAFF LEGAL ASSISTANT A. J. Carubbl, Jr. - 54 -