Asiwrn~ II. ll?+:x.lm
PRICE DANlEL
ATTOHNEYdBNEH.4,.
February 8, 1951
Hon. Ii. A. Hodges Opinion No. V-1149
County Auditor Re: Authority of the sher-
Williamson County lff to order photo-
Qeorgetown,Texas graphs to be taken In
connectionwith an ln-
vestlgatlonof a crime
without first securing
,.* approve1 by the comml-
ssloners' court or the
Dear Mr. liodges: county auditor.
You have requested our opinion whether the sheriff
of Williamson County can charge to the county the expense of
securingphotographs In connection with a criminal investl-
gatlon conducted by him without first securing permission
from the commlsslonerstcourt or the county auditor.
Subsection (b) of Article 3899, V.C.S., provides:
"Each officer named In this Act, where he receives
a salary as compensationfor his services, shall
be entitled and permitted to purchase or charge to
his county all reasonable expenses necessary In the
..-.I'
I-~properand legal conduct of his office, . , . and
such expenses to be Passed on, predltermlnedand
allowed in the time and amount, as nearly as poss-
ible, by the CommlsslonersCourt once each month
for the ensuing month, upon the application by
each officer, stating the kind, probable amount
'of expenditureand the necessity fotithe expenses
of his office for such ensuing month, which app-
lication shall, before presentation to salA court,
first be endorsed:$Y.the.county~audltor, If any,
otherwise the county treasurer, only as to whether
funds are available for payment of such expenses. . .
"Such pruchases shall be made by each officer, when
allowed, only by requisition In manner provided by
the county auditor If any, otherwise by the Commlss-
loners Court. Each officer, shall, at the close of
each month of his tenure of office, make an Itemized
and sworn report of all approved expenses Incurred
by him and charged to his county accompanylng:.suc~h
report with Invoices covering such purchases and
requisitionsIssued by him in support of such report.
If $uch expense&be Incurred In cbpneotlonwlth~any
partlcuXda)case,such report shall name such case.
Such report, Invoices, and requisitionsshall
Hon. H. A. Hodges, Page 2 (v-1149)
be subject to the audit of the
county auditor, If any, otherwise by the Commlss-
loners Court, and if It appears that any Item was
not Incurred by such officer, or that such Item
was not a necessary or legal expense~of such office,
or purchased upon proper requisition, such Item
shall be by said county auditor or court rejected,
In which case the payment of such Item may be ad-
judicated In any court of competent jurlsdlsdlctlon.
All such approved claims and accounts shall be
paid from the Officers Salary Fund unless otherwise
provided herein."
We think the phrase "all reasonable expenses necessary In the pro-
per and legal conduct of hl.soffice" Is sufficientlybroad In
scope to cover the expense of securing photographs necessary In
the conduct of a criminal lnvestlgatlonas in the Instant case.
As to the necessity of securing the prior endorsementof the
county auditor or county treasurer, as the case may be, and the
prior approval of the commissioners1 court before Incurring such
an expense, you'are referred to State v. Carnes, 106 S.W.2d 399
(Tex. Clv.App. &37), In which the court states:
"While the entry by the commissioners1court of
an order authorizingthe appointmentof deputies
and fixing their compensationupon proper appll-
cation by the officer In accordance with article
3902 Is a conditionprecedent to his claiming
credit, as a matter of right, for salaries paid
his deputies, this statutoryprovision was not
Intended as a llmltatlonon the power of the
commissioners'court, and any affirmativeaction
of the court authorizingor approving the expen-
diture before or after It was Incurred would bind
the county and authorize the deduction. The Co-
mmlssloners~ court may ratlSy,t+atGMiUh it might
have authorized originally. Cameron County v. Fox
('Pa. Corn.App.) 61 S.w.(2d)'483:"
,...;.I
In view of the foregoing, It Is the opinion of this office
that the expenditure In this lnstarke may be pal.dout of
the Officers' Salary Fund of the county. Of course, such
expendituremust have either the prior approval or the sub-
sequent ratificationof the commissioners1court, and Is
subject to audit by the count auditor (or the commlssloners~
court, if there Is no auditor3 as to whether It was an auth-
orized expense.
. .
Hon. H. A. Hodges, Page 3 (v-1149)
SUMMARY
The expense of securing photographs as a
part of a criminal investigationconducted
by a sheriff may be charged to the county
as a part of the reasonable expense nece-
ssary In the proper and legal conduct of
his office, provided such expenditureshave
prior approval or subsequentratification
by the commlsslonersfcourt.
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
J. C. Davis, .Tr. PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs Division Attorney Qeneral
Jesse P. Luton, Jr.
Revlewlng Assistant
By: a/ Burnell Waldrep
Charles D. Mathews Burnell Waldrep
First Assistant Assistant
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