Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

TEtE A NEWGENERAL TEXAS Hon. wk. ?f.Hensley Opinion Ro. v-1127. Criminal Mstrlct Attorney Bexar County Re: Whether Article 682ga, San Antonio, Texas V.C.S., authorizinga State or dlstrlct of- ficer In militaryserv- ice to direct payment of his compensationto one temporarilyfill- ing the office applies to a Criminal District Dear Sir: Attorney. Your request for an opinion reads in part a8 followsn . ,Do the provris called Into military service? If said statute does apply and w2. the Criminal Mstrict Attorney complies with the statute by filing the reqnired waivep with the Comptroller,would the CommissionersCourt and/& the Auditor of the officer's county be authorized to pay the salary of the office to the person designated to temporarilyfill the office during the absence of the regularly elect- ed officer?" Article 682ga, V.C.S., providea: 'Section 1. Any person holdlm a State or District office in the State of whether as a member of the execu- Be? legislativeor judicial departments, when'called Into the lllilitarg service of either the State or Rational Governments, is hereby authorized to ffle wlth the COW- troller of Public Accounts of the State, a ; . Hon. Wm. If.Hensley, page 2 (V-1127) statement or certificateIn writing, to the effect that he waives the payment of his salary or pay OF the emoluments of his said office during the period of his military service and authorizingthe pay- ment of such salary, pay OP emoluments of his office to any other person, who, un- der the provisions of any law of this State is appointed OP elected to temporarilyfill such civil office during the absence of such officer, such waiver OP assignment to termi- nate lzzzediatelgupon the release OF dis- charge of said officer from such military serviceo "Sec. 2. Such waiver or assignment shall be suffic‘ientauthority for the Comp- troller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas to issue State warrants and to pax such person so holding such officerVs posi- tion during his absence in military service out of appropriations,madeby the Legisla- hre for such office. "Sec. 3. The filing with the Comptrol- ler of Public Accounts of the State of Texas of such waiver or assinnmentorovided for In this Act shall never b; construed by any Court of this State to be a resignationPram hls of- fice by the person entering the zdlitarg serv- ice of the State or Eational GoverzzzenteOP that his office is vacant by reason thereof." (Emphasisadded.) The emphasized portion of Article 6829a, Ver- non's Civil Statutes, shows conclusivelythat its provi- sions are onlv aDDliCable to Dersons holdinz a State OP district office in the State of Texas whose-salariesare paid by warrants issued by the Comptroller of Public Ao- counts of the State of Texas and to no other. Although the C~imlnal Mstrict Attorney of Bexar County is a dis- trict officer within the meaning of certain statutes,his salary is not paid by warrants issued by the Comptroller of Public Accounts on the State Treasury, but is paid by the county from the County Officer's Salary Fund, to which the State makes an apportionment. Att'y Gen. Op. O-6676 (1945)* Therefore, in answer to your questions,you are . ’ Hon. Wm. If.Rensley, page 3 (V-1127) advised that the provisions of Article @29a are not applicable to the Criminal Mstrlct Attorney of Bexar county. The provisions of Article 6829a,, au- thorizlng an officer to dlxeot payment of his compensationto one temporarilyfill- ing the office, are not applicable to the Criminal Mstrict Attorney of Dexar County because his salary Is not paid by warrants issued by the Comptroller of Public Ac- counts. APPROVEI): Yours very truly, J. C. Davis, Jr. PRICE MlKEL County Affairs DlVlSion Attorney General Everett Hutchinson Executive Assistant m Charles D. Mathews First Assistant Assistant JR:mv