THEATTORNEY GENERAL
OF 7rExAs
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
March 13, 1948
Hon. John Atchison opinion no. v-519
County Attorney
Cooke County Re: Authority of the Com-
Gainesville,Texas missioners' Court of a
county of more than
20,000 populrtioIlto
fix the salary of I
constableat any time
subsequentto its
first regular meeting
in January.
Dear Sir:
Your request for an opinion from this offloe
on the above subject matter is, Inpart, as follows:
"Your opinion is requested as to,vheth-
er the CommissionersCourt of a county of
more than 20,000 population has the authority
at any time subsequentto its first regular
meeting in January of any calendar year to
enter an order placing a certain precinct
constableDsoffioe on ftsalary for that year,
and fixing the salary.
We quote the following pertinent statutorypro-
visions:
Art. 39120, v. c. S.:
%eotion 2. The CommissionersCourt
of each county in the State of Texas, 8t
its first regular meeting in January of
each calendar gear, shall, by.order made
and entered in the minutes of said court,
fO,Os
determinevhether precinct officers of.
such county (except public wei hers and
registrars of vital statistics7,shall be
compensatedon a salary basis as provided
forin thls Act, or whether they shaX1 re-
ceive as their compensation,such Of
Hon. John Atchison, page 2 (V-519)
of'fioeas may be earned by them in the per-
formance of the duties of their offlcas,
and it shall be the duty of the county
clerk of each county to forward to the
Comptrollerof Public Accounts of the
State of Texas on or before the 3lst day
of January a certified copy of such order.
In counties having a opulation of less
thantwenty thousand ? 20,000) inhabitants
according te the last preceding Federal
Census, it shall likewise be the duty of
the Commissioners9Court, by its order
duly made and entered of reoord at Its
fi*st regular meet&g in January of each
calendargear;.to determine whether coun-
ty officers 6 such county (excludingcmun-
ty surveyors,registrars of vital atetia-
tics and notaries public) shall be compen-
sated for the fiscal year on the basis of
an annual salary or whether they shall be
compensatedon the basis of fees earned
by them in the performanceof their of-
ficial duties, and lt.shall also be the
duty of the county clerk to forward to
the Comptrollerof Public Accounts of
the State of Texas, on or before the 3lst
day of January, a certified copy of said
order of said CommissionersDCourt.
'Set, 17 (a) The term sPrecinct
Officerssas used in this Act means jus;
tices of the peace and constables o o *
Article 3898, V. C. S,:
"The fiscal year, within the meaning
of this Act, shall begin on January 1st
of each year; and each district, county
and precinct officer shall file his re-
port and make the final settlementre-
quired in this Act not later than Febru-
ary 1st of each year; provided, however,
that officers receiving an axmual salary
as compensationfer their services shall,
by the close of each month, pay into the
Officersa Salary Fund or funds, all fees,
commissionsand compensationcollectedby
him during said month. Whenever such of-
ficer serves for a fractionalpart of the
Eon. John Atchison, page 3 (V-519)
fiscal year, he shall neverthelessfile his
report and make final settlementfor such
part of the year as he serves and shall be
entitled to such proportionatepart of his
compensationas the time gor his service
bears to the entire year.
It was held in Attorney General's Opinion No.
O-5061 that"Yection2 of Article 3912e, V. A. C. S., re-
quires the CommissionersCourt of every county in Texas
at its first regular meetiw in January of each year to
determinewhether certain precinct officers shall be
placed on a salary OP fee basis."
It was held in Attorney General's Opinien Ba,
O-6462 that the Commissioners’ Court of a oounty under
20,000 population 00uia place its county offioirls on a
salary basis at its first regular meeting in January
and not subsequent thereto., We quote the following from
that opinion:
"Under the provisions of Article 3898,
the fiscal year of a county beg& on Janu-
ary 1st of each year, We think that It was
contemplatedby the provisions of Section 2,
Article 3912e, that during the month of Jm-
uary, the commiasioners~court should have
determinedwhether the designated county of-
ficers would be compensatedon a fee or sol-
ary basis, whereby said officers could ac-
count for and dispose of the fees of office
accordingly,in the manner provided in Arti-
cle 3898. When the commissioners"court has
determinedthat county officers shall be
paid on an annual salary basis, we think
that it was contemplatedthat such annual
salary should be paid for the fiscal year,
beginning January lst, in twelve equal in-
stallments. We do not think it was within
the contemplationof this Act that county
officers shvuld be compensatedon a fee br-
sis par a part of a year, and, for the re-
maining portion of said year, be oompsnsrt-
ed on a salary basis, If it were determin-
ed that county officers should be paid on
the basis of an annual salary, in any month
later than January of any riscal year, it
would be impossible to comply with these
provisions as to fixing salaries on an
Hon. John Atchison, page 4 (V-519)
annual basis and paying same in twelve
equal installwnt* f*r that fiscal year.'
(Emphasisours>
In view of the foregoing and after oarefully
consideringall the pertinent statutoryprovisions,it
is our opinion that the holding in Attorney General's
Opinion No, O-6462 is equally applicable to precinct of-
ficers and we find no authority for the Commissioners1
Court to determinewhether precinct officers shall be
paid on a fee or salary basis at any time other than at
Its first regular meeting in January of each year..
You are, therefore,advised that the salary
of a constable of a county of more than 20,000 popula-
tien cannot be fixed in any one year at any time later,
than at the first regular meeting in January of the corn-
missioners'Court,
SUMMARY
The Commissioners Court in a ooun-
ty of more than 20,000 populationdoes not
have the authority to place preoinct offi-
cers on an annual salary basis at any time
later than at its first regular meeting in
January of each year, Article 3912e, Sec. 2.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEY GERRRAL OF TRXAS
JR:mw John Reeves
APPROVED:
KEY GERERAL