181
OF’FICE OF
. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
AUSWN. TEXAS
PRICE DANIEL FAOAN DlCKSON
*TTazNEY GENERAL
February 17, 1948 rrmz Ammm-
Eon. W. A. Radden opinion No. v-505
County Attorney
Pecos county Ret Authority of anagersof
Fort Stockton,Texas County Board of Roapltals
to fix the Superinten-
dent's salary on a con-
tingent basis.
Bear Sir:
Reference is made to your recent request fbr
an opinion by this Department, wherein you enclosed a
letter addressed to you by the County Judge, vhloh reads,
ln part, as follovs:
"The taqiayers of P&OS- County voted
bonds in the amount of $300,000. in 1946
for the colhstliuction
and equipment of a
county hospital, and assessed and levied
a tax for the payment of bond maturities
and interest.
"The C~nnnl~sidne~aCourt being inform-
ed that the hospital Would be'or'could be
made self supportingassessed, levied or
collectedno taxes for malntenancf! or nec-
essary expenses thereof.
"After the site has been acquired and
the contract awarded for the constractidn
of necessarybuilding&, and a board of'man-
agera tippointedIi$the"cotiYta8 provide&by
Art. 4479 VCS; hiis-'this
board power or anthi
ority td employ a superintendentand fix his
salary on a contingentbasis; based on the
net earn-s of-the ~hospitalor income from
the operation thereof, he to receive a s&11-
ary not to exceed thrjnet earnIn@ of the
hospital with a maxl&um of $5;000.00 a year
he aasnming the pay&M of tilloperating'6x-
pensea, and,ln nb manner obligating the--&oun-
b. He to be employed.subjectto all-the
terms, conditionsand provisions of the
182
Ron. W. A. bdden, page 2 (v-505)
County Hospital Act."
Article.4478, V. C. S., provides for'the estab-
lishing, enlarging,repairing and maintaininga county
hospital.
Article 4479 provides for the appointment of
six resident property taxpaying citizens of the county
who shall constitutea board of mauagers of saLd hospl-
tal.
Article 4480, V. C. S., 1s as follows:
"The board of managers shall elect from
among lts,membersa president,and on6 or
more vice-presidentsand S secretary'auda
treasurer6 It shall &ppoint 8 superlnten-
dent of the ho'spltalwho sball hold office
at the pleaeure~of said-board. Said super-
Utendent ,&all not be &member of the
board, aud shall be a qualiiied practltlon-
er of medicln6, or be specially trained for
work of such character.
."Saidboard'shallfix the salaries of
the auDerlntendentand all other offlciwe and
rm,
e lo es v II'
tlon made therefor by~the commissioners
court. and such salarles~shallbe 'comenea-
tlon In full f6r all servlt5estietiered.%e
board sh&ll deter-e the amount of time re-
quired to be spent at the hospital by said.
superintendentin the discharge of his dut-
ies. The board shall have the general man-
agenent:&nd control of the said hospital,
grounds; buildings, officers and employees
thereof; of the inmates therein, and of all
matters relati@ to the government,dlscip-
llDe, contractsand fiscal coficernsthereof;
and make such rules and regulations8s may
seem to them .neceaaaryfor carrylng'outthe
purposes of suc~hhospital. They shall main-
taLn an effective inspection of said hospital
and keep themselves informed of the affairs
and management thereof; shall meet at.the
hospital at least once in every month, and
at such other times as may be prescribed in
the by-laws; and shall hold an annual nieet-
ing at least three weeks prior to the meet-
183
Hon. W. A. Hadden; page 3 (Vi505)
lng of,the commlaaioneiisaoui% t which a
prourlatlons:forthe ensuini..sear
-iiare
considered." (Empha~lsadded)
..:,.. '..
Article 4484, v.,C. S., providesi In part:
"The board of managers 'shallkeep in
a book provided for that purpose a proper
record of its proceedings. . . The Board
shall certify all~bllls &nd acaounts, ln-
cladinn aalarles and wages, and transmITiT
them to the commissionerscourt. who shall
provide.for their moment in the same man-
ner as other charnes against the aounty
are Mid." (Emphaslaadded)
Article 4485, V. C. S., provides, in part, as
follows:
"TJzesuperintendentb-11 be the chief
executive officdr of the hospital,.but shall
at all times be subject to the by-laws,
rules and regulations thereof, and to the
powers of the board of managers.
'& &all, vlth the cons@nt of.the
board of 'managers,.equlpthe'hoepltalwith
all necessary furnitrire,,&ppllancea,fix-
tures and all other needed facilitietifor
the care.and treatment~ofpatients; w
for-the niieof offIcera and &plojies there-
of;~snd~shall~purchati6all~'neoessdiysup-
plies,not exceeding the amount provided for
such purposes by the commlesionerscourt
"He shall dollect snd receive all
moneys due the hospital;~&&epan-hccur-
ate.accountof the *time,tieportthe same
at the monthlg meeting of the board of
managers, and transmit the same to th6
county collecgorwlthint ten 'daysafter
such meeting.
In the case'bf Commtssloners Oourt of Madisbn
County v. Wallace, 118 Tex. 279, 15,S.,,W.($!a):535,the
Supreme Court said:
"The commlaslonersco&t Is a crha-.
tnre of the state constitutionand its
184 110n.
W. A. Hadden, page 4 (V-505)
powers are limited and Ocintrolledby the
constitutionand the laws ab psesed by the
legislature. Artle'lh'5, Section 18 of~the
Constitutionof Tex&s;'Btildvin v. Travis
Couhty, 40 Texi Clv. A lgg, 88 s. W. 480;
Seward v. Falls County"p'
Tex. Clv. App.) 246
3. W. 728; Bland v. Orr. 90 Tex. 492, 39 3.
W. 558."
It la .awell settled principle of law that the
commlesloneracourt does.not'haveany authority except
that which la expressly or Liuplledlyconferredupon it
by law. Edtibds County v;,.Jenni.ngs;33 S. W. 385; 15
C. J. 457, Sec.,103; 15 C..S. 537, +c. 221.
"Where a power LS granted tind.theme-
thod of.Its ex&rclse~lsprescribed,the
prescribed method exclirCLes
all others, and
must be followed.' LeHa SuthetilasnLSta-
tTtLxIry
T.d~~~~&~, W*.%, ?wl . 572, =yq ~,
628,.631.
15 C. J. S. 935, 936, provides, in part, 3s
follows:
"The source of payment of compensa-
tion of county offlcers,~agenta; .and&mploy-
ees IS ordinarilyregulatedby conatltu-
Mona1 and statutorypr~*lslon. ‘Under spme
conatltatlonaland stetuttiry p~ovlslona
such comp~nsatlon~ltipayable only from the
general fun+ in t@e cotu+y treasury, or
from some special fund, or ftiomthemfees
and emolumentsof the office; . . .
It is noted In Article 44480,supra, that the
board shall fix the salaries of'the Superintendentand
all other officers and employeeswithin the limits of
the appropri&tlonmade therefor b$ the Commlssionera
Court and such salaries shall be compensationin full
for all services rendered.
The word 'salary"as defined in Webster's
Hew InternationalDictionary is: "The recompense or
considerationpaid or stipulatedto be paid to a per-
'sonat regular intervals for services,especially to'
holders of official, executipe or clerical posItion*;
fixed compensatlon,;egularly paid, as by the Year, quar-
ter, month or week.
Hon. W. A. Hadden, page 5 (v-505)
We find in Words-and.P&ases thist"the.word
lsalaq' may be.definedgenerally as a fired.aqnual or
periodicalpayment for services, depending on the time
and not on the amount of-the services.rendered.n.
Since the statutes clearly provide that the
board fix the salary of the Superintendentof the hoa-
pltal, and that the Commissioners'Court shall pay the
salary certified 'in the same mamer.as -otherchargek
against the county me paidI',and in view of the fore-
going, It-la the opinion of this Department that the
board of managers does not have the authority to em-
ploy a Superintendentof the County Hospital.andfix
his salary on a contingent-.baals.Stated in Wother~
way,.ve.belleve that the board must fix the salary of
the ,Superlntendentat a sum certain wltbln the limita
of the appropriationmade therefor by the Commlsslon-
era' Court.
SUMMARY
The Board of.Managers of the County
Hospital la not'authorla6dto fix the
Superinteudent1s~4alary on 8 contingent
basis, based on the net.eernlngs of the
hospital or income froni the o eratlon~theie-.
Arts 4480 4484 and 4485’~V C S *
%. V, S&tion'l8, 0: the Texa: (&&t~~
tlon.
Yours very truly,
ATTOiUiE GEHRRALiOF TEXAS
BA:mi Btiuce'
Allen
Assistant
APPROVED:
ATTORHEY GERERAL