Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

January 13, 1948 Hon. Wayne L. Hartman, V-477. Opi.nlon,No. County Attorney, De Wftt County, Re: Legality of the ap- Cuero, Texas pointment by a Corn- missioners1'Courtof one of its~members : as Commissionertb sell real'i,state"un- aer Article 1577, Rt c. 5, .DearSlrt We refer to your letter of December 23, 1947, In which'you submit the qwstionr %a~ the Commissioners.Cotitof,?e Witt County, Texas, appoint one of its own members as Colmnissioner,without compensa- tion to sell real estate belonging to said Co&, under the provisions~ofArticle 1577, Rev. Civ. St. 19&‘5em Thit A;l'ticle reads: "The commlssic&erscourt may, by an order to be entered on Its minutes, appoint a conmdssionerto sell aa dispose of any real estate of the county at public auction. The deed of such commissioner,made in con- formity to such order for and in behalf of the county, duly acknowledgedana’provea.ana recorded shall be sufficientto convey to the purchasers all the right, title, and in- 'terestand estate which the county may,have In and to the premises to be conveyed. Both- ing contained in this article shall author- ize any commissionerscourt to dispose of any lands given, donated or grant~ea to such ooun- ty for the purpose of education'lnany other manner than shall be directed by law." I .- 1 -#--F . Hon. Wayne L. Hartman - Page 2 (V-677) . We assume that the real estate in question is other than county School Lana and must be sold under the provisions of Article 1577, V. C. S. In Spencer v. Levy, 173 S. W. 550, writ re- fused, the Court said: "We are of the opinion that the deed ex- ecuted by the Chief Justice of Falls county.to Frank Barnes, under whom W. M. Reed claimed; did not convey title to the grantee therein, for the reason that it does not appear that he was appointed by the commissioners'court to sell said ma, nor that such sale was made at .public, auction." The,.s.e ,,y'theCweP 'Je&+" (&,~-(.w ~:-a+] hela’voia *fti tkid r&asoti'th&t-it ih'thzit~ka%e'~tia* does-not appdai-tihat.hewas.appoInted b$'the CommS~sl6n~s~'~wuFt~t6'~ sell the land;ndr"tliat-'such~Sal~ w~~:made‘~t~'pablid~~ari'ction.' This l.&igu&ge‘c53arly'lndicattisthat'tM Cdiiuty..Jtid&!d may'be app0intea %o'mak6 sucKa. sale'i-&a SIfid@.tfieJu&+&'13 .a'tie- ber of the Conrmissionerst Court it necessarily follows t&t any other member of the Court may be appointed to perform such service. However, the person appointedmust serve tith-~ out compensation. A member of the CommisslonerstCotit.ls eligible to serve without compensationas Com- missioner to.sell county land under Article 1577, Ft.C. S., 1925. : Very truly yours;. APPROVED: ATTORNRY GEHERAL QF'TEI[AS ACTIlU ATTOBBIEPGENERAL WTWxvb