R-614
THEA~TORNEYGENEFZAL
OF‘TEXAS
August 19, 1947
Hon. Elmer H. Parish Opinion No, V-352
District Attorney
Wichita County " Re: Authority of a sher-
Wichita Falls, Texas ifffs deputies or a
Veterans' County Ser-
vice Officer to retain
compensation paid by
Veterans' Administra-
tion for transporting
mental patients to Vet-
erans' Hospital in a
county-owned automobile.
Dear Sir:
de refer to your letter of June 20, 1947, in
which you submit the following0
..
TWe would like an opinion from your deoart-
ment'asto whether the money paid bry the Veterans'
Administration to deputy sheriffs and Veteran
County Service office for attendant's fee and
mileage in tranrporting patients to the Veteran's
Hospital at Waco; Texas, is county funds and
&&d be turned over to the proper county offi-
0
"Deputy sheriffs in Wichfta County, Texas,
are paid a fixed monthly salary from the officers
salary fund of the county. They are furnished
automobiles by the county, and all expenses of
operation of the cars are paid for by the county.
All necessary traveling exnenses of the deputy
sheriffs are paid out of the General Fund of the
county.
Wichita County haa employed a Veterane
County Service Officer as provided by A*. 5799,
He is paid a salary by the county, and the above
article provides that all necessary t;.rv;ii;Etex-
penses shall be paid by the county. '
furnished an automobile.by the county.
:.,,
,
.’
Hon. Elmer B, Parish - Page 2, V-352
.:
“On February 4 1947, deputy sheriff Martin
Doyle was paid $18.b by the veterans admlnistra-
tion for mileage and attendant ‘9 fee in trans-
porting Johnnie B. Fields to the Veterans Aaminls-
tratlon in the county car and the couatg paid all
expenses. On March 19, 1947, Deputy Sheriff B.
0. Whisnand uau paid $18.86 by the V, A, for mile-
age and attendant Is fee in traaaport Lng Frank C.
ltovan to the V. A, Hospital, and Veteran’s County
Sarvice Officer Jack Deaton was paid $6.50 by the
V. A0 as a second,attendant.
wAltogether eight patiaats have been trana-
ported to the Veterans Administration Hospital
at Waco, Texas, aa mental patient% by either one
deputy sheriff and the Veterans County Service
Officer or by two deputy sheriffs. All expenses
of the deputy aheriffa are paid by the county.
When the Veterans County Service Officer assists
in transporting a pat lent, he travels in the
same county car aa the aeputJ sheriff, but he
WJS his own expeaaea.
vOur quaetiona are:
~“1. Should deputy ,aheriff% turn into the
county the money received by them from the Veter-
an% Administration as mileage and atbendaat’a fee
for transporting mental patients to the Veterans
Adainistratlon Hospital in a county car vhere all
expenses are paid by the county?
“2 . Should the Veterans County Service Of- :
ficer turn into the county money received by him
from the Veterans Administration as mileage
and attendant’s fee for transporting mental pa-
tlenta to the Veterans Admlnlstratlon Hospital
vhsre he pays his own expenses, but travels with
a deputy sheriff in a county car operated at
county axpen%e?”
We are assuming that the sheriff’s deputies
were acting under authority of a warrant issued ‘to
the sheriff or to some other suitable person directing
him to conveyt= Fan of unsound mind to the hoa-
pita1 designated in such warrant, which warrant shall ~.:
also prescribe the number of guards allowed, not to
exceed tvo’ aa provided in Article 5557 of Vernon ‘a
. .
Hon. Elmer H, Parish - Page 3$ V-352
Cvfl Statutes. Otherwise the acts indicated in your
inquiry constitute unlawful use of a county-owned auto-
mobile and unauthorized consumption of time of officera
paid for by the county. (Emphasis added)
The Constitution fixes the compensation of
certain officers and authorizea the Legislature to pro-
vide by law for the compensation of all other officers
and servants. The rule of decision in Texas is that
"an officer may not claim or reach any money without a
law authorizing him to do so, and clearly fixing the
amount to which he is entitled." Binford vsO Robinson
244 S.~W, 807; McLennan County vs. Boggess 137 S,W. 346;
Crosby County Cattle Co. vs, McDermott, 281 S.W. 293.
Duclos vss Harris County, 291 S,W, 611, affirmed, 298
sow. 417.
Article 31% V. C, S, provides for compensa-
tion for conveying patients to asylums, the pertinent
part of which is:
Yl'he expenseo of conveying all public patients
to the asylum shall be borne by the counties re-
spectively, from which they are sent; and said
counties shall pay the same upon the sworn account
of the officer or person performing such service,
showing in detail the actual expenses incurred in
the transportation. In case any public patient is
possessed of property sufficient for the purpose
or any person legally liable for his support is EO
possessed of property, the county paying the ex-
penses of such transportation shall be entitled to
reimbursement out of the estate of the lunatic. o o ."
Article 3188 of said Statutes authorizes such
transportation to the United States Veterans' Admini-
stration Hospitals, When a county furnishessuch ser-
vices, it may seek reimburaement from the veteran's es-
tate. The rules of the Veterans Administration provfde
for payment by it of expenses of such transportation
to protect the veteran and his estate, Hence the money
should be turned over to the county so that such estate
will be protected; i.e., the county's claim will be
satisfied.
Both of the deputies were full time employees
of Wichita County, on a salary basis, engaged in the
performance of the duties for which they were employed,
Hon. Elmer H, Parish - Page 4, V-352
and used a county-owned automobile, Zack of them was
authorized to receive actual expenses from the County,
in addition to his aslary, as provided by $a%!, and no
mace. Therefore, In view of the foregoing, it is the
opinion of this Department that any expense money PO-
ceived by the deputies from the Veterans" Adminlstra-
tion should be paid Into the County Treasury by them.
Opinion No. O-3198, by a former Attorney @en-
era1 pertains to the compensation of sheriffs for con-
veying lunacy patients to State Hospitals,. We enclose
a copy of the opinion for your information,
Veterans County Service Office Is created by
Article 5798a-2, Section 1, of Vernon's Civil Statutes,
which provides, in part:
"When the Commissioners8 Court of a coun-
ty shall determlne that such an office is a
public necessity a 0 0 it shall bg a majority,
vote of the full membership thereof, maintain
and operate such an office and shall appoint
a Veteran"s County Service Officer b D . Such
Veterans County Service Officer . 0 . shall
receive a salary fixed by the County Commls-
sioners' Court s (j 0 and travel expense of
such Veterans County Service Officer o + q
and all salaries of the personnel of such of-
fice and other expenses of such office shall
be pai! on order of the Commissioners' Court
. 0 .
The duties of a Veterans County Service Officer
are prescribed in Section 3 of said Article as follows:
"The duty of the Veterans County Service
Officer and/or the Assistant Veterans County
Service Officer shall be to aid all resldeuts
of the county and/or counties providing for
such officers who served In the military,
neval or other armed forces or nurses corps
of the United States during any war or peace-
time enlistment, and/or veterans and/or OP-
phans and/or dependents in preparing, sub-
mitting and presenting any claim against the
United States or any state, for oompensatFoa,
hospltalizatlon, insurance or other Item or
benefits to which they may be entitled under
the existing laws of the United States, or of
&a. Elmer B. Parish - Page 5, V-352
any state, or such laws as may hereafter be
enacted, pertinent thereto. It shall also
be their duty to defeat all unjust claims
that may come to their attention. Ro fees,
either directly or Indirectly, for any ser-
vice rendered by such Veterans County Ser-
vice Officer and/or Assistant Veterans Coun-
ty Service Officer shall be charged of ap-
plicant, nor shall they permit the payment
of any fee by applicant to any third person
for services that might be rendered by them,
nor seek to influence the execution of a
power of an attorney to one national ser-
vice organization over that of another. ”
We are of the opinion that the language “pre-
senting any claim against the United States or any State,
for compensation, hospitalization, insurance or other
items OP benefits to which they ma$ be entitled under
existing laws of the Unlted States does not include ac-
companying a veteraa to a Veterans Hospital by a Veter-
ans County Service Officer. Therefore, Article 5798a-2
imposes no duty upon a Veterans County Service Officer
to accompany an insane veteran to a hospital.
If the Veterans County Service Officer went
as a guard or attendant pursuant to Article 5557,,then
the county is liable for actual expense iacurred by
such guard or attendant in conveying such person to a
Veterans t Hospital. In the latter event, the expense
money received from the Veterans Administration by the
guard should be paid into the County Treasury.
SUMMARY
Money received from Veterans Admin-
istraiion by deputies in the off ice of Sheriff
of Wichita County for services rendered by them
in transferring a mentally unsound person to a
Veterans Hospital in an automobile owned by
Wichita County, while their deputies are engaged
in full-time employment by Wichita County on a
salary basis, should be paid over to the County.
2. If a Veterans County Service Officer
accompanied a mentally unsound person to a
Veterans’ Hospital as a guard, pursuant to
Article 5557 V. C. S., Wichita County Is liable
Eon. Elmer H. Parish - Page 6, V-352
to s&h officer for actual expenses paid by
him, and the money paid to him by the Veter-
ans* Administration for such service belongs
to said county.
Very truly yours,
ATTORNEY
WHERALOF TXXAS
UTWcet:jrmrj