OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN1
Bmomblo cUll8A B. lkZW0
Coacp Attorney
ssac&8~e~xit’
8
Et%zrslrt Opialon IFo. O-6695
Rer Whothor D comt
In ontitlodto
cad with PO
St the CoAtrActor for
g a cloti under the con-
inpowd~ tie reminder of the
e contzmtor by the Mlghvay De-
ed by Article f3160 OS the r?avlsed
%ometiae later the contractor came before the
Comlsaloners Court and mdo 8 sattlmeat of hl?ia ac-
count owlq to tha County by aelllng to the County a
piece of his road build- eqQnaent for an tuimmt
excoedlng the claim, the Couatg payIns the dl.fYarcaco
IA Cash to the COAt+,OP. At the time the settlemmt
I _
vaa made, I vas prepiarWa to Intervono%.Abehalf of
tho county In 8 @ult, vhlch I undbmt9od had been
filed by soclo of’ tho croditora of tta Contractor,
a~4 had dane rmo YG& on a tr%al brief, fiupplozient-
I.% a siailar brlol that jl b&d previously prepmed
ill 8 siidlar auLt. Slouw0r, I had not actwllg ftled
the alit. i
"The propooitioa DE which I vocld U.ke to bfwe
an opsnton r’sxm your depcrrtrz?nt io vhet~.or or cot
as County Attorccy I au entltled to a~ccanL~3ion on
the cmmt ot” the claim a$&mt the contractor, ra-
dm the prc+~~lsloae of Article 335 of tho Revised
Civil ttataitds.
"Thus rap I have not preacnteti E bill to the
Comiasionure Court, exd. I. d.o not vant to do ao UIL-
iasa Z aiz clearly cntltled to the ntatutory comls-
3iOA. Ifo;tersr, f 80 sure that the Commtnoiorrers
Comt wlllmdce no objection to pzzgi~g the coml~-
aLon 51 14x22lemllg entttled to it.
.,
"fi'ho uhole qUbCtt%OA, a8 ?: view it, depnnds OA
M interprotatlon or the, word *collected9 aa used ’
In Article 3%; ti it lo dLfTicult for me to &3-
v:se a malo t~lit uill apply Ln all altuatlons 80
as to follow the Latent OT the statute. It occur6
to me, homver, that, arts? the Commsssionors Court
has nttmpted to collect a claim wxlng the County aad,
i hav& faLled, pkacoo it %A the hand3 o,C the County
., Attornby for Uquidatian, the latter officer i6 en-
_.
. titled to the statutory Omission F0gAI'd1066 OS how
the alain ia finelly settled. This is the usual in-
torpretaticn In tmtten between the sttormoy and
&Lent in pmrats b~uuiness. Often In prlimta paw-
tice a debtor upon being notitied by an sttorneg
that he lx13 been employed in the natter of a claim,
pays the indebto&csa direct to the creditor; but
thW6 ha6 AbVQr bobA l%Ay Ql05ttOA Ln 8 6itUXtia
of thLe kind but vhat the attorney employed on o.
. cantlngmt h~Z.8 iu ontitled to hia foe.
‘Aa 1 Vl0W It, the f%lilQ Of Su:it 18 AOt eQ-
sent&&l to earnine: the CoumissSonprovided b7 Ar-
title 335; at most Lt 5.0 only evia0Ace that aol-
lectl.oa ua6 aifeut?d by the effgpti, of the Comity
I
Eonomble Cullen B. Vanco,‘p~~o 3
Attonoy. Xorcover, it would mm that it Is not
ncccsrcrry that tho cmey collected actwl1.y be paid
to and roaotvcd by the County Attorney; for to 60
hqld vould Caag hZm my coz~on~~tlon ti thoao in-
st.?r.cca vhom ho illed suit Ez4dob*taiCJ juQxxtt
c3a.tb w25y 10 Oitb0~ p3id ci~~lg to t2o C0tuty
or la collected by the 3horiff or of2xw officer =;=I
der czecutlon’ or othvr proccoa. Xt ie, thorefom,
my conclasion that th vo?d ‘collactod’, ao used
iii A?tiClO 335, St?SQlyClbiXS th%t l%qUbkLtbA Wl8
eccmliched by the oSrorta of the County Attorney
eftor the alala bad been placed %n his ha&o.
‘In- the Inntant t35tcation the ‘marmy vcs not
colleated by tse ia the umso that ‘it acttmllg pzsmd
through up hods. Eowve?, the cloti or&e liquid&ted
through ~?y Mfortn, ml tho County accept& property
IA lieu of .momy aftor It h?xl been plao& vlth ~$8QS
County Attorney for o@llcctlon, o;ld suit if 'noc0668ry.
Xu our oplnto~ Fo. Ci*35c&, whit21 Ye here adopt, YO had
urder conaZdomt2on vhgtb$r a Comty attorney vbo had been dlrocted
to brihz ouit a~ainnt tua Inclvlci~l for &zmqos $tmo to property
be1ongf.r~~to the county Vns entit&d to the CO~oo~onn prescribed
: - by Article 33Tr Vernon18 Annotated Civil Stututocs. Ve thoro hold
thfst, 6inCe thbP0 VS.3 A0 PtfitUte &l~OOiU~ UjMll tb0 COUUty 8ttOlTl8y
. ..i’tho duty to ropreeent the. county in 0 autt bmu&t to racovor
.: % d.zztges done to'propcrty bolor@ng to the county, anld Article 335
..’ .I tad no applicstlon tad the crouuty attorney VW not entitled to
:i .~ . :sati commias~ons fbr b2.s eorvle0s. It v.26 furthor hold, hmever,
that the cosnloslonora~. Court ccald 1e~lIy contnct vith the county
attorney to bring eati sxlt and-pay h2u a xymomblo caPrp@nsation
for hla said eervlcer as ~%y be agoed upon betuoen hLm and tha
Commi8sloners o Court. We enolose~harevlth 6 Copy Or said OptAtOA.
It is our oplnlen, thrsrbfom, that oince them la no
statute irtpoelng upozayou an county sttornoy the duty to handlo ’
the twstters set out in your rcquoat, you arb not entitled to the
cou@ssiona,px-ovided Sor ln o&d &tlcle 335 or Vernon’s Annotated
ctv11 3tatutes. You are entitled, hovtmw, to be paid such
roaaonable com~ensatlon fop pow YerVbes as nary be agreed upoa
betmen you snd the Camlosioners’ ,Court.
He also -enclose for your l.AformStioA cODle8 Of tXW epin-
iQA8 80s. O-5306, O-3656, and o-6%.
- Your0 vor7 truly,