Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

I QFFICE OF THE AVORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS - AUSTIN GROVER SELLERS ATTORNEY GLNERAL ?imorublo T. f:. ;:ll&arroa . County Cudltor !lillaboro,Toxo~ Oourt meets.. at rcguier tlln orders~khiota am n4 then reoordad ‘la tM. lnutos as 8 phnanont'y~~ , naoeraary or ikandatory for ctnor&r aa,by the Cqndstalonara Coat to be (I couaty ;ludgr aad t&o cam 1aa¶oaars UtttIt 'rOr 86id OWhr . t0 b0~VQl$d anif . Artiole 834E, Verionta Aa-.otebsd' Civfl~Stututss, pwIlllsut Honorable T. K. ~llklneon - pago'2 Art. 5 of the State Constitution; oontalns language elxllar to the Soregoing statute.) Art1014 2549, V&non*a Annotated Civil Statutes, read; a8 foollowe: Vhe.oou,rt ahall require the oounty olerk to keep suitable booka in whioh shall be moorded the prboeedings of eaoh term of the court; whioh reoord shall be read aad.8ign44 after eaoh term by tho oounty n e -or the member prssidlng aad.attested by the :A@ The olerk ahall:also.reoord all authorized .pbooeidlngs of the oourf between teems; land auoh 'r800rds shall be.reaq acrdsigned on the flret dey ~of t@ next term after suoh prooeedings ooourred.* Artiole 224S, Vernon*n Annotated Civil'Statutes, i13 88 r0ii09w: "The county olerk shall be 4x oiiiolo dl'erk~ bi tha CoPnaissionere'Cd&; and he shell~attend upon eaoh term of sc.id~ Commirslon8,rar~Court;pre- serve and keep all baoka,,papsre, r40ords and et- .feots'belongingthereto, laerieall notloee wrltti and prooees neo+#eary for the proper 4r4ou~lon oi tpe power8 and ~dutiee‘ot'fheCon&asioners* Court and perform all euoh’other duties as niaayb4 pre- Bciribed.bylaw.* +I0 atatad In Texas Jurl4prud~n08;Vol. 'al; page 570: .hhe Comzalesionerd*&urt is required to reoord upon aultablo books the prooeedinas of eaoh tern or oourti end the minutes are required to be read over and'signed by the OoUnty judge or-the member preeid-. ing and attested .by the olerk. All cruthorityexer- oised by tho oourt must be evidenoed in that *finer. : 37 Honorabla T. K. :Vllkineon- page 3 It ia not neoeasary,that a single book shall oon- tain the reoord of the oourt's prooecdinge; various books may be kept in whioh prooaedlnge relating to partioular mattera may ba properly recorded. Each book kept and us.e&for this purpose is, v;ithinthe meaning of the law, a minute book, and the entries therein made are minutes. WCo-m&3f!ion8ra~Court8 are oourts of reoord and they must authentioate all offioial aota, if suoh authentiaation ls,required, by a seal pre- sorlbed by atatute. "The requlrezuentathat every offloial aot of the 0omnlasion8re1 Court shall be evldenoed by an order entered upon the minutes of the oourt haa been aodlfled to the extent that where an order la ehod to have been actually made by the court, and hae been acted upon, the omfasion of the olerk to record the order,will not render it or the aota done in purauanoe therOOf void. Although an order of the Comr.lseloneralCourt h.aanever been entered upon the oo~urt'sminutea, It may neverthelaea be proved by parole evidenoe and given effect. The rule is neoeaaarily dlfferent where an order is required by the terma of a special statute to be. entered of reoord, or where a.general atatute de- -. olarea that euoh order ehall be void unless reoorded. It Is held that the evldsnoe to establleb B oontraot must be contained in the written prooeedlnge Of th8 court. IIowcver, if the oourt fails to plaoe an Or- der upon the minutea at the time r.henit is made, as required b!rlaw, the'order may be entered upon tha minutes et B eubsequent regular or 8PaOial s4ssfon.W Generally speakFag, the Commiesionera~ Court is a -.:.. oourt of general juriediotion in this etate, and as we have seen, is a court OS reoord. It is a oourt of tremendous im- portance, eince it has jurledlotion over the county affairs .I 38 Honorable T. F. ;filklnaon- pace 4 of the oounty. The pub110 has a deep oonoern with the offlclal aots of suoh oourt, and its prooeedings therefore are of suoh importenoe as that an aoourate reoord should be kept for the q,eneral Information of the public aonoerned. ?.!oreovcr, while It sometimes happens that the failure to make a minute of oertaln prooeedlngs is not fatal to the validity of the same (see Landa v. State, 131 S. Vi. (2) 321), and thet the validity of an order properly peesed 1s susceptible ot proof, and.the order may be proved by oral testimony (Bourn v. Ford, 252 S. ?i.491). nevertheless, the atatutory requirement for duly recorded minutes, attested by the proper otiloere, la the sarer way, and matters of such importance should not be left to the dlffloult and sometimea uncertain method or proof dahors the record. We knov:or no statute requlrlne the County Comrcisslonersto sign the orders of the Co.mmlssioners*Court. I!owever,aa above stated, the Comxlssloners~ Court shall require the county clerk to keep suitable book8 In whloh shall be reaorded.the proaeedings of each tern of the court; whioh reoord shall be read and signed arter each term by the oounty judge, or the member presiding and attested by the clerk. Yours very truly A%“l’O:J KY (; G:hWL W T ,zX,;Y Ardell Willieme Assistant A'Y: zd