Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN I6snorabXe Ii. IT. Daret l&xtntyAuditor Fort Bend county RWIIS~~~, Texas Dear Sir: opinion No. 0489e Rot Constable on t&e foe aystam ia not entitled to aar mile- ago allowanas. V&I will aoknorledge receipt of your? lettAr of August AS, 1941, in whioh you request the opinion of this departxent on the queBtiont T'%m constable of pr6ofnet 1Vo. 1, Fort Bend County 18 on a tee basis, is it posmlblo tbr the Coomieeioner'~ Court to legally allow him uar n&lea@* .\ The authority for rllovanoe of oar sxpenee to county orfiosrs aoapensatsd upon a roe balrie muet be round in paragraph (a) of Article 3899, Reviesd.Ciyil Btat+tes, Which mad6 t "(a) At the 0106. ot eaoh moath of him tenure of office 6aoh.offloer namsd herein who is oompeaeated on a fee b&&B shall E&O ei8 part of the roport now required by law, an itsnilzed 8nd aworn tttatentent or all the aotual and nooessary oxpstwar incurrd by him in the oonduot of Nr offios, eueh ee BtstiOnftZ’ y, &s, telephone, premiums on ofilaialet bonds, including the COB% of ?arety bonds for. Ms Dapututias,proalum on fire, burglary, theft, robbery insuranao protecting pub110 funds, travalinE; oxpemms and other naoeasmy aspensea. The Comml~sioner8’ Court o? the county of the ;rhariffte rosidenos may, upon tha writtan and mortt a2plioation of the She&if stating the Ssnorab1.e B. E8. Darst, Paso B noacsssity therefor, purohase equiprsent for a bureau of criminal identification suoh es anmeme, finger print cards, inks, ohemioals, mlorosoopes, radio and laboratory oqulpsent, filing asrd~, fi)ing cabinets, tear gas and other equipment in keepin& with the syetaa in uoo by the hogart~~;nt ef Publio Safety of this dtato or the United Stats Do artment of Jwtioe and/or Buiwm of arimhml E don- tiricatiea. li suah oxpon6e6 be inourrod in oonnootion vith any partiou&ar ease, tiuah statomont shall name suoh ease. suah expanse acoount ehall bo subdoot to the audit of the County Auditor, if any, otherwIse by, tho Coarmiasioaers* Co~rt; and iS it appears that any item of such expehse was nat Inourrod by. such offloor sr suoh itom was not a neoossary eX$GnBO of offioo, ~suohita shall bo'by suah auditor or court rejeoted,in nhtoh ease., the oollootlons of swh itom may bo adJudioat.od :i in any aourt of oompotont jurisaietion. The amount of salarlas pald to AL-lslstantsand Deputies shall also be oloarly rhmn by suoh of~loor, giving tho name, positian and 6mWnt p a id eno h; a ndinno lvo@i shall any offiosr show any greater amount than aotuallypaid any such Awlstaat or Deputy. The tunouht of suoh oxponsos, together,wLth the etaoant ef salarise paid to Ao6istant6, Doputle8 and Clerks shall be paid out of tho fees earned by such offtaos. m5 aelPaimcnerr* a0rvt of tho oounty of tho 6heriff'B residonoo may, upon the writtenand ttwora applleation-of the Sheriff steting thi aeeesslty th?rofor, allow one or more autonob to bo wed by the Chttrlff In the disehargo of his ofZioia1 duties, whloh, If purobaaed by the County, shall be bou:,:htIn the manner prosorlbod by law for the -urche.se or suppllo6 and yald for cut Of the &&era1 Fund of the county end they shall be and remain the property of the county. The ex,aeaee of -malntananoo, BopreoiatZoa and opera- tlon of such autazobllos all may be allowed, whothher purchaseadby t,ho oousty or, mined by the Sheriff or his Deputies poraonU.ly, shall be paid for by the %erif? and the amount lkmorable Ii. BT. Ikr6t, page S thmeof shall be reported by the 3harIrf, on ,the reqort ahove mentioned, In the same manner *:a herein provided ror other expenbee." Cormtruing such artiole in our opinion No. C-1284, a oopy of whioh we enclose for your guidance, we held that. th0 C~66IOnarS' COWt Of 8 OOWity Op8Ffiting U?OU a fee basis oould not allow the 'BheFiff a mOathly BLUR fOF the maintenanGe and upkeep o? an automobile out of the geharal fund or the 00ultty. Such holding ie equally applicable w i. a oonsta'ble, and your CO5~11~610~er6~ Coiu?t Is without au- thority to make any such allowmet, mdt of the general fubd 0s tha county. The above quoted statute vests In the CommiB8ionorr~ ' Court the right and 'authority to approve reasonable and ~:I,.: awemary travellag expemes for the oomtable, but swh ltemm mwt be paid by the oozmtable.out.of his fees of OffiGG and rs~ortod monthly ata irYe& statute requirss. 1:.