ATTORNEY GENERAL
OFTEXAS
HonorableBobMcCsmpbell opinionNo. o-3137
CountyAttorney Re: Where a couutypurchesesa
Cnaanchecounty ri@xt-of-wayfora State
ColzBnche,
!cexas hi&way wholly within me
comnissioner'sprecinct,
Dear Sir: can the purcheseprice be
pid by the whole county?
And a relatedquestion.
Your recent requestfor an opinionof this departlaent
upon
tha questionsas are herein stetedhas been received.
The questionspresentedin your inquiryare as follows:
"1. Where the countypurchasesrif&t-of-wayfor State
hi#nteywhollywithin one commissioner's precinct,can the
purcheseprice ba p3ld~by the whole comty?
We restateyour secolzd
qtusstlon
as follows:
2. If the amwer to the above questionIs yes, out of
what fuud or fuuds COP the said puroheseprice be psfd4
Article 667kn,Vernon'sAnnotatedCivil Statutes,reads, in
part, a* follows:
Whenever, fn the jud~t of the'Stats Highways
Com-
missioh,the use or acquisitionof any land for road, right
of my purposescl,timber,earth, stone, gravelor other am-
terlal,necessaryor convenienttoaoyrosd tobe constructed,
re-constructed, rmintained,widened, strai@ened or lengbh-
ened, or land not exceedlngom hundred (100)feet in width
for streambed diversion in connectionwith the locating,re-
loeatingor conatructim of a designatedS&ate HI&way by the
Stete HighwayComaissfon,the sema asy be e~uired by purchase
or ~cadet!metionby the Cobnty~C~~~iSSi~nerB
Court. Provided
#at the County in which the State EQhway Is locatedway pay
for same out of the CountyRoad and BridgeFund, or any availa-
ble countytids.
“Any
Co~asloeers Court is hereby authorizedto secure
by purchaseor by condemation on behalf of the State of Texas,
any new or wider rl&t of way or land not exceedingone hmdred
HouorablaRob McCampbell,page 2 (O-3137)
(100) feet in width
for streanbed diversionIn counection
with the locetlng,rclooatlngor cc?latmlet1ox!of a desig-
nated Et&a Eiginmy,or land or Lauda for lasterisor bor-
row pits, to be used in the couatrwticm, recmmtructiou,
or zdntenesce ofStsteHi@xwsys andtopeyfmthe aama
out of the Cow&y Road end &id@ Fmd, or out og $n;ltpa-
cfal road funds or any availablecomty funds. .
'ibeCountyRoad and Rridm Fund proper is derivedfrom the fol-
lowing sources: county taxes,autombila registrationfees, and all fines
and forfeitures.
Dispositionof that portiouof the CouutyRoad and BrfdguFund
consistingof automobileregistrationfees is goveruedby Section 10 of
Article 6675~~ Vernon'sAuuotatadCivil Statutes. The pertinentprovision
of said Sectionreads as follows:
r,** * . Bone of tha monies so placedto the credit
of the Road and BridgeFund of a county shall be used to
pay the selery or compensationof any County Judge or Couu-
ty Commlssimer, but ell said mouies shall be used for the con-
structiouand asiuteneueeof lateralroads in such county
under-thesupervisionof the CountyRngineer,if there be
one, and if there is no such engineer,then the County Com-
missioners'Court shall heve authorityto commud ~theser-
vices of the Dlvisim Rugineerof the State Hi&way Deprt-
ment for the purposeof suparvislugthe construction and
surveyingof lateralroads in their respectivecounties.
All fuuds aLlocatedto the oouuticsby the provisionsof
this Act (Art. 667!%-1to 6673-14; P. C. Art. ma) my
be used by the countiesfn the peymsutof obligetions,if
any, Issuedand incurredin the coustructicmor the im-
provemat of all roads, tincluding State Highwaysof such
countiesand districtsthareiu;or the improvementof tha
roads couprisingthe CovotyRoad system."
The case of Stovallvs. Ghivsrs,75 8. W, (2d) 276, affirlaed
(Corns.App.) 103 S. w. (2d) 363, on page 367 of the latteropinion,con-
tains the followiugstateieent with respectto the above quoted sectiou:
"As to that portionof autoxwbileregistmtiou fees
retained.byVan Zandt County,Article 6@!%-10, Vernpn's
AnnotatedCivil Statutes,expresslyprov?deshow sama shall
be expeudad,and for that reason It is obviousthat article
6740 has no applicationto same."
The purposeas stated iu Article667!%-10is tha "coustructiou
and mainteuanceof lateralroads" or "paymentof obliggtions"incurred
in the constructionor,.~provemeutof all roads within the county. There
page 3 bO-3137)
HonorableRob MeCampbell.,
is no formulafor the spendingof thfs perticKlerportfonof the county
Road and BridgeFnnd. Article 6740 has no application,according~tothe
decisionof Novell vs- Shivers,supra. The resyonsIbility for the proper
expenditureof these funds rests primarilyupcm tha Comm~lssfone~s~
Court.
We qnote furtherfrom t&e above mantionedcase as follows:
"Ry article2342 of the RevisedStatutes,it is
providedthat the'severalcommissioners, togetherwith
the county judge,shall.composethe 'commissioners court.'
Such court is menffestlya unit, and is theagency of the
whole county. The respeotivemambars of the commissioners
court are thereforeprfiParily representatives of the whole
connty,and not merely represrntetives of their respective
precfncts. Tha duty of the coiiLrrlssPoncrs court is to trsns-
act the business,protecttie Interest,snd promotetba wel-
fare of ,thecountyas a whole. A~gtbe puwers conferred
?qim swh COUPE by 8FtiCiC? :!.;:~>I a:- t.& Pdk~tnny: ,?Phe
power to lay out adI estklblfab, ahmge am? discontfnuaroads
and highways)the mer to buitfl~. br;lg~,and keep them in
repair,and the Rower to exercisegenepalarr-;trol over all
rosds,higtweyo,ferries,end brifiges in their counties.
They have the power ta levy 13tar not to exceed 15 'cents on
th% $100 valwtfon fog ~oels and b17:.dgeso This fund is, of
course,for the benefit of ell roads and bridgesof the
con&y. These provisionsof the Saw, as weiE as others
which mi#.A be mvntfoned,clearlycontemplatethat the com-
missionerscourt of each connty shall regard the reeds and
highmys of the countyas a system,to be laid out, changed
repaired,improved,and mafntarned,as far as practlcel,, as
a whole to tiw best interestsand welfare of all the people
of the county. It is clear2.y contemplatedthat all roads
and brfdgesof "he con&y shall be maintained,repaired,and
improvedwbennecessary,as the conditionsmy requke, re-
gardlessof tha precinctin which same may be located,so far
as the fun3s WilL equitablyjusLiiy.7'
As for that portionof the countyRoad and BridgeFund con-
sistingof countytaxes,Article 6740, vernonusAnnotatedCivil Statutes,
provides:
"'Thacommissioners court &all see that the road and
brid~gefund of their county is jndiciouslyand equitably
expendedon the roads and brfdgesof their county,and, as
nearly 8s the conditionand necessityof the reads will
permit, it shall be expendedin each county cosnnissioners
precinctin proRcu%fonto the amouut collectedin such pre-
cfnct. Money used in buildingparnmnentroads shall ffrst
be used only on first or second4Lass roads, and on those
which shall have the right of way furnishedfree of cost to
- a
HonorableBob McCampbell,pege 4 (o-3137)
mke ea rtraieprt a roud as 18 prclctlcable
and having
the gmatert btmw offeredby the olti,senlrof may,
labor or other prol?e*.*
This Articlebaa been ocmtrued by the gcmniaekm of Appaala
of the Etete of Tows. gtovallvs. ghlvers,aupra.
We quote thewfrontas follow:
"It will be obwrved that the article in questlou
providesthsttheroad audbridgefwdshallbe judi-
cloudy and enpitablyexpended COIthe roads and bridges
of the county,and, as nearly aa the conditionand neces-
si+q oftheroadsuQlperarlt,shallbeexpaded in each
countycoxmisaionersprecinctIn prowrtion to the emount
collectedin such precinct. In our opinion,there i~ ob-
vlowly nothing in this articlewhich compelsthe comuis-
sionerscourt to dl~idethe road and bridge fund according
t~snyfixedwthweticalformula, andayportlon same In
advancefor the purposeof kfngexpemded in any given
precinct. Theuseoftheword'exgended~toourminds
cleerly suggestst$at said fwds shall be Bpporticmedand
pid out from time to time as the neoesafbyfor their we
$rp$s in the ordinaryad&nlatration of the cowty affairs
.
"gotwithstanding this, the cowilaaiwers court must
give effect to said article 6740 exceptwhen the necessi-
ties of the roads and bridgesre¶uirea departurefrom it.
That articlereclnires thet the wad and bridgefwds of all
couutiesshall be judlciou~4 and Nuitably expended. It fur-
ther requireithat such fuuda shall,a8 nearly as the condl-
tlm and necessityof the rmds will permit,be expendedIn
each cozemlasionercl
precinctin proportionto the awwt col-
lected in such precinct. The dominantpcrwse of this statute
seems to be to rauire that the roadandbrldge fund shallbe
eqended in each comnissiwers precinctin proportionto the
amowt collectedtherein. In this regard,the statutemeans
that each precinctshallpriw facie be entitledto Its own
funds, and in the absenceof any reasons to the contmry thay
shouldbe so dividedand expmded. However,the duty to ex-
pad the fwda in the groprtionabovewntlcnedisnotan
absolutelyiuflexibleone. Thi6 is evidentfrom the fact that
the dominent.purpose of the statute,lsqualifiedto the extent
that the court by clear implicationis given the right to ex-
pendthe roadandbrldge fund ina proportionother than In the
proportionin which they are collectedwhen the condition8of
the roads In the rcapectiveprecinct6createsa ncceseity80
to do. We thinlc, however,that the requirewnt to expend the
EcmorableBob McCampball,mga 9 (O-3137)
fund in the proportionmentionedmot be avoided
except in CBGCS or conditionaof necessity. Of
course,the conmisslonerecourt has the right to
exerciseits sound jud@ne& In determiningthe necee-
city, but it cannotact arbitrarilyin regerd to such
mtter."
In view of the above mentiouedgtstuteaand case, your first
que3t1cm is respeotfullyansweredin the affirmtlve.
In reply to your secondquestion,you are advised that it is
our opinim that the Conanissioners' court may secure the above llmltioned
right-of-wayin the nmuer providedby Article 6674n, supre,end "pey for
Fued, or out of any special
the sore out of the Couuty Road end Br3rfdge
road funds, or any evcileblecounty%nda," es stated in Article 66741~.
However, tM.3 Gtatute doe8 not authorizethe Comdselcmers' Court to trans-
far nmney from one constituticmel fund to another,or to expand,for one
purpose,tax moeey rafred nstensiblyfor anotherpurpose. The Cnnstitutlon
prescribesthe maximum rate of faxes for generalpurposes,for roads and
bridges,for juries,end for pernmnentimprovements, respectively.The
moneys arisingfrom taxes leviedend collectedfir each of the enumerated
purwaes are ccmvtitutlonel funds. (Cerrollv. Williams,202 g. W. 504;
Tax. Jur., Vol. ll, p. 609). Neither can the Corenlasloners' Court trens-
fer or expendnoneye obteinedby the iseuanceand sale of bonds for any
purpow other than the ;qecificpurposefor which said moneys were raised
end obtainedby the issuanceand sale of said bonds. We think the tern
"evalleblecountyfunds" ee uaed in the gtetutemeans such funds as have
not bean relsed,collect&, or appropriatedfor a specificpurpose.
Trustingthat the foregofngfully ansfrers
your inquiry,we are
Yours very truly
&q /a/ Ardell Williams
Ardell Williams
Assistant
AW:RG:FC
/a/ OmAm c. l.!Am
ATTORaLPCEBERALQTEXAS