523
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF. TEXAS
_---
AUSTIN
he Oowity au-
fUl44tiQE With
4. desired rsaora
rob to attaal the
,at ia your JuQn4nt ia t&4
fifth itfan unller i.rti.c?le 3944:
cgaive twenty-five CQrlCS for 4aoh ex6aiin6tlQn
of each p4per or re4or&, or that he faay f&tr&g~
tvimty-fLvfb rlenta to t&e pertion 6x6~16~ the
pttperw anA reCorda? could me AOXC suc444&*
.iag fee of trsntr ccents for eeah I.00 word6 for
meking o~,pl4s of al.& Pt4ld notes awhosia4
gonorabls A. L. Waehburn, Page 2
e charge under the pbotoetatia moaeee under
the oiraumetenaee abort maed?*
Artiale 3944 of Vernon’s Annotated Civil Btatutee
(Aate 1676, Ch. 164, pp 264-292, # 16) provides aerteln fees
for county eurveyore and reade in part as fallows:
“County surveyors shall raceIre the following
fees:
.* c l
%xeeinetIon oi paperr and reaamle in
his off Ioe et the request of eny person..... .2b
“Coplee of all field-notes and plate,
or any other papers or reaorde in hle offiae,
Sor eaah 100 wmde, lnaluding aertitiaats.. . .20.”
Art Icle aeag, Vernon’ e Annotated CIrIl St@>re
(Aote 1919, Seaond Gelled Seeelon, Ch. 67, Q. 173, I 10)
pravl4ee t
*Surveyors qualified under this law et&d
aounty surveyors may make a aertlfiante of an7
faot shown by the books, doeumente and reaorde
of any oountt lwvey o r of?Iae ~6 and may make
a oertiiled oopy of any doousient a? reaord or
entry shown by reaord of luah oounty surveyor!,
end lrld oertlfloate shall be aQe~Zeeille in
evlbenas as to what laId reoorde aey dIealoee.
For eaoh euoh oertlfiaate the eurveyor may
oharge a fee of one doller, and for eeoh one
hundred words aontalnea In any certified copy
thirty-fire oente. When e aounty her a aounty
rurveyor euah surveyor alone 8ha.11 be au-
thorlmd to m6kO osrtlfiastae and aertlfIed
ooples and reoelve the face therefor.*
A aeeual ownarieon of Artialee 3944 and 6260 in-
dioetee a poeeible oonflIat as to the amount of tree a
aounty surveyor nay reoelve for aertified aaplee of the
papers and reaorde in hle offiae. It would seem by the
former he Is entltleb to 20# and by the latter, 364 for
eaah 100 words In the Instrument aertlfled.
gonerable H. L. Washburn, Page 3
While orlor to Its 0odltIoatIon as Art1010 5280
In lQS5, there nay have been some doubt as to the validity of
thgt portion of ‘the hat of 1919 pror%dlng tees tar oounty
lurreyore (beoauee of an ineufflolent title or oaptloa), thers
484 be no doubt as to Its valMlty now. LegIelatIve revlelone
4f our laws aure prior def4ate In their oeptlone. kerloan
g&l*mnIty Co. v. Olty of Austin, 118 Tex. E39, l34d 0. W. 1019;
go part0 Fergueon, llS? Tex. Cr. R. aS, 18 S. W. Ed 660. 8ino4
x$Q8 Artlale W80 must be held to have SUQSTSSd4d that portion
of ArtIole 3944 providing a tee of twenty aente (f!Oj) foci
oertIfI4d ooplee of dooumente and reaorda In the ooantf lumr~-
or@* ottioe. The aounty surveyor Is ROW entitled to r*seIre
thirty-five oente (SSf) for raoh one hundred (100) word4
oeitlfled of any of the beaks, dooumente end reoorbe In his
off 108.
Your first quertlan Is whether or not this fee Is
; p;l;;b:: to photographlo or photostatlo ooplee. We hold
L .
Of oouree, Until 04mparatI**l~ resent tIm48 it
has been the praatlae of those upon whom the duty falls ta
reoord and make oertltled oopiee of inetrcmente to make
luoh reoordatlon 4~ faoeImllee either by hand or on the
tfPI*TIter.
We polnted out in Oplaloa Ro. O-H41 that the
tr~~earlptloa may be by photographlo pcoaeee, la y lttg t
'Of o o ur a e,
where a #t&ate ruthorlree tha
.reoordatIaa of an tnetrument the tra?ieorI~tIon
may be by the phOtegr~phi0 praaeer as well as
by oallIgraph%o proaeee. We so heid In opin-
ion Uo. O-637. 80, also, where aertltled aoplee
of reoorde are permitted, the ooz4ee so aort-
Itied may be ~~hatoetatie as well as type-written
or handwritten. @
Therefore, in answer to your flret question, It
is our aplnlon &nd you are cQvleed that the oounlq surveyor
ma? In fulflllIng his duty to furnish aertlfled copies of
the reoorde In his office to Interested parties, if he so
gonorrbla H. L. Waahbur8, Pago 4
d~a lr ea ,o ma e luoh r eo o r da to be phatoatcted ad ha will
m antltlad to charge a fee of thirty-fltr (SS$) oeata
ror aeoh 100 wo r d8 in the paper or dooumrnt oartlflad.
Your reoond quaatlon La whether or not the county
agitator my be oom~allad to produoo hla raoords at a point
vhare they may be photoatatrd.
Aa ve prerloual~ pointed sot tha oounty rurva~or
88~ parfOr hlo duty O? iurniahtng o8rtlflod ooplsa of hla
raoorda llther by the photographlo oalligraphlo or typo-
writing prooaar. The option olaa& liar within him.
UuQar the ltatutaa oreatlng hla ofiioe, Artlelea be83,
5S98, inoluairr, the oounty aurvoyor la glvtm tha ouatodf
of tha oountjr aurvr~lag raoorila, la ohar a4 with their
rafa-keeping and Is raqulrad to glro bon %. uhilo under
Art1018 SBM, Vernon*r Annotated Clrll Statutea, aor
intaraatad paraon haa thr right to aurlna tha rroorda
In him offloe, tha oounty lurvr~or omnot ba oompellrb
to praduoo thorn (without order of oourt) at a polnt out-
al&a of h%a oiiloe, nor oan ho be ooepellatl to wlopt upf
putioular prooeaa for making oooiea. Wo 80 ha16 wLth
reapeot to the oounty olark ia Opinion ;;.,9;“7, oiting
. . ., 156, ana
‘r.11. 164, 146 1.g.
YQU ara rooorblngly atlrlaae that the oounty aur-
tryor may not be eoaarllad (without order of oourt) to pi@-
doer hia oitlaial reoorda at a point rsaotrd fro8 hla
offloe In or&or that they aar bs phot6atatad bt an lntor-
*ate& party.
Your final guamtlon la an to tha awning of the
phrase oontrlned In the fifth Item of Artiola 8944, suprai
auwly, ‘Examination of paper8 and raamla la hla o?fioe at
the raqueat of any person.;..... .85$.” You dealra to knov
whether thlr phrrra oontmplataa a ire oi .E?bg for eaoh
oxulnatloa, or, a fee of .26d tar the rumination of asoh
oaper and arah robor&.
~o~rablo H. L. Washburn? Page 5
;,rticle SZQE, Bernon*a ,wrotated Civil Statutea,
read8 as Sbll0~8:
*,$a~ p4r4on intometed, for hlnrself, or
as agant or attorney of anothor,ahrll at all
times have the right to eranina the bcokrr,
papers, plats, naps Or othar arohiws balong-
ing to the orrioe Of any surveyor, OLIthe
payment of tha fee fixed hy 1aw.m
of couxsa, the *fee fixed bg la* :s set forth in
ArtlOla 3944, namalyt
*~ga?pinatfon of papars and reeorda fn
his off100 at the request of any person . . . . &2b#.*
we have this ~mvlaion of ~rtlol0
oonoludad that
8044 authorizes tb0 aountg surv6yor to ohargo .S5$ tb each
areon for aaoh examination ha may mrrk0of the roaorda ia
iiit3 orfica. It does not authorlra a oharge or -.lW lor
oaoh paper eraminab. This is Olearlr apparent when refer-
anoa Is 1~66 to the aouroe of ;;014 3944; nSulJ, tha AOt
of 1875, Chapter 164, p. EPS, r . There it was provided
that the oountg eurvoeyor -ahall rsoelre the rouowiag hear
qor @aOh axaalcatlon Of pzpara aud r0oora8 in his
offioe, at the request OS any parson viahing to 0xmalttO thu,
twenty-five oanta~ a * **
you ar0 sooor6lt@y 0dviaacI that &in&w Art1010
9044, supr4, the county surveyor Is 0ntltled to a tea of
.E5# for sach axamlnation of th4 papsra and r0Oorda irr. hir
ofi foe.
Very truly yours
APPRCSZSFEB 21, 1941 ATTORNEY G-L
ATTORNEY GENXRAL Gp ~~~
Jm:emf