406
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
nonorable J.C. Govdy
county Auditor
Wichita County
wichlta Falla, Texas
Yotq Pequeat for op
carefully oausldered by this
rsquert as follows1
courthousedoor, or some other
the total number of votes,,as
at the time, counted for e&b ,,,'~
r for or a&art each proposition
votera for betanainetion. When
aaah pm¬ OS the courityahall
have been tabulated the oouaty alee or ooxmty
chalrmansballinnsediEtelyp~~re aaunoffloial
NeEloPaadumof the total.number of votes receiwd
by eaoh uandidate, sad/or cast&r or agalnat eaah
proposition aubmfttedto the people, and &all
post a sopy of the iwne at the wurth0une Qaop 0p
at some other designatedpublia pLece in t$r caup-
ts* Aad such 0rrit30r shall, amar making the m-
407
gonerableJ.C. Qavdy, Page 2
offlolal memorandum, inmediatelytransmft by
telegraph or by more expeditiousmeans to the
Secretary of Stata, 6n unofficial but complete
report of the number of votes east in his oounty
for each oandldate for state and dletrlot of-
flcea, and/or east for or against each propoal-
tlon submitted to the votera of the entire State.
The Secretary of State &all tabulate the unoffl-
cidl returns received at hl8 or her office and
shall prepare an unofflolalmenborsndm~concern-
lng the status of the returne waelved, at leant.
unoe each day until he shall hew reoelved oom-
plete, unof'fioialreturnr from eaah oounty, at
vhlch time he shall prepare a nm~~~anduagiving
the total number of vote8 received by eaab eandl-
date, and/or case for or againat eaoh proposition
aubmltted to the people, a8 shovn by the unoffl-
clal return8 received at hle office.
"Sec. 3. For receiving unoffloial returna
by telephone and tabulatingthem aa herein pro-
vided, the county olelikor oounty chairman and
aasiatanta employed in the work shall receive
the same oompenaationper hour as alloved pre-
cinct Judger of eleution.
"&a. 4. Charges for telephone or other aer-
vice in transmittingunoffiolal return8 to the
county clerk shall be payable out of the general
fund of the oounty. Clhargenfor suah eervlce in
prlmary elections &all be payable out of the
funds of the political parties holding such eleo-
t1olm.
*F&c. 5. !Vhetabulation of unoffloial re-
turns &all be preserved for public Inspection
until such time a6 offiaial returns &all have
been tabulated;themafter, the unofficial tabu-
lation may be destroyed."
Article 2,943,Vernon'e Annotated Texas Civil Sta-
tutes, reads a.8followsr
'Judge6 and Clerk6 of general and rpeclal
eleetlons shrillbe paid %?wee Dollara ($3) a tiy
oaah, and Tb.lrty(30) Cent8 per hour eaoh for any
Honorable J.C. Govdy, page 3
ti6m in eXCe68 of a day's work aa herein defln-
ed; provided that in all counties having a popu-
lation in excess of th@ee hundred end fifty-five
thousand (355,000) inha~ltanta, aocolaing to the
last preoeding or any Suture Federal Cenaue,
au& Judges and Clerks ahall be paid Five Dollara
($5) a day each, and Fifty (50) Cents per hour
each for auy tlm in exoeas of a day'8 work as
heroin defined. The Judge vho delivers the re-
turn6 of eleotlon lmmadlatelyafter the votes
have been counted shall be paid Tao Dollara ($2)
for that rervloe,provlbd the olllng plaoo of
hia pmolnot la at least two (2P miles from the
eourthouae,azidprovided also he shall tie M-
turns of all eleatlon supplies not use4 when he
6akea roturn of th4 sleetion, Ten (10) workbg
houm ahall be aonaldered a day wlthln the maxi-
ing of thle Artitle. The eompenaatlonof Judaea
and Clerka of general and apeulsl sleetions shall
ikif%iu% the C-treoa r'-%%d":~~f
ler vlo er e the
666laeloners Court of such aounty." (Undersaorlng
OUPS]
Bectlons 3 and 5 of Article 3912e, Vemon'a Annotat-
ed Texan Civil Statutes, read as follovat
"Sac. 3. In all oases vhere the Coa6Uaalon-
era’ Court shall have detemed th&t uounty offl-
aeFa or precinct offioere in such county ah611 be
compensatedfor their servloea by the payment of
an annual salary, neither the State of Fe'exaanap
eny oounty shall be oharged with or pry to any o?
the offioers no compen6ated,6.nyfee or ~omnisalon
for the performa.nce OS any or all of the duties of
thefr offices but such offloe?+ ahall receive aald
salary in lieu OS all other fees, oo666iaalon6 or
campensatlonvhlch they vould othervise be author-
ized to retain; provided, however, that the asae86or
end oollector of taxes shall continue to aollect
end retain fop the beneiit of the Wfl.aers* lyIlary
Fund or funds hereinafterprovided for all.f446
and c~laalons vhlch he la authorizedunder law
to collect; and it shall.be his duty to aGoount
for and to pay all auoh mopiea reoelved by him
into the fund oFeat&d and pFopld& for under,the
provilio%l8 of thla nstg p@ovlded furtbr, the the
provlaloaa of this Bsatlon shall not affeat the
Honorable J.C. OovdJ, Page 4
the payment of costs in civil cases by the State
but all such costs so paid shall be acoounted
for by the officers collecting the same, as they
nre requlmrd under the pFovIslona of this Act to
account for Peea, commissionsand costs collect-
ed from private parties.
"Sec. 5. It rhall be the duty of all ofti-
cera to oharge and colleat in the manner author-
lsed by law all fees and cmlssions vhlch am
petitted by law to be assessed and collected for
all official service performed by thorn. Asand
when such fees are collected they shall be deposlt-
ed Ih the Offlcers~ Salary Fund, or funds provid-
ed in this Act. In event the Cossslssloners~Court
finds that the failure to collect any fee or oom-
irisslonwas due to neglecrton the part of the
of'ficercharged with the respenslbilltyof aolleot-
tng same, the amount of such fee or conaisslon
shall be deducted from the salary of suah oiit-
08F. Before anysuch deduction la made, the Com-
~&ssioners~ Court shall fumlsh suah officer vlth
an Itemized statementof the unaolleotedfees,wlth
vhlch his account Is to be aharged, and shalr;kaotl-
fJrsuch offlaer of the time and place for a hearing
on mm, to determIne whether swh offleer vas
guilty of negligence,vhluh tislsfor hsarlng shall
be at least ten days subsequent to the date of
noti&e. Unless an officer Is uhapged by law with
the responsibllltyof collecting tees, the Com-
missioneratCourt shall not ln any event make any
deductions from the authorired salary of such offl-
car.”
We quote from Opinion Ao. 0-807 of this department
as followsr
'You are respectfullyadvised that It 1s the
opInlon of tNs department that all oountg and
precinct offleers who are compensatedon a salary
basis are required to eolleot all aosts in civil
cams by the state end all fee8, oosmlsslonsIUU%
costs fram privata partlen who are required by law
to pay aueh fees, comm.lsslonsand ooets,
"The costs in civil came by the state ud
811 PeesI,commfssionsand aad collsoted iKla
43.0
gonorable J.C. Qovdj, Page 5
private parties vho are required by lav to pay
suah fees, cosnlssloIls and costs vhen colleot-
8d by county or preciaCt&fiQerS compensatedon
a salary basis must be deposited in the offi-
cers' SalarJrFund of the county.
"tie tax assessor-oolleotorshall collect
all fees requlrsad
by lav to be collectedby the
tax asseesor-collectorand he shall deposit such
fees ln the Offluers' Sslarg Fund of hi8 COUtIty.
'80 county or preclnat officer who is com-
pensated on a salary basis shall collect from
the state or county any fees, ocsWsslcn or costs
for any or all of the duties perfonred by h;)"ex-
oept the costs of clvll oases by the State.
We enclone herevlth a cop9 of opinion to. O-607.
In VieV Of th8 fOr8going authOritie8,you are re-
spectfullyadvised that it is the oplnlcn of this departntsnt
that your question should be answered in the ttOgatiV8 insofar
as it app1188 to COUtlti8sOpmting under the offiC8rS' &I.-
ary System, and it is 80 answered.
Very truly yours
ATTORHEYGXEXALOFT5XAS
Wm. J. FarmIng
Asslataat
USFtAli