OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS *
AUSTIN
Iionorabls Riobard 6. :-dorrlr
County Attorney
Aria4trong Count7
Claude, Tsx44
kZ44r4 in r0a4i
reqaeetlng the opinion of
patit a8 rtolioa:
e(rant4d to Ara~trong
by saeh dlrtriot rOr the
ail~Il.xqg and froa the tiaa
arbrr 14, 1939, Carson Count7
d by It upon the property
ct, in Carema County, to rrald
1 Matrlat. At a larrting or tha
rd of 8ehcml Tru46444, h4ld I)404a-
rOu0dng ordrrr were snt4rrd:
oa to ba eonrltiarsd by th4 County Efoax-3
or Trort440 or Carson ccmnty, Texae, the sstt4r or
aehool Tax48 ooll44t4d on tsrrltory in Carron County
knomn aa f&awn 6ohocG Clotriot 12A on tha tax 401-
leetor's orrlce, +ioh has heretoforr bren paid to
tht, aahoola or Arnmtron$ county, Tazas, and the 8llid
Board or mrt40s bsing tuubla to rind that 8aaa
Honorable i?lehard S. .Rorrfs, Page 2
tarritorf u44 ever lsgnl3.y tren4ierr.d to biria-
strong County ror School tax parpore and that
if snzoh territory were 40 tr4n4ferred th4t it
4bould be at thla tlae returned to Carson County
Taxes.
"%otion we4 mad4 by c. R. Harrell and 4eo-
ended by Ben VoGrrg~or that the County Supsrlnten-
Oent ah411 not remit the tax money to !mutrong
County, Tsxas on 44ld territory 4nQ that he sake
a thorough lnvaatlgatlon aa to th4 legal etatus
or suah territory an4 that lr he finds that It
~48 4ter transrerred to Armetrong County, T4x44
that he tske all poeslble otep4 to h4ra said ter-
ritory transrerre6 back to Carson County.'
*The County Superintendent or Carson County,
upon authority or the abwr orQ4r ia now holdlag
tav ohsolca one ror $27.36, the other for #lb.&O,
both papable to Amstroag County Sohool Dl4triot
50. 12, belne part or 1939 taxes OOlleoted by th4
Tux Collsetor of Careon County upon property in
that oousty sltuetsd within &An County Llnr
School Matriot. Relraee of rach oheoks to &m-
4trong County authoritler ha4 been refuured 4tter
personal Uanand. Armstrong County rohool aufihor-
It144 have not consented to eny change in said
county line school dlatriot.
". . . .
"1. Under the above quoted order app4erlng
in thr alnutsr or the Carron County Sohool Board
of Truateee, oan the County Superlntandsnt ‘ili&hlly
wlthh~l@~papaant of taxer ooll4oted upon th4t
territory In Careon ~County 4ituated wlthk th4
oaunty line rchool dlatriot?
-2. Under Artlole 2744 should not taxes ool-
leotea by Car4on County Tax Collector be, by hia,
paid dlreotly to Armstrong County Superintendent
instead or being raalttad thraueh the C4r4On
County Superlnten64nt?W
Althm&h thers appears to bs 4oiu4 question 44 to
whether this district wee vrlldly created, the date*), r4d
Honorable Rlohard S. ‘Jorrla, Page 3
en4 oiroum8tances surroundin& Its eotabllehment sre not sub-
mitted, and we therefore BBBUBM that the Sorln CommonCounty
Line %hool rjlstrlot So. 12 wan validly eatabllrhed an4 it4
adainlrtretive control vested In the County EIoard of School
Trustees of Armstrong County.
,Wticle 2743, Fsvl44d Civil Stetutes, 1925, anthor-
1x4s the creation of common rohool dlstrlote oontslnlng ter-
ritory within two or more counties end providea that the order
shell designate and name one of the counties having territory
within the dlstrlat, whloh shall manage end have control of
the publlo eohools therein for et1 rohool purposee. Ths power
Gr the Le&isleture to provida that control and nanagament of
a county line school district shell be ic one of th4 oountlalr
having terrltcmy Included la the district wan upheld In Slmp-
son vs. Pontotoo CommonCounty Line School Oletrlot No. 12,
(T. C. A.) 275 6. W. 449.
Artlole 27L4, Eevlsed Civil Statute@, 1925, reads
sa iollows:
“County line Blstrlots; powerr:-
“Coz~on county line eohool dletrlats 4hall’
have all the rlghtr, power8 and privilegea of
oo.mmonaohool dlatrlats, an4 for crll school pur-
~0844, shall be aana&ed an4 controlled by the
oounty named In the order creating such dlstrlat,
and should such district desire to levy the spec-
ial tax authorized by law to be levied for the par-
pass of the maintenance of ltr eohoole, or to iesae
bonda fn acoordanoe with the llnitatlone for auah
purpose provided by law for oommon school dlstrlots,
or both, erter on election ha6 bsen held In suah
aonuuon county line school dietriot a8 provided by
law end it has been determined by a majority vote
that such. 4lstrlct shall levy suah speolel tax or
iseua such bonds, the commi8rioners ocurt of the
county having control of such 4istriat eha$l. @j,e,sor
%t.%‘,%&%f&%~s~~~ ??&%&I %&%&f%aoh
county Q4h6re the oomals6lon4re oourt in 0ontrol or
the scb.ool 1s lGaet.64, and such Order lSVYiIU3 Reid
tax or lsaulng said bonds an4 leVyIn& a tax to pay
the interest and sinking find, shall be pesre4 by
the ooamiraloners court of aach county hevina
Bonorablo h’lohard 5. NorsIa, rags b
tarrltory in suoh dlstriot. Eeoh suah court ahall
oontinur to lary the said tax at such rats an Is
detarmlnsd and orrtlflad by the aounty supsrlnten-
dant of thr county having ocntrol or esia~ schools
until auoh tar br ai~ini6ih~a or abrogated, as pro-
rldad by law, or suoh bontls, if such a ~lstrlot has
outstanding bonds, hsva born fully and finally paid
and dlsohargcld. The tar assessor shall asssss thr
tares lerls4 by ths oormaisslm~rs oourt of his
county agalnst the territory Inalude3 In suah oounty
line aohool dlstrlct for aaoh year that suoh tsr 1s
larlad, an4 shall sake up a 88parata tax roll oovar-
Ing ths speoial tax on territory In his oounty in-
cluded In the county line sohool distxlot, an4 de-
liver it with tha general tar rolla of his county,
whioh shall guide ths tar Oollsotor in oollsatlng
the looal taxes for suoh sohool distrlot. The tax
oolleotor shall oollrot such spooial tax for suoh
county line district in hla aounty for svsrp year
that such tar has bean lrrlod In euoh 6Istrlots and
keap a separate account oormrlng tha territory of
hi8 county intad hi 00unty iin@ 80b00i di8triOt8,
for tha purposa of datsrmining how muoh tax has bssn
oollsotrd, and suoh tax88 shall bs pal6 by his aounty
to the oountg line school dkstriot. Suoh distriot
shall not be ohanRId ox abolish*4 arcapt by ths ao~n-
sent of ths ooaaiaslonrrs oaurt of saoh county hsr-
ing territory contains6 tharain, and Ii such a dIs-
trlot has outstanding bonds thr same shall not bs
ohangad or abollshsrl in any w&y until attclr sush
bonds are finally paid an4 disohsrgsd. (AOts 1911,
p. 200.)”
The county Soar4 or Sohool Trustaas 0r 00s ooutlty is
without authority, acting alonr , to ohanga the boundarias of
a oommon county linr school dlstrlot or dotsoh tarritory tharr-
irOt!4. Countr Sohool Truat6as of RU~II~S COun6~ ~8. Stats
(I’. C. A. x935), 94 8. W. (26) 1001; Bsnton YS: Long (T. C. A.
19%), 12$ 6. F. (24) U.6.
-.
Artlols 2795, Pavis& Civil Stetutea, 1925, prorldss
that the county tar oollsotor shall oollaet ocmaon school
distriat taxes an& that he shall *pay ell such taxes to the
oounty tmaaurer, and mid traesursr shall, credit laah sohool
district with tbs amount belbngio@ to it, and pey out the
smo In eaoordanoe. with law.*
Honorabla Rlohara 8. Mbrrls, Fag* 5
Article 2828, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, reada
as follows:
“County deposltory:-
“The bc,rms *county traasursr* ana ‘county
treeaury, ’ RS used In all provlslons or law re-
lating to school Nnds, shall be construed to
mean the county depository, The oo.mtilsaionrra
court shall file with the Ptats Dsparkeent ot
3duostlou a copy of the bond of said depository
to oover aohool funds. No oommlssion shall ba
paid for receiving an4 dlsbarslng #@ho01 funds.
(Acts 1905, p. 263; katr 1909, p. 17.)"
Cnder the provlslons of tho sbovs statutes, tha County
Suprrlntm4ant of Csrson County Is not authorlsed to aanaga or
supsrvlse the Gorln County Linr Sohool Slstrlot No. 12, or to
collect an4 hold the tax sonays oollactsd for auoh school dls-
trlct by the tax coll4otor of Csrson County. Itrtlola 27~ pro-
vi408 that the tax collootor shall oollsot tha taxes in oomaon
oounty line school dlstrlots of tha trrrltory lying within &la
oounty, “and said taxes shall bo paid by his oounty to ths
county line school OlatrlOt. ” Ka find no provlalon authorls-
lng ths tax collsctor OS Carson County to pay ovsx this tax
monsy to the county superlntan4snt of that oounty, On th8
other hand, undar the statutes psrtalnlng to aoamon school
districts gsnerellg said taxem should be transalttad to tha
aounty depository of the aounty having adalnistratlva oontrol
of the county line district en4 amdltsd to the amount of
such Qistrlot.
It ie our opinion that the oounty suparlntandsnt of
Carson Cmnty Is not legally authoriead to withhold taxes .
lrvlsd and collected by the Gorln Common County Line School
Dlstriot No. 12 uron thot portion of the territory of suoh
sohool district situate4 in Carson County, Texas.
In answer to your asoon questlm, it is uzr opin-
ion that taree oolleotsd by ths Carson County tax oollactor
for the Gorln CommonCounty Line Dlstrlot ?Jo. 12, upon that i/
portion of the territory oi such dlotrlot looeted In Carson
County, should be paid diraatly by hi.@ to said county llna
dlstrlot through the county Qapoaitory of Armstrong County,
lnrteea of bring trenraittra through or delivered or,paia
to the Carson County superiatrnarnt.
Your8 very truly
C. Canmrok
A88lrtant
ccc/or
ATlQFWEY GENERAL OX TEXAS
COMMI’ITEL