Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

,OFFlCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN April 28, lQS9 Honorabla E. 0. Garvay Cottut Awlltor Bexar County San Antonio, Texas IS an lb2 Inins 8herlfr or olalmed t him on aoeouut 18tratlon 0r hir, dauthorlamthe tor to rorwa to hi8 salary warrant* addrosaod to the an oplnlon upon Ire& and oaro- lotter a oom- Bexor Ueunt;r, aQdre68edto 0osuiQore~'in eonneotlon 'a lettmrim too lengthr to%o i It 6oal rith tbeorotloalquestions *sue8 ai Saot. Eonror, wo hare given o.him lottor and from It and hour ~084 tha subataaoo of the oontromr- d tho 0herirr. We quote TOPT latter *The dmrltf oi Bexar Ceunty ha8 requested that I write you r0r an opinion ooororlng a oortaln matter. 8iYiOahia roqUeBt noem t0 explain the Patter rexy thorot@ly X~am enolo8lng herewith oopy or him ro- qtmet. *In oompllanoswlth hi8 raqnemt, I an asking an opinion rrom you oorerlng the r0iimi~ quastlons: Qst. Are the type of olalm mentioned in his Hon. E. C. Carvey, April 28, 1939, I'age2 request under (a), (b), (o), and (A), suoh types of olalm that would oome under Artiolo 3912e, Section 19, Paragraph m, that would make It wmdstory for me to refuse to oounterslgu his salary oheok drawn against the Offlaers Salary Fund? '2nd. xr only a part of these olaims are types 0r a-8 that would oomo under Artiolo 39120, Seotlon 19, Faregraph m, state rhether they are olalms that would OOPS under (a), (b), (o), or (A), ot the sherirr*s roquest. "3rd. Ii any or all of the olelms above mentioned znot a typo of olalm ooming under Artlolo 39lZ8, Seotlon 19, Paragraph P, are thoy olalms or llebil- lty thet would bo held against the Shsrltr or Oon- stable under any other statute? If so, stat0 tho Art1010. "4th. 8lnoo these are an aooumulatlon of olaims oovorlug a period rrom JBL 1. 1931, to Dooember 31, 1938, against tho Oonetablo and Sheriff, whloh havo been reported by me each year to ths Crlmlnal Dle- trlot Attorney, are any of these olalms, whothor under Artlole 39X%, Seotlon 10, Patsgraph a, or a olalm ooming under any other part of tho Btatutee, barred by llmltatlon?W In oonhleratlon of the questions propounded br you and of tho propsr answers to be mods theroto by this department,ws think that we should first Alreot your at- tention to ths llmltatlons plaooa upon the Attornoy Oenorsl by Artlolo -9, Revised Civil Btatutos of lQZ8, wheroln It Is provided insorer as oounty auditors ars oonoornoa, that tho Attorney General "shall give them wrltton adrice upon any question . . . touohlng their orflolal duties.* It Is not proper that this department shall abvlso oonoluslvely upon 00ntiovereial matters 0r raot, or as to what testimony should be oonsldered b;la court in the trial of a oause, or as to what judgment should be rendered by a oourt In the trial of a oauee, for to do so would be to InvaAe the funo- tlons or the jualolary. We shall, therefore, oonrlne this opinion to the lnterpretatlon of ths pertinent statutes bearing upon the eubstanoe or your lotter so as to advise you with regard to Hon. 5..C. Harvey, April 28, 1939, Pwe 3 your offloial duties with respsot to the mntters dlscusaed in this oplnlon. In oonneotlon with paragraph (m) of Article 3912e, WB quote 80 much of thls Artiole and Sections as are deemed pertinent! "(m) All moneys drawn from said Offioers* Salary Funds shall be paid out only on warrants approved by the oounty auditor. No warrants shall be drawn on seld fund In favor of any person indebted to the State, oounty, or to said fund or in favor of his agent or asslgneo until suoh Aobt la paid, when notloe of auoh indebtedness has beon filed with the oounty auditor..." "(n) Eaoh Alstrfot, oounty and precinot offl- oer shall keep a oorreot detailed statement of all amounts earned by him and of sums ooalng Into his hands as fees, oosts, ah& oomlsslons, in a book to be provided for hlm by the proper authorities of the oounty for that purpose In whloh the orrioer at the time when foes or moneys are earned or shall come into his hands shall enter the same in suoh form as may be lawfully requixeA.W It Is provided in paragraph (q) of Seotlon 19 of the stated article of the statute, that a statement at the alose of eaoh fiscal year shall be made by eaoh orrloer theroln mentioned whloh shall be alreoted to the Dletrlot Judge of the property oounty, and shall be submitted on forms AeslgnoA and approved by the stato auditor; that a oopy of suoh statenont shall bo fomardea to the state audl- tor by the olerk of tho Alstrlot oourt within a given tlma and that one oopy shall bo filed with the oounty auditor. This seotlon also provldss in substanos that the statement shall show the amount of the rees, oommlsslons and oompon- satlons earned by tha orrloer aurlnp the rlsoal year ana the amount of fees, oommlsslons and oompensatlons oolleoted by him during suoh year and their Alsposal, and it shall oon- taln an ltemlted statement of all rees. oonnsisslo~ and oompensatlons during the rleoal year whloh were not oolleotsd, toaether with the style of the oase. the name of the party owln~ euoh fees, oo~lsalons an4 o&pensstlons, and the - nature of the saourlty for ooAt.8,and the reason for non- oolleotlon. The balanoo of this paragraph and seotlon Is here quoted oerbatlm, to-wit! "For failure to file said report said offloer shall be subjeot to removal from orfloe. The oounty auditor shall audit euoh report and file his report Hon. E. C. Cm-my, kprfl 26, 1939, Page 4 with the Commlsslonersl Court, and said oounty auditor also shall prepare and file with the Als- trlot or criminal dlstrlot attornoy a detailed report 0r all r0e8, oomm.lsalons,and oompansatlons unoolleoted which have been due and payable to any officer of the county ror a period of more than six (6) months; and a rrlmllarreport or all re08, oom- nieslons and oompeneatlons oollooted by MIA offl- oers and not reported by them and a list of oases filed alnoe January 1, 1936, in whloh any oounty or dletrlot olerk or justioe of the pesoe has not taken adequate seourlty ror ooats or requIreA a peuper's oath." You are advleed that the word wolalmW and the word "debt.*aro not necessarily synonymous, and that they are not believed to be so used in these statutes. This la made evl- dent by the pmvlslone of Paragraph (q) above referred to and quoted. It must be contemplated both rrom the language of the statute and In reason that ln the event of suit against the sherift, as provided for In euoh statuto, ha mlpht establish sufflolent reasons, wlthln the purview of tho law, why rees whloh had aoorued In oortaln oases had not been collected, or In other words, a valid defense to the suit. Tho bgislaturo did not mean that the oounty auditor should, merely beoause rm8 his at&It or tho shorirr*saooount, he Is of the opinion that tho sheriff had been Aerellot in oolleotlng tees or that he had msdo oolleotlons whloh he had not aoootmted ror, ho, the auditor, should oxerolse tho au- thority of wlthholalng the lasuanoe or the shorlrr*s salary warrants. To give the auditor suoh unllmlted authority would be to deprive the sheriff of his day ln oourt and to inpose -upon him a penalty without a judicial hearing. The stntuto makes It the duty of the Dlstrlot Attorney upon the oondltlons and for the reasons named thoreln to lnstl- tute a suit to oolleot the teea ror whloh the aherlrr Is thought to be liable, with respect to any supposed derault upon his part, either to oolleot fees or for fees supposedly oolleoted and not aooounted ror. Until In suoh suit a judeplenthas been rendered against the sheriff, the aseerted and unllquldeteA olaime against him by reason of thsae matters do not heve the absolute status of a “debt* within the purview of the law. Ordinarily, you will have discharged your full duty under the : - . - Hon. E. 0. Oarmy, April 28, 1939, Page 5 law 91th raapeotto tha lharIff*eatatammt when you aball hatO 8uait8a the awe ana riha with the Dietriot Attommy the ~reportw praaorlbea in the last quoted laotlon or the atatuta,lup r a . Itahouia furtherba borne inrinathattha lhmrI.fr la raqulra6to auouta an orrlolalbond In an oaount a& 0ondltIonadam ra~uIra4by law rot the ralthralparr0~1308 o< hla oWlolal dutlaa,ana ordlnarll~auoh'bpnanoul4 k miilolant protaotlont&the atate and awuty for rttan of odaalon and oomIaalon by the aharIff In the aiaohuga or him dutloa raquSraduuaar the law. Only in maem where thara 0r8 LID augpakd ia8~aa or raot lmoivad; +hat 18 ti8n tha 'olairagalxfatan orrloarham aoqulradfhq'otatusof a: debt am herein dailnad, should the auditor'u- the-p&~ rogatlwboi ~ithbt~ldingthe orrloar*a salaryw8rr~t. rru- tk-ro, in aaalth tctha~othar raaaou a8algm6;'tkara la;,;? ~++ poliOy rhy tha$a+ion should aog~ba takan. '.. Is 0-t fib9w ttm.opini~n PO- a8rinit8 in W;W dthe’rbrurr whloh the quaatlona in arm mubilttatl to the Attohay 06naral*aDapartmant. to anawr thk fourth Thledapirtmnt ~daolinaa ~88tfonw8adn8a in m.l*tter r0rtb 7~4eri0i8nt raaa@.tbat whatbar or not tha ltatutaa ot-liritatIon.may k~&@@kariOly pluaaa .in. auy oaaa la 0rdlimHly a riud qua*tS&n of law a* iao&and It la aluayadmntte rm deturlrutian or th8:0oort.. Youra wary tlQly u. T. llhra hat Aaalatant