The Honorable Franklin L. Smith Opinion No. H- 152
County Attorney, Nueces County
Nueces County Courthouse Re: Compensation of Judges
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 of County Courts at Law
in Nueces County
Dear Mr. Smith:
You have asked our opinion in regard to two quest&s concerhing the
compensation of judges of the county courts at, law in Nueces County. Your
first question involves the maximum salary which can be paid~ to these
judges. You indicated the answer depended on whether Articles 1970-,339
and 1970-339A. Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, or Article 3912k. V. T. C. S.,
controlled. Articles 1970-339 and 1970-339A establish the Nueces County
“.
Courts at LawsNo. 1 and 2, respectively, and pro-de for salaries. .Article
3912k gives the county commissioners courts the respons.ibil@y .of setting
some salaries. After you. submitted your, inquiry,, the ‘L&iala’mre amended
Articles 1970-339 and 1970-339A (Laws 1973, 63rd Leg. ,~~p. 1337;“ch. 503,
§ $10 and 11). ./ : ~_ j,
.T>.~~
Section 17 of Article 1970-339 now provide;: _;,
“Sec. 17. The Judge of the County Court at Law’
No. I of Nueces County shall receive a sala~ry-of~‘T&enty
Thousand Dollars per annum, to be paid out by the County
Treasury by order of the commissioners court, and said
salary shall be paid monthly in equal installments. The
Judge of the County Court at Law No. 1 of Nueces County
shall assess the same fees as are now prescribed or may
be established by law, relating to the County Judge’s fees,
all of which shall be collected by the Clerk of the Court
and shall be paid into the County Treasury on collection,
and no part of which shall be paid to said Judge, but he
shall draw the salary as above specified in this section..”
p. 708
The Honorable Franklin L. Smith, page 2 (H-152)
Section 18 of Article 1970-339A employs identical language in reference
to County Court at Law No. 2 of Nueces County.
We need not consider Article 3912k, since if the salary provisions
of that article ever applied to the county courts at law in Nueces County,
it is clear that Articles 1970-339 and 1970-339A, as amended by the 63rd
Legislature, now control. The salary of the judges of County Courts at
Law Nos. 1 and 2 of Nueces County is $20,000 per year.
Your second question asks, “Does the Commissioners’ Court of
Nueces County have authority to pay automobile allowances on a regular
basis to the judges of such courts? ‘I
By “automobile allowance” we assume you mean a set amount of
money paid regularly to defray the costs of operating an automobile.
We also assume that th.e amount of the allowance would not necessarily
be related to the number of miles driven on~official business by each
judge. See V. T. C. S., Articles 2350 o and 2350 p.
As we construe the automobile allowance mentioned in your question
to contemplate something more than reimbursement for actual and neces-
sary expenses incurred while on official business, we do not reach the
issue of whether the commissioners court could reimburse the actual
official travel expenses of the judge of a county court at law without specific
statutory authorization. However, it is our opinion that there is no autho-
rization for the Nueces County Commissioners Court to pay county court
at law judges an automobrle allowance which is unrelated to the actual and
necessary expense of official travel.
SUMMARY
The maximum salary of a judge of a county. court
at law in Nueces County is $20,000 per year. The Com-
missioners Court may not provide an automobile allow-
ance the amount of which is not necessarily related to the
number of miles driven by each judge on official business.
Attorney General of Texas
p. 709
The Honorable Franklin L. Smith,, page 3 (H-152)
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 710