r I
,R-150
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Mmob 28, 1947
Bon. Jep 8. yullsr Opfnloll NO, v-110
County Attormky
Jefferson County Re: Right of County’co8ml8Y
BeaumontD lWXa6 slonrra D Court to re-
co&m a union ae ool-
leotive bakgainiw agent
. ior county employeea and
to enter into a oollect-
ive bargaining agreement
I with said agenoy. ‘~
Dear Sir:
You ask us to a&vise whether the Commissionerse
court or ~Jrrr6rroh County may enter ‘a dollsotive bar-
gaiunfng agreement with an awooiation or’ union and re-
cognize it a6 the oolleotire bargaining agent for oounty
employees 0 YAttaohed to your request is a oopy or”an
agreement bdtwaen the County CommissIonsraP Court of
your ooonty with Looal No,, 997 of the Ameriaan yedera-
tion of State, County,, and WnicfRal Employees. This
contract provide8 for the Union as the bargaining agent
ror all oounty dmployees; for an 8 hour working day and
a I+0 ho.ur work Week, *All houra worked in exaena of A0
houra are to be added to the employee*6 iaoationor the
employee to take euah time off at any time; that silita
the convenienoe of the department of his employment.” ”
It also, provides ror eiok leaVea, ta6ations and obser-
vance of designated legal holidaya. The’oontraot is
for a term of one year and “shall autmnatioally remain
in full force and effect from year to year, unless a
written notioe is given, thirty days prior to erpfra-
tion of the year that said contraot ia in foroe, by
either party upon the other, of their intention to ter-
minate said contract or until a new agreement la mutually
agreed to by the parties herein,*
The substantial queetion is of the legalit
of the contract; of the authority of the County Cc!wullf*-
sionersn Court to make such a contraot,
It ia axiomatio that in a governmsnt ih whioh
tho dutie8 of all orficere, as yell as their ponerr, are
Han, Jep S, Fuller - Page 2 V-110
defined by written law, no power should be exerciesd
unless authorized by law, It is important Co beer in
mind that the CommissionersO Court &es not have the
same freedom of action whioh private bmployers enjoy.
Their authority is confided to them by lawg an8 by that
law it is limited, That authority may not YI $rlogated
or surrendered to others sinoe it 16 a publio trrist 00
be disoharged by publio OffiOialS a8 mided by ZWDla
In the case of
t %19071, 90 TeXe 606, 4
?fourt of Texas said:
*It is not true 0 0 e t,hat the @on-
sti tution confers upon the CommiB*foner~~
Court any general authority over the ooun=
‘tyDs business, but merely gives them nuah
speoial powers and jurisdiotion over all
county business as is conferred by the con*
stitution itself and the laws ot the State,
or as might be thereafter preacribr)llo We
had occasion to consider thi$ ques%li?a in
the case or Bland v. Orr (Tex, Bup,) B9 S,
VB, 558, and reached the conclusion that
such courts could exercise only so@& ow%r8
as the constitution itself or PM 1% ! #la-
ture had specifically conferred uwb Umn,*
The Supreme Court of Texas reiterated the above
fo~;~i;oChildress County v, State (1936) 92 So WO (2d)
0 16, saying:
“The authority of the CommisBiOnersO
Court of Childreea County to Bike OOP-
traote in its behalf is striotly 1iaSW
to that oonferred, either expWs#ly or by
fair or necessary implicatfon, by the em-
stitution and laws of this State**
Nor oan the Commissioners0 Court 11&&t it8 Srsew
dam OS contract with its employees aa to the wobdit$oLM
or stipulatfone of employmentD Thus County oSfio@T~ who
are authorized by law to contraot for the buildfaa; et a
oourthouae aannot delegate such sullhorfty to a pe&mtO
indivfduab~
The ComissfonersB Court bould not dsleeate
to an architeot their authority to make a contraat %
construct a courthouse, Russell v. Gage (3886), 66 .%X0
428, 1 S. W, 270,
Bon* Jop 8. Puller ~0 Page 3 V-ll0
lleo C, &'1919)
T
208 8. ‘99, 2 3# or
Cc%lalas&-oneTaQ co
held that tEo
r the om8traetioa
of a eowthouse oannot make the oontSaotor glr agent
with authority to ptroel out the oontrao8 M others and
themby telease the oontraotors trOm all lW%lty,
Suoh aotion was void bWaur@ it delegated to others tho
court @I powera ot passlng QD the omtraot. .
And the dupreme Court in
County: (1888) 71 Tex, 99, 8 a0 W, 6
oounty oom&~eioners~ oourt nwt them&olver ssleot auoh
agents aa may be neoessary to assist thun in tk die-
charge of their fuuotions when suoh agents smro~ae
jud$ment and discretion in pWfomna8 or tbs worlc as-
signed to thm; t&e duty of aaktsg the arleettoas should
not be delegated; and a ~artaDl to tEu uMrary would br
unree+#onable and not bindln$.
Ita r&z&dno authority &I C&e Uu for a Oormdr-
sioniro” Court to enter a eolleotiYe bargaining oontract
or it8 &e&al dutlea to aa aWeelation
r8snkiw who ahaU ba sQ&oye&, and
provtlirrs ngul;atirrg suoh am-
p1oymut.
“Xn this oonneot&bn we lo 8ot de1
it inappropriate to quote the Iota
dent Roosevelt, am no o&e ban tH&tb
my he was fi any #en86 inialaal
In a letter to thr Ratloolrl
rbaezu ~Q~~WHI, adoa Wwt i(lp
Hon. Jep 9. Fuller - Page 4 V-110
the late president is quoted as saying:
OAll government employees should re-
alive that the prooess of oolleotive bar-
gaining, as usually understood, oannot be
transplanted into the public servioe. It
has its distinct and insurmountable liti-
tations when applied to publio personnel
managementO The very nature and purpose or
government make it impossible for adminls-
trative ofiieials to represent fully or to
bind the employer in mutual disoussions with
government employee organizations e The em-
ployer is the whole people, who speak by
meana of laws enacted by their representa-
tives in Congress. Accordingly, adminls-
trative employers and ofriolala alike are
governed and gutded, and in m,n instanoes
restricted, by laws which estab E:ish poll-
oies 9 prooedur61, or rules in personnel
matters. sm
,WhiLe the GeaWmaioneras Wart has the right of
aad disehaq!&g some ereployees,
preillme
cowt Si,Teza8, 1941s 152 8,.
ot by direat%- or iBdiraQtieB in-
fringe upon an elected county officer*s right and duty of
selecting assistants of his choice.,
(San Antonio Court of Civil Appeals,
w. (2d) 636, 646,
Artiale 3902. Revised givil Qbatutel. I 1925.
-. as
amended, provides that H -
numbor needed, the position to be filled a$
the amount to be paid, Said tpplio at~ien shall
be aecempanfed by-statomnts SheWi~ t&m prob-
able reoeipte rrom fe,es, oom~&&enr amd oofnp
peneation to be collected by said effiee during
the risoal year and the probable dibbureeliatr
b..; whioh mhall inolude all aalariee and expense0
of,said 0friee; ash. mid QQWW~ ab&U 8g&J&
. .,
Bon e Jep 9. Fuller - Page 5 V-110
’
(Undersooriag
,
.’ Like priwirfonr ar+a r0uad in the 0th or a trtutss
dealing with the appolntnent and salaries o? county emplg-
eeso
Though the Comml~elonors.~ Court vaa, 081~aa au-
thorized by law, limit the salaries and nu&er of county
’
empI@yees, thep have no power @?er, the naaing or the lndi-
viduals o do w* (24) 537.
Ths Court werrlho4 bv law.
“‘ph. Commlesloarti * llmlteti Ju~l~~6tler1, inh~
.
Then atatutoEy authority is given ?or the axWolse ef cor-
taia pawek and the per?ormutee of oorta5.n duties, those
requlroments aust be striaPZg ?dlloweU. D D* The alg
authority under rhioh a Wnni.asionara~ Couxt oould assist
in the appeintmrtlt Of the doputlea named in Artiole 3902
is the authority oanierrel thorola, 6A& oould be exeouted
only In the manaar presorlbod la the statute,
Johna”@noa, (San Antonio C, A, 1932), 52 So II, (2
.
23118 department la b)inhan Elo. O-2633, approved
Septembrr 9, 19 reached a like oono~urlen-- helding
that the Lowor. r sfondo Biver Autbwrrlt,y la&M the author-
ity to enter ipto a pxopoeo~ oolleetive kx@ni tkgree-
ment with a labor unloo. A oapy of that oplnloa “f I att8ohed
hereto.
In view or w&t has bran paid lb c woit,1s thr
settled rule of law in this Utate that the 'Coamln4l$msrrr'
Court oannot by direotion or indireotion ln?rin@‘upon
an orfioer~s right and duty o? seleoting raBlatant8 o? his,
oholce. The reaponslble head or an orfioo oanabt be re-
.
Hono Jep 8, ?ullrr - Paga 6 V-U.0
lieved from the general duty of the supeniaion and
control or his office in a reasonably sffioient man-
ner by placing restrictions ar to whom he shall ap-
point nor aa to the conduct o? his O??iOoe
!?sithor can the Ccn@s616#2ere* @our& 4nt4r
into a eolb4ti+4 bargaining a&rOmOd aId ?44ogniz4
The Jorrrrson mmby mmml~iaram~
Qourt ir not authorized to roea#4##@ a
p~ion or arrwiation es a 00~14otl4U ‘k*
gaining agent
statutes Bo not
Courtos authorllty as to the aoadibl~ 6f
oznployment, working hour*, vaMt401, and
other matters relating to such omplO~nto
RespooUull~r yours,
A’M’ORNBY
(IEHwEaAL
OF ‘l’l+B
---++-t
BY . .
David Wuntoh
AMietant