PRICEDANIEL
ATTORNEY GENEIWI.
Hon. R. S. Wyche op1a10n No. v-101
County Auditor
oregg county Re : Authorlt Jr of a County to
Longview, Texas make contribution to an
incorporated city for the
purpose of oonatruct ing
an airport end to purchase
Dear Sir: fire f lght ing equlpmnt .
Reference is made to your letter of Maroh 3,
1947, In which you request the opinion of this depart-
ment on the questlous:
‘%as the Commlsslouera 1 Court author-
ity to make a contribution out of the Per-
manent Improvement Fund to the City of Qlade-
water, au incorporated city of Greg County,
for the purpose of construotiug an f lrport
near that Cit . said Airport to be owned
and operated f?y that City?,
%aa the Commissioners I Court author-
ity to contribute funds to incorporated
cities in Gregg County to purchase fire
fighting equipment to bs use& outside the
city 1lmi.t 87 n
Seotion 18,‘~rtlcle V of the Constitution of
foxas provldes for the dlvlsiou of oounties la ‘cosmls-
aloners’ precincts, for the eleotioh of oountiy oomals-
siouers, an& limits the powers of Commlssloners~ Courts
aa follows :
“The oounty oommlssloners so chosen,
with the county judge, as presiding officer,
shall compose the County Commissloners~
Court, which shall exercise such powers and
jurisdiction over all aounty business, as 1s
conferred by this Constitution and the laws
of the State, or as may be hereafter pre-
scribed. ”
In Mills vs. Lampasas County, 40 S . W. 403,
90 Tex. 606, decided in 1897, the Supreme Court had
uttdtti ooasiderrt&oa powew of Oo~~~issiaasro~ Ooor6s
‘-@ladrldt
0
Ia 1942, Lk, 8aw of Oelvestea tl.‘, and 8. A.
w. OO. VI. Uvalde Oouat~, a67 9. W. ;c#l 305, was de+
oidod by the Ooart a$ O$vh &po&io ate (klnst,on 46
“’ a writ of error war refuod lR that oue. koly other
thittgr the hurt satit
Beetion 3 of Artiolo XI of @he Ommtltutlon
.:..altedby tin Gourt mad8 a# fJbltrt
%aorraa’y. 60 oefm , oity er other
nioLgaloerperatloe @h&oredtw boaomm
olt&fhaatr our4
8ffoblsa 53 of Art1ele III of the 8tdte osc-
stlta6iottprovia,e that the bgislatum till have ho
power to authorlse the payment of any alalm orsated
agsinat any county or munwlpallty of this State utuler
Hon.. 81, 8. Wyche, Page 3, V-101
any agreement or contract made without authority of law”.
Article 2351 of the Revised Civil Statutes of
Texas, 1925, prescribes the powers of Commlsalonera~
Courts and the pertinent provision of that Article 1s
in Section 15, which reads:
“Said court shall have all such other
powers and jurlsdlctlon, and shall perform
all such other duties, as are now or may
hereafter be prescribed by law”.
The queatlon of powers’of Commlssloners8
Courts as administrators of the affairs of aountles
ia covered in Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 11, pages 563
to 565, from which we quote:
“Sect ion 36. Powers - Qenerally. -
Counties, being component parts of the State,
have no powers or duties except those that
are olearlg set forth and defined la the
Constitution and statutes. The statutes
have clearly defined the powers, presorlbed
the duties, and imposed the llablllties of
the Commissioners1 Courts, the medium through
~~which the differeat counties act, and from
those statutes must come all the authority
‘- vested in the counties.”
We have not found any provision in the Con-
stltution or any law of this State which attempts to
authorize Commlssiouers~ Courts to contribute any couu-
ty money to a olty for the purpose of oonstructlng an
Airport to be owned and operated by such city, Our an-
swer to your first question 18 in the negative.
Your second question involves the conatruo-
tlon of ~iiouse Bill No. 262, Acts of the 47th bglsla-
ture, Regular Session, now appearing as Article 2351a-1,
in Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which reads as fOlloWa:
” * * * The Commissioners* Court of any
county of this State shall also have the auth-
ority to enter into contracts with any city,
town or village within the county and/or a%-
joining counties, upon such terms and condl-
tlons as shall be agreed upon between the Com-
mlssloners I Court and the governing body of
hon. R. 5. Wyohe, Page 4, V-101
suah city, towa,or village, for the use of
the fire truoks and other fire ?l&htlng
tqzir@ of the olty, town, or village.
The Uoassissiotwrs ) Oaurt king give0 auth-
ority by law to enter into suoh oontraota, rash luth-
orlty must be liberally aonstrued tb lve effooti to tm
purpose. Conmis~ioners~’ Court 0. Ua1 f coo, 13 8. lf. t 2a8)
525. 4
opinion lVe. O-6160, of thir *partmat wa ,”
mitten lo anawe@ to qusstlms rutim-lt.tedby Hoamable
‘Joha T. Butohinioa,. County Atlmrtit of hrar, ,obcmhy,
as-follows i
:,; ! :‘!lf .your ant&or.: 66 tih ilret ~quer~i0tt
~lr’~‘jes;. then la tha Oounty Auditor of Lulrr, ‘, .,
~~Qounty’authorlred to pay ia;d’ $100 pas awmb’
,and If so, out o? ulpt fund would ,h6 be m&h-
*riced to ,pay same? .~
‘Wequote, frq8 ,tltrt opltilo~ 9 +lourt “’
%rtlole ,2)5la-1, ‘aupra, q4sltlball~,, ,~
:
i$iith&itelp
the ~o~mairrionorr ? aourt or 0ag ,’ ‘. I, ,~’
e~out~t,y~
oi’thls ‘State fo enteb lato OoQtmM, ,,’”
kith:~aay pity; ~toua,/oti village w$t&Witho., ‘al
bounty a@or adjolsiag c,ow~~ss “upon’rtttd’ ‘,:”
teras sad dondit lam as ehall k amued: :upoo
“bstreeit the commlrslotters~ mart and tbm
overning body Of the oity, tova or tll~
f,or the use of fire trwks 8txI ohor flro
tightin equlpmnt, of the olty,. tom or, ~11:
8)wrefore mu are mspe0tfPlly atl-
t%i that it ls’the opfuloa of. bhlr dofmrb
nt that the Oou&lssioners * adurt of &alum
P ounty is authorl6ed under the law ,to. enter
Late a aoatraot with the Oity of Parla to
rovlde for fire-fighting fmoilitiM t0 pro-
kect property located. outalde of the city
. -
Hon. 8. 9. mhe, Page,~5, Q-101
,’lludts of Paris, Spec if lcally acmverlng
our first question, you are advlaed that the
Eomlasloaers~ Court of Lamar County is auth-
orl&ed to coutract with the City of Paris to
protriad for fire-fl*ting facilltles ana w
the Gt $109.00 per moath for suoh aervI*ea,
p8wvide x au& bxpahdlt urea are m40 in aam-
plimce Pith tbra otmity bnd@tt rad t&m law
~applicable to the aouutJ b-t.
“IQ m8vor to ‘pour wooad
queattom, you
alrcl*bpriseathet it is our tn vimi
optiiocl,
of our anmer to your rmt queatioa, the
amtf *editor is authorized to approve claimu
for tha mamor 1)100.00 per month for the above
Yntbt~d w~tleea, PCov.lbedthat a &Bat#Wt
ha8 ‘Iyy1p uldr, b7 and between the ooslPtr *aa
CitJ iOr SUOb *otiiCeS, actd that et& ywQtxJ
rGtu r*da out of the gamecal fund aIp”the
aill oouut expenditures Mwf’ullf auth-
orrUed’to k laatke 3:y (I oountP must be ~14 out
of trh0 4Qwty’l IMP*1 rua4, mlew thaar, 18
wem lry vhiah thea a ohwge agaiaot tb
smaial f =a. 08. W-roll, 1182J. U.
29 &ae~ Cotutty, et al, vs. II&an, 157 S.W. 2d,
14, D*
We are of tha opinloa that the Coma~isslonem
&NH of &egg County is authoriEed to contribute Suads
to lacorporate4 cities In Oragg County to purahase filn
r*t~4tqulp1813t to ba used far Llre pPol;vctioP iQ
f3rcrgg00bwy t2wa30 0r SW~ ,0ity umt5, it 8wh em-
tr1buW.m is masonable, and ii prde tn aoooMaace
uith ‘(rhs county by&et and otimr applicable statutobr
1. The Ommissloriars ( Court 0r OFS@
County does not have authority to make a oo?k-
tributlon to the City of Oladelsate* out of the
Permaneut mmprovercnt ha 0r that cou6tf rm
the purpoaa of constructln$ aa lirpmt to ba
ovnad and operated bj that city.
The Commissioners I Court or BEem
Counti’haa the authority to ceatriBu&e lpMJ
,801~.
R.9, Wyche, Page 6, V-101