OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTliU
Bonorable Carlo8 0. Aehley
Dlatrlot Attorney
Llarlo,Texas
Attention: Xr. A. 0. llueller
Dear Blrr
fied and is now haldkg off%oe,
“So formal olalm has ever been filed for said
unaolleatedaommIsaIon8,and.no avorB statement ~a8
made for any OS said years as required by Artlole
3897 R. s. Ho report voa illed by the Collector
shoving the said ooztnisslonadue and uncollected.
914 . . .
Bonorable 0~108 C. Ashley, page 2
"Is there any vay that the Tax A88eraor-Col-
leator may at this time he lavfully paid the aggre-
gate olaim for ~ommlaal~8 due him by virtue of said
la8e8ament8?
. l . .*
Llano County has a population or 5996 inhnbitont.8 ac-
oording to the 1940 ?ederal Cen8u8, and it8 oounty offlola
lr a oompenaatedo n a fee basis.
Artlolo 2795, Vernon’8 Annotated Iox Civil Stat-
utes, reads as follova:
"The ocmmir8lonerr court, at the time of levy-
ing taxes for county purporer, shall also levy upon
all taxable property vlthin any oomnon school dir-
triot the rate OS tax 80 voted if a rpeairio rate
ham been voted3 othervise said oourt ahall levy
luoh a rite vlthin the limit 80 voted as has bean
determined by the board of trustee8 of said diatrlot
and the oounty lupmintendent and oertifled to said
aourt hy the oounty au rlntendent. If auah tax
has heea voted after tre~levy of county taxes, it
shall be levied at nnymietlng'of said oourt prior
to the &livery of t&:&aaeasment rolls by the aa-
a ea a o r l The tax arusarbr 8hall aaaeaa said tax a8
other taxes are assessed and make en abstract shov-
ing the amount of special texea assersed against
eaoh aahool dlatrlat-~inhiroounty and furnish the
same to the ootmty luperlntendemton or before the
firat day of September of.the.yearfor vhlah augh
taxes are aaaeaaed. Zhe taxer levied upon the real
property in said diatrlata shall be a lien thereon
and the same ahall be aold for unpaid taxer in the
namer and at the time of 8alea Sor State and ooun-
ty taxer. The tax colleator lhsll collect aaid
taxer as other tuea are oolleated. The tax aa-
aea8or shall reoelve a commla8ion oi one-half of one
p r oent . for l88e88 ing mu& tax and the tax aollec6-
or a aommisafon of one-half of one per cent. for
gollectinffthe same. The tax oOlleOtOr shall pay
a11 auah taxer~to fie aounty treaaureP', and said
.
Bonorablo CW108 0. A~hlOy, *go 3
treasurer shall oredit oaoh school dlrtrlat vlth the
amount belonging to It, and pay out the same in ao-
aordanoe vlth 181. Aots 1921, 9. 56.' (Undorroor-
lag ours)
Artlalo 3883, Vernon's hotsted Texas Civil Statutes,
reads In part as follovar
'Paopt as othorvlro provided in this Aat, the
annual foes that may be retaIned by proainot, ooun-
ty and dlstrlct offlcor8 montloned In this Artiolo
Shall be as iO11OUSI
“1, ti countlsr OOxkt8ining tventy f'lve(25,000)
thousand Or 108S iDhabItants: county Judge, Dir-
trlat 02 Criminal Matriot Attorneg, nheritf, County
Clerk, Oouaty Attorney, District Clerk, Tax Colleot-
or, Tax Aa8os8or, or the Aaso8sor and Colloator of
T6xo8~ Bmnty-four Eundrsd ()2400.00)D0llars eaohj
. . .
Artiolo 3891, Vernon’s mnotated Texas Civil Statutes,
roads In part as follov8r
?&oh ofiioer named ia thls Chapter 8hall flrat
out of the current fees of his offlod pay or be paid
alloved him under
the &imoUzit the provlrlona of Arti-
cle 3883, together vlth the salarlos of his asrlat-
NOZLtSand dO&NXtiOS,and authorized expenses uuder
ArtIolo $399, and the amount necessary to aover
aoats of proaium on vhatevor surety bond may be Fe-
quired by lav. If the current fees of suoh office
aolleoted In any year be more than the amount need-
ed to pay the amounts above 8poclfIed, wuw shall be
deemed excess fees, and shall be disposed Of IU the
maunor hereinafter provided.
‘In counties oontalning tventy-five thousand
(25,000) or loss Inhabltantm,DIrtriot and County
offiaors named heroin shall retain one-third of nuch
exaes8 fOO8 until 8Uah one-third, together vlth the
MOUIItS speolfled Zn Artlole 3883, mounts to !&Pee
Thousand Dol;Lars($3,000), . . .
”. . . .
916
Honorable Carlo8 C. Ashley, page 4
'All current foes earned and oolloctod b or-
floors hamod in Artlolo 3%63 during imy ilaoaf yeor
In exaess OS tho maxlmm and exaesa alloved by this
Aat, and for their servicer and for the rorvloes of
their deputies and aa8iatMtr oud authorlrod ox-
ponaoo,together ulth all delinquent fooa colleatod
ond not uued as provided ln Artlalo 3892, or u8ed to
pay 8818ldO4 Of deputlor Ud o88iStMta VhM Our-
rent foes ore luaufflolent,Shrll be pold Into the
County Treasury in tha oounty whore the exooa~ ao-
aruodi
"All fees duo ond not colleoted, as 8hOPn in the
report ropulrod by Artlole 3697, rho11 be oolloated
by the offloer to vhoae o?f.Ioethe foes aoorued and
rho11 bo dl8pOSod O? by raid Offioer in acoordanoe
vlth tho provisions of thla Aat,
"Zhe compensationa,lImItatIonaand moximunm
herein fixed In this Aat iOr offloors sholl Include
and apply to oll offlaers mentioned heroin in eaah
and every county o? this State, and it i8 hereby
declared to be the Intention of the Logislaturo that
the povlalona of this Aot aholl Spply to each of
88ld officers, and any special or general lau In-
consistent vlth the provlalona hereof la hereby ex-
pressly repealed in 80 far as the same may be In-
aonalatent vlth this Aot,
"The aompenaatlon,uJUitatiOn8and amximuma
heroin fixed aholl also apply to all foes and sow
.ponaatIonvhatsoever oolleated by lald officers In
their ofilolal aapaalty, vhether aaaountableas
foes of offioe under the present law, and any law,
general or Special, to the contraby la hereby ox-
prossly repealed. ?he only kind and charkater of
enaation exempt from the QrOViSiOnq Of this Pot
""7
aha 1 be revarda roaelved by Sheriffa for apprehon-
810n OS OrIQiiM.lSor fu&tIVeS from jUStI and ?OP
the reaovory of stolen property, and moneys received
by County Judges and Justices of tho ?eaao for per-
forming awriago oeremales, which sum shall not be
looountablo for and not required to be reported as
is88 of o?fiae. (As amended Aats 1930, 418t L og., 4th
G.S., p. 30, ah. 20; Aate 1931, 42nd Log., p 870, ah.
oh 220, i 23 Act.8
~~~~,A~~~h1~~~,4',~d7~~'~h~*3~fjj)~.j"
e
---.
Honorable Carl+ a4 Aahloy, p&go 5
3892, Vwnon'p Annotated
'irfilole ?OX4%8 civil St@&uter,
roads .a8 r0ii0v81
*Any offlaer mentioned .in this ChaDtor vho door
not oolliot
to oOiRplotothe aaxlmum~aompenaatlonSUthOrlSodby
Artiolor %3, 3883-A, and 3886 for the youp In
vhlah dollnquont fear voro charged,and al80 retain
the munt of lx u o a ~too8 authmlred b law, and the
rmlndor of the dolinqwnt fees for tL t firaal
oar shall bo p8id a8 horrln provided for trhonool-
Ieot4d; povid4d, the provialon8 0s thl8 hrtiolo
shall not apply to 4ny offioor after 'xzayo4r ir05
the date he 0088.8 to hold the orrioe to vhich any
deAinqwnt r04 18 duo, aad in the event the orriaor
o4rnm the foor t&t 4re delinquent has not aolleut-
od the same PithIn tvelvo mmthe aiter.he aoaso8 to
hold th4 0rfi00, tha aatount0s fee8 001140ted shall
bo patd into tho oounty treasury. Provided, how-
over, that nothing In this Aat prealuder the gaymont
of ox-ofrlalo fooo in aacordanae vlth Tltlo~61 of
tho RoviaodOivll Statutes 0s Toms4, 1925, a8 part
of tho lu~l~n 003qW88tlOn. Provided, that any
change mode in thlr &tlole by this bet 8h4ll not
apply to fear h4retoforo earned. (A4 amended Acts
1930, SlSt tg., 4th c. d., QD 30, oh. 20, )'4.)”
(Undorooorlng ouro)
lW above quoted rtatuto boaw offootivo iu 1930,
prior to the oornfng of the oOmmIanlona in quortlon hero.
ArtlOb 3897, !hrnoSi'SAunot8t.d 90X48 Civil Stahter,
roads 88 folloor~
Woh diatriot, 0Ounty Ud pr4ofnOt orrmir, at
the.aloao of o8Oh ii8041 y44r (Dwenbor 31at) rh411
make t0 the dl4trlot oourt of the oounty ln vhIoh
ho rorido8 a 8vorn rtetom4at in tripllcatct(on row
doSi@lod and approvedby the State Auditor) a OOQJ
of wh$oh St8teMnt ahall be forvardbd to the State
Auditor by the olerk Of the dIatrlOt oourt of said
aounty within thirty (30) days after the rw has
been filed in hi8 OfflOO, and One OOQy to be filed
Honorbble C-108 0. Ashley, page 6
vlth the oounty audItor, if any; otherwise aa’“,;;gy
shall be filed tith the Oommiaaionera~ Court.
rbport shall show the ameunt of all fees, oommia-
siona and compenaatlonawhatever 4arned by said of-
ficer during th4 ilaaal peari and 84oondly, ahall
ahov the amount of f4e8, commlaaiona and ooa~pen~a-
tiona ooll4cted by bin durw tha fiscal y41rj thlrd-
ly, 88id report ahall contain an it4miaed statement
of all f448, ooamlaai~na and oompenaatlonaearned
during the fiaoal yeas vhioh vere not oollected,
tog4ther vith the name of the party ovlng said f44a,
oommiaa~ona and oomp4naatlons. Said report shall
be tiled not later than P4bruary 1st folloving the
close of the fl~csl ye8r and for each day after
said date that said report remains not filed, said
officer shall be liable to a penalty of tvanty Five
(@LOO) Dollars, vhiah may be reoovered by the coun-
ty in a suit brought for auoh purpoa48, and in addl-
tion said offloer shall b4 subject to removal from
office. (As 6mended Aota 1930, 41at Leg., 4th CA.,
p. 30 ch. 29 ) 5 Acts 1935, 44th Leg., 2nd C.S.,
p. 1762, ch. 465, 1 9.)"
The oaa4 of Pierson v. Oalreaton County, 131 S.N. (26)
27, held that a justice of’the pea04 vaa not entitled to re-
cover from a county items oi expenses claimed for oertain items
during oertsln years In offlo where the justice did not ren-
der monthly atatembnta of such expenses as required by Art1 1
mg, v .A .= .3 ., but merely filed fm.nual reports estimating ghz
expenses in lump sum amounts. We quote from the court’s opin-
’ ion in said cause as follova: \
“The manifest purpoao of this statute vaa to
provide a mans of ascertainingthe correctness of
erpenssitema eaoh month 88 they ere incurr4d. The
actual 4x enaea paid or inaurrad constitute &$$$ea-
~.~e,~1-:t~4.:,qtficirl~a right to recoupment.
mohttil~~it4miaation is for the protection >f the
county by afford&x& a means of arcertain.tr?g the feat
and mount oi auoh albtimeditem of’expense and
rh4ther it vaa properly chargeablea8 such. 1t is
manifest from the mnwl reports and oonflrmed by
the evidence that these expenses vere merely ea-
tlmated and a lump sum given each year. The atat-
ute would be of no value if its aalutory provisions
929
Hono~rI114Osrloa C. Aehley, page 7
aould,be eveded in thir m4nn4r. Ye hold the items
properly diaalloved ~bythe oomlaalonera~ oourt,
and the trial court*8 judgment correct in denying
recoyery therefor,”
U4 think it oould llk4ulae be said of Article 3892,
auprb, that before any dellAwent fear oould be aolleot4d un-
der leld brtiole that 88 a conditloA preoedent same must have
been reported as dellnqu4nt ire8 vlthln the time and aanner
required by Levi The fact8 in this obae reilect .thatthis
vaa not don4,
It is our opinion that uud4r the racta stated, the
4x-tu assessor-oolleotorla not nov entitled to the oomaia-
aiona 5~2que8tlon.
.Xt vi11 be noted further thbt your letter does not
ahov vhether the or-tax laaeaaov-oolleotoroolleoted the
muiaum fees alloved him by 140 (in this a848 - 3,OOO.OO)
e8,ohyear. If he did that vould beean addltlonaf reason for
denying him auoh oommiaaiuna-)- +
Phere are pwhbpa additional reasons vhy ouch oom-
miaalona oould not nov be legally paid to such ex-tax aaaeaaor-
aolleator but it is not neoeaaP.ryto go intq them here as
the reason givsa &bow4 rfll &&ply suffice.
Very truly yours
ATTO8lEY OWEBAL OF TBXAS
Wl’rdb