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276
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
~~-=w*“H,C*,,OII ,. * .‘C”Y.w.,.ro . . . . . . . --.,- ..-.. _-
I ’
277
Honorabla A. L. Blakeraon, Pega 3
Prior to ita amendment in 194l, by 8. 9. 524, Aotr
of the R4gular 3eseion oi the 47th L4&31atwe, Artfole 3899,
v. ,A. a. 8.) while authorlzlny the payment of praslw~on
Of?ialal bonda of a4rtd.n ofrloors and their deputlss, to
wit 1 Sheriffa, oamtp judger, oouutp attorneya, aaseowro
and aollaotors of taxes, oounty alarks and dlatrlot alerks,
did not euthoriae aueh peymeats ia behal? of wounty treas-
urero, aauntyaudltore, oounty 4omnl8alonors, aoanty.sahool
oupsrlntandenta, and oaunty hide and animal lnapeotoro. !l%q.
oaptloo of said R. B, 524 reads a8 follows~
-An Aot amending Artlola 3899, Revised Clvll
Statutes or Twas, 1925, a0 anendad by Chapter
3l.l. Aeto of the Forty-fourth te&&atum Resgu-
lar Pesslon and Chapter t&5, A&a Oi tha !&IOOB~
Callad %safoa, Forty-fourth Logi.slature, and by
Chapter 498, AM.8 or the EWtp-ilfth I.e@.aleturs,
to proviCe #et preabma ok offlclal bonda for
the oounty treasurers, oamty auditors, county
road oomml~si~ne~a, oounty aohool ruperinterd~enta,
hide and animal Inspectors and their depi;tlsa,
shall%a~pe~d from aonr$: funds; end dealsring an
dme!rgaBoy.;
Eeatloa 3 or aald 8. B. 5% also provideo:
"'Ph. faot that tha provlolona of t&la Aot
axe naaeorary to r4nmdy a 4lsorlminstlon against
4tWtaiA OCXAty OrfiOitIlSiA the mIdtar Or pSpk0Bt
of aostr on prcmi~58 on bond8 for thenmelvet aul
ior their deput:os oreater an~amar66noy and aA
imperative pub110 ~nabasalty'that the oonstItuf$onal
rule roquirlng billa to be read on thrro~aweral
day8 la edah Rours tie 8unpanUad, an8 B0id rule is
hereby wspendod, wd that this Ao$ shell Bake et-
r40t and ba iA for00 rr0n end aftu I ha passa~o,
and it is aa eAaoted.*
It will ba not& that Y.~otion (b) of Arti410 3899,
V.A.C.S., as arab~ded, aupre,, Mea the term “oulnty road
ooamlsalonero~ instead or ,the term *oounty oomti8slo1u)rs~.
old th4 Le&alature inma to r0rter to oaoatg eoEvrlsslon4rsO
&ono?ablo A. S. ~ickareon, Page 4
'?!e fhlnk so. Our reasoning on this 8wre la aa iollom~~
The term mOOuntyroad oqml*sionera* ia aa&iguoua ad
theroiora aubjeot to aowrtruation in order to aeosrtrk the
Leglalatlr~ Intent; There i a no oouatr otfloer known 88
*oountg road oommiaafonern. It ia true that Artiole 6737,
V.A.O.S. author1208 the, oomalsalonara~ court to employ road
oomm$eaianera nob ho exceed four tar ro8Q dlatrleta or pavofn&~
datiaed by the ooumlaalonara* oourt, aad ruoh road ‘oaasrluimera
are msro2y road dlatriob or pmoinot employee8 who are required
under Artlola 6738, V.A.C.S. to obey all orders a? the MQ-
miaaloaera! Court. Artlolm &737, V.A.C.S., requires suoh BE+
plopesa (reed oommlaalonera) to ueoute a $1000.00 bond pryuble
to the aounty Judga and hir auooeaaora in office but doer not
require auah road oommiaalonera to take any oath. Suoh OR-
ployoaa (road oomulsslonera) hate no deflnlta tsrmand are
olearly not 0 rloera
that In oountl 88 harf ngArtiole
a popula6?~i!~ ‘Z;iA&%6 ffi::bfi::t?a
or mnre the m++mberaof tho oaumlaaionera~ 6ourt *ahall be
ex-ofriolo road eommisrlonera of thelz reapsotlte prwlnota*.
It 18 also pertlfwnt to oonaider the 1 alatire
history of Article 3899, arotlon (b), V.A.C.S. PrT or bo it8
amendment in 1941 the artlole, while euthorlzi
bond premiums on the cffloisl bond8 of nearly a
orrloera did not suthoriae t&e payment of bond premiuma for
the oounty breammar, huntp auditor, o~ounty eommlaafonera,
oounty aohaol ap~rinteudent, snb~oamby hi80 and anlmsl
inapeotor. To OUTI this altu&%on the Legislature mended the
Aot in 19Q, as quoted above.’ Thb awrgen6y olauae, quoted
above, saga amng other thlnga that ‘“the proviaiona d this
Aot am neosaaary ta ramd.y a Clsori?Umtlon against Oertah
00kmy 0rrf0ia8.n Clearly this would not a)plp to m~wre
emplaper auoh a5 a prsolnot or dlatriot road oimilaaloner. Jomm
oouatp oomulsaionara are also ,as-afrloto road oomdasfonera
(in oountloa 40,000 or over) am3 all ooantf o~rmalaaionera look
after the, county mada under rarlous oonabitutlonal and atatu-
tory prod alona. Indeed monz people i)opularlg refer 00 tb
oouuty oommlaaionera as ooun%y ?oad ~ol~aiaaloaern. It lema
olesr to us t&t the Leglalatun undoubtedly intended to refer
. 1
EoaorabloA. S. Eieker8on,Page 5
to oaunby eommlaslonera when it uarb t&a born aoouatg mad
oomulaalonaraw lu the amandad AoS abore quoted. To hold
otherwlaa would make the term Woauntp rc%d omnlaaloneraw
maanlngl*aa and would dlsorlninata agalnat ocunty aonm1881ouerb-
a dlaorlnlnabloa aever lnbaadod by the l&alaturo aa eridenoed
by tha ahova quota6 aaarganoy alaaao.
In oompllanoa with your xa uaat m are lnoloaiug
herowith l‘oopp of oplnlou 80. O-505 s of thin deparfananb,
mhlah holda that bond promlums on the offloial bond8 of oer-
bala named oouaty Oftlo In oOwtle8 0
Oiflo~rr~ Salary Law lhould bo paid from rrativ
ho Off oera’
uaaer Sal-
*lAa
arg hnd o? the oounty.
Honbgcmery Oouaby, Tama, baa a population in lb
ooaa 02 20,000 lnhabitanta aaoordln& to the 19lp ?adrral Coa-
nun. Obder tha provi slona of Saotlon 13 of Artlole 39 120,
V. A. 0. S.s the following named oouut y offloera, to wit:
aharlfi, aaseaaor and oollaotor of tares, runty judge
oouaty attorney, lnoludlhg orlmlnal dlatriot attorney a04
oounty attorney8 who perform the duties of dletrlot attcm
naya, dlsbrlob olerk, oouuty o&ark, treaaurar and hlda and
aalmal inapeotor, of oouhblor 9,uvlng a population in eseeaa
of 20,000 lahabltanbaaooordln(l to thr Last pmoedin@ FM-
are1 oanaua, mat ba ocmpaaaatod oa a salary baa18 aud bo
paid rraa th? ?filoera*Salary yu&.
The ooanty oommlaaloueraof Ilonbgowry Counby,
Tua a ,
r eo o lve
th e irlalarlea under the prorIalona 02 Artl-
oloa 2350 and 2350(l), V. A. 0. S., aooordlng to the tar
taluatloha of the oounty. Sooh 8alarlar may be paid aa-
018 2350.
Tbero ia no atatutory povlalon twthorlslly the
payatenb af bond pramiuma on Orflol8l boa68 of oooaby OOm8&8-
r io nerIn o la la roounbl~r
y oub o? blw road and brldga fund
or ou2 of any other rund than tha Of?io6ra' SalOr Fund.
Xonorable A. 2L Elokerson, Page 6
It la our oplnlon that S~otlon (b) Of Artlole 3899,
V. A. C. S., aa amended, Aots 47th L%iOlatUrO, 19W, la
val ,id aab oonstitutlonal. ;Ye anawer your queatlon in the
negative.
Tour8 tory truly
ATTCRNEYGRRXRAL
OFTXXAS
Wm.
f. hMln(l
Aaaletant
wn:mp
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
OF TEXAS