HonorableFrank Wrlght
CountyAuditor
Fsnnin County
Bonham,Texas
Dear Sir: opinion NO. o-3669
Re: Doea the comniseioners'court
have the authorityto donate
to a fund sponsoredby an Ameri-
can LegionPoet for ths purpose
of purchasing~~pulmotor?
Your letterof June 2, 1941, requeetingan opinionof this
departmentupon the above stated questionhas been received.
The courts of Texas have repeatedlyheld tbet countycomle-
sionere'courtsmay exerciseonly such authority~8 is conferred,ex-
prfiesly
or by impllcrtlon, by the Constitutionand the etatuteeof thla
state. The authoritiesto thlpleffect are 80 numerouewe do mt deem
It neceeaaryto cite them.
In OpinionNo. o-1001,this departmentheld that the oomis-
slonera'court does not have authorityto donate countyfunds to the
AmericanRed Cmaa and other charitableorganlzrtlone.
OpinionNo. O-591 of this depvtment held that the oommis-
sloners'court of GalveetonCounty,Text, me without wthorlty to ex-
pend countyfunds for the employmentof life guard6for the Galveston
beach.
There are ?dmy other oplnione of this &epertznent holding in
effect that the countyoomal~eionere' 00~t has Ilo leg*1 authorityit0
expend countyfunds for any purposeunlees duly authorizedby l&w.
After a carefulsearchof the authorltlee, we fall to fM PII~authority,
authorizingthe ownul~sioners' court to donate or expendany oountyfunde
for the above mentionedpurpose. Therefore,the above stated queetion
Is respectfullyUmmred in the negative.
.-
HonorableFrank Vright,page 2 (o-3669)
Trustingthat the foregoing ful4 rImwereyour inquiry,we
Yours very truly,
., ATTOBNEYGE~LOF TEXAS
By: AraellWilllm8 If3
ArdellWilll8.m~
Assistant
AW:db
APPROVEDJune 15, 191
Glen R. Lewie
Acting AttorneyGeneral
APPROVED
opinion
comuiittie
By BWB
chairman