Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE A~ORNEY GENERAL 0~ TEXAS AUSTIN HonorableF'md Roz'ricr CouutyAuditor Polk Coun$y Livingston,Texas Bar S3.m Your reoiat reauest fo t- ourt, eout,thatrbond te that,.our BorluQlesiQi-lers sot Commtesi~onersof :tbeirrerrpeo- tvw bonda; supposedlyas set out #2380, i and 6762: mm ,oneot the tbmmlsslone~ahas MI-- fuabd 60 m&e ~onlyone bond; se set Outsin AH.4 #23&O." “ :_~ ~.Aptioles 2340, 6744, and 6762~;brnon’~ Annotated Civil Statutes;.read:r as follows; gcnorableFred Norris, Page ~2 "Art. 2340. Before enteringupon the duties 0r their arflae the oountg judge and each oommIstafozlerwhali take the~ofSlofaloath end shall alao t&e a written oath that he vlL! not be dlrsotlp 0r.Indlreo~tl.yInterestedLa any contraot vltih,~ or claim against, the county In whLch he realdes, exoept such warrants a6 may issue to him as isca of offl.ce. Eaoh~oezmls- sloner shall exeoute a bond to be approved by the county Judge lnthe aumoftbmsthmmmd dollars, payable to the county treasurer, aon- dftioned SOF the felthful perfomawoe of the duties OS his offlce, that he will pay ,overto hia county ati moneys Illegallypaid to him out of county Sunds, a8 voluntarypayment8 or othervlre,and that he ~111 not vote or gfve his tonsent to pay out county f'undsexoept SOP lawful purpooes. “Art. 6744. X&ah road superintendent shall wlth%n tventy cl&yeafter his appointment take and subscribe the oath requiredby the Constitution,and give-bond payable to and to be approved by t&s aountr judge in such m&m ee the conmIssioner@court my S&x, oondltloned that he will faithfullyperform all the dutier required of htm by.law or the uoraulruionerr oourt, snd that he vi11 pay out and disburse the inads aubjeot to hlr oontrol as the lav provlQee or aa+l oourt BWJJdlreot. "&ii. 6762. In,all oountlee of thle State; 6s &mm by the preoedlng Federal oen- BUS to oontain as many as forty thousand In-, habitants the members of the~commissioners court ,shailbe ex-oSSl.cioroad ooamisalonersof theiF respectivepreoinots$ and under the direo- tlon OS the oomnf.sslone~scourt shall have charge of the ttmas, tools and lrvschlnerg belongIng to Qmoounty and placed In the~lrhands bg 8aEd oourt. They shall superintendthe ,layfng outiof new roads, the making or ohasging of roads and the building of bridges under rules adopted by eaLd oourt. Bach aommlaelonershall, first execute a bond OS one thousand dollar8 payabze to and to be sipprovedby the eOuntY judge Sor..ae&se and benefit of the road and bridge fund, owdltloned that he will perform al1 the . . .._ -, r BonorableFred Borris, Page 3 duties required of him by lav, or by the oom- missioners court, and that he vi11 account for all money or #her property belonging to the county that may o&ue into his possesalon." Polk county has the population of 20,636 lnhabltants accordingto the 190 Federal census. Under Article 2340, supra, a bond for the faithful performanceof the duties of the offloe is required OS each oom- tissioner: Where aounty oommlsslonersare made ex-offloio road commissionera, and in this capaolty a oommls8ioneri8 requlped to give another and differentbond as required by Artlole 6762, supra, Bovever, it vi11 be noted that Artiole 6762 only spplls~ to those counties containingaa many as 40,000 Inhabitantsas shownby the preceding Federal census. It is provided by Article 6769,Vernon's Annotated Cl.vilStatutes that this law shall not be in operation in any county unless the commissioners court thereof in theiF judgmentmay deem it advisable,and then only by an order OS said court when all the members are present, made Et some regular term thereof, wcepting the provisions of said Let and such order shall be entered on the minutes of the said court. We do not think that Article 6744 and Article 6762 are Epplicableto the question under conslderurtlon. ThereSore, you are respectful13advised that It 1s the opinion of thla depart- ment that the commissionersof Polk Gounty do not have the legal Nthorltg to act as ex-officioroad oommiaaloneraas contemplated by Article'6762,snd that saSd cormniasioners are required to make Odlg one bond aa required by Artiole 2340, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes. Trusting~thatthe foregoing fully ansvers your inquiry, lb are Yours very truly ATTORNEY OEHERAL OF TFSAS ~.APFROVEDMAR i 1, 1941 lw;RS ATTORhrEY Gi%~RAT, 03 TEXAS