OFFICE OF THE AmORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Xelrin Combs
COule~ AtAoraq
Jer~r80n count7
Beaumont, axu A
Dou air1 .oplnlcnlo. O-30
R.1 aalar + @P 7tu
UU Ox -8
o f Jo i lr Do a
a o unty
.
7!t
Your requert
carefully oonaldrrsd br thlr
your requert u follov8:
"5. In coiitiea having .a population of
one hundred thousand and one ‘(100,001) a~ld zlot
ZC:E thar oz~e h.xiZred and fifty thoueand
(l’jO,OOO) lnhabitantr, firat assirtant or chief
BonorrbleNelvin Coabr, ?age 2
deputy not to la eed Tventy-rix Eundred
(~2600.00) Dollar8 per annum~ herd8 of de-
p.wtmentr may be aloved by the Co8m18810ner81
Court, vhen In their judgment ruoh allovanoe
18 juottlled,the 8um of Tvo Hundred ($200.00)
Dollar8 per annum in addition to the amount
herein Gloved, vhen ruoh he& of depart-
ment8 rota&t to be rppolnted rhsll have me-
riowl~ rewed th8 oountr or pollt~.oalrub-
~dlvl8lon thereof for not lerr than tvo oon-
%lnuow rearmj other l r r lr tmnt~ ,
deputier
or olerkr no% to loeed Tventy~three liundred
(~2300.00) Dollar8 per annum laoh."
The main problem prorented by the quertlon rubmlttcd
18 vhether the word8 "rhall hare prevlou8ly rerved the oounty
or pollbltal rubdlvlrlon thereof ior not lerr than tvo con-
tlnuour yeara" lhould be oonstruedto tieantvo oontlnuouryearm
next preoediq the ~ppolntunt, or m tvo oontixkuou8 year8
sedlng the appointment.
Where the 8tatutory language 18 uablguoum or.admlta
of~more t&m one mimning, It la to be taken In ruoh ti 8epIe a8
vi11 oo&iformto the lo o p e
and intent of the A&, and vi11 beet
or rort eertalnly laoompllmh It8 purpole vlthout do- violence
to plain rtrtutory language. A oonrtruotlon that vlll unduly
limit it8 plain purpome, ~111 be &voidedIf po88ible. 39 Ter.
hr. pp. 218-219.
In permitting the payment of a larger 8alarf to the
head of a department rho 'rhall have prevlourlj rerved the
oounty or polltloal rubdlvlrlon thereof for not 1088 than tvo
contlnuour year8 , ” ve believe the bglrlature intended that a
head of a deparwt with prevlour experience in oounty mattera
rhould be entitled to a larger 8alary than an inexperienced
person.
By requiring the prevloua aervioe to be “not leas
than tvo continuous yearr” ve bellwve the Iaglrlsture Intended
to set a minimum length of experience required to qualify an
appoLntee to the additional salary, and to eliminate those
persms vhose previous service totaled tv3 years blz:t VZS were
. -
Sonorablellelv%nCorbm, F8gm 3
employed
._ . .only
. periodically.
--. - ._ It 18, a matter of oommon
._ knkwledge
- -
tnat 0ertu.n orrioerm or tne county governmnt, partruuariy
the tax l 88e88or-oolleotor, require extra help during oertain
rumh p8riOdD.
To oonrtrue the vordr in quertlon am reanlng tvo
ooAtl.Auouayearm the bppolntment vould be plrolng
a~ Undue limitat purpore o? -the rtatute. 8uoh
a oon8truotloA~vould llialtnitesum7 able 8en rith mny year8 o?~
oontlnuow rerrloe . 8uoh a oonrtruotlon vould alma prerent a
rerlour quertlon am to the le h of time that UL offloer taking
offloe on Sa~uary 1 1941, ootF d valt before appointing the
head8 o? the 8eTerd departmEnta withouthaving the tvo OOA-
tiAUOU8 p-8 AeXt preOedi~ the ~ppOb¶tmeAt interrupted Dui-
fieientlf to make ruoh propored appointee8 ineligible to qualify
for the additional salary. It vould tend to penallre the of-
fleer vho moat oarefulry and dellberately~attempted to appoint
the beat qwlifimd per8on8. We oannot apee that thm purpore
of the rtatute IA quertlan ju8tlfler rush a lirlted oenrtruotlon,
It 18 our Opinion, therefore, that the VOrdD "Dhrll
have prerlourly rerved the OouAtJ or politioal
8ubdi~i8ioA there-
Of ?Ol! AOt le~88 t&M tV0 OOllti.!NlOUD ~e~8,’ in
8OOtiOA 5 O? k-
tiele 3902, mupra, rhotid be eonrtruod am meuii.ngx tvo eon-
tlnuow~m preeed.bg the appointrent.
You are, thereform, rempeotf~l~ 8dvLred that it ia
the oplnlo~ of thlr department, under the futr rtated, that
thm 88lm7 of the ohle? deputy cannot legally th8 mum of
lx o eed
~2600.00 and that the malu7 of the other doputr, haad of the
autaaoblletax department,cannot legallylxoeed the rum of
$2500.00 per uinu8.
Your8 very truly
ATTORHEY GElfERALOF TEXAS
BY
Edgar Pfeil
Assistant
EP:RS
APPROVED MAR 19, 1941 This Opinion Conridered and
/a/ Oerald C. &DA Approved in Llmlted Con?erenoe
ATTOREEY 0ElGM.L OF TEXAS