520
OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Rononble EC. sr torman
County Auditor
arrerron county
Boamoat, Teur
auditor don-
therewith, whore
n ia to govern7
n lxoe98 0r one
ty dollrr~~ mar be aad* upon
be 8pprotsd by tha oomairrlon-
out l a vr r tirr liq
o rooutpetitirs
appreoiate barlug your o~lnlon
to the r0ihing puastion81
t&e Co5m~srionrrr~ Court datslPina8
that a oortain puroharr wa8 -do a* an emrg6noy
and the opinion or the County Auditor aon-
ili6ta therowlth, that 18, he ir of the opinion
.:
Bonorablr L. 8. Foreman, Page 8
th a tluo hpurohaso ua a no t a n emr g e no y,
whose
la oto gorarn?
o p i3x.lo
-18 the authority dealming ror
a n l-r-
genoy and an~endlng or the emergemy
the budget
purohaaea of materials and supplies not lxo8ed-
ing &50.00 inraated in the Coabrdaaisnsrs~ Court?”
Artlola 1689, Vernon*8 Annotated Cirll Statute8
read8 aa r0ri0w8r
*Supplier of every kind, road and bridge
matwial, or anr other mBtrria1, tor the use
0r said county, or any or it8 orficara, depart-
!aUSnts, or inatitUtiOn8 mUt3t be ~UrOhtVOd on
oompetitlrr bide, the contract to be amrded
to the part9 who, in the &d-ant of the OOEI-
m.iaalonera oourt, her aubaittad the lmeet and
best bid. The oountp aadito,r shall adrortlse
ror a period or tw0 weeks in at least ona dally
nawr~per, published and olrctilatad in ths
oounty, ror auoh supplies and arterial accord-
iog to apeoirioations , g:ving in detnll what
is needed. Suoh advert1Yazet-m shall state
whsre the epealfioations era to be found, and
shall give the tiaa and place for receiving
auoh bide. All such oompetitivs bids shall be
kept on tile by the oounty auditor ae a part
of the moorda of his orfica, and shall be aub-
jeot to 1napQation by any om desiring to see
them. Copfee of all bids recoinsd shall be
burnished by the oouutp auditor to the aounty
judge and to ths oomalaaionsrs oourti and when
the bide reoeivsd are not satisfactory to the
said judge or oouuty 6ommia$loners, tha auditor
ahall reject enld bids and re-advertise for new
bide. In oases or emergenoy, purohaser not In
exoeae 0r one hundred and rirtr dollar8 my b9
made upon requisition to be a??rorrd br the oom-
tia~ionora oourt, without advertising for 001p-
ptltire bide.”
under title 34, Artiole 1646 to 1676, lnoluaire,
and the ammdmanta thereto, the general dxtiea of the
oolmty auditor is to keep an otaralght 0r all 0r the or-
ricer8 of the oounty, who may be authorized or required to
reosite or aollaot money for the uae or belonging to the
Honorable II. S..Porcman, Page 3
oounty, and to 844 to the atrlot entorocment of the law
governing aountr rlnanoes. b?ore spcolfically, It la his
dutyto lxar,Ine lcoounta and reports, oount oash, prr-
scribe forms and rules to be used in the oollcatlon of
count7 rcvcnuea, and rsoclre bids for icltsrlala and aup-
plier. Ha 18 rewired to kcap enumerated aooounts, make
quarterly and annual rlnanolal reports to the oo3;~lls~i~n-
bra’ oourt. The oounty auditor also 4xcroiacs control
over and har the custody of the rcoords, papra of his
OfflOe, and aup~lIes the oommlaalonora~ court with suoh
Information oonoornlng the affairs of the county aa will
anablo that body properly and cffioicntly to dlsohargc
Its dutloa.
The authority to contraot on behalr or the county
fa rested alone in the commIssloners* oourt In the ebaenoe
of statute authorizing some othar eganop to oontraoti and
If an agreement la not made through or lanotlonad by auoh
agenoy It binds neither the oounty nor the lndlvIUua1,
Sparks vs. Kaufman County, 194 9. 8. 606; Collins County fs.
Sohultz, 243 3.X. 609; Presidio County vs. Clarke, 86 S. ~1.
475; Tax. Jur. Vol. 11, p. 631.
The oommlesloncrs~ oourt is oharyed with the ad-
ministration of oounty business. pub110 officers and
governmental and admInlatratlr4 boards poascas only such
powers as are expressly aoriferred uson them by law or ar8
xich4scarIly Implied from the wworo ao oontorrsd. They
oannot legally perform aots not euthorlzed by existing
law, Tex. Jur. Vol. 34, p. 440-441.
The oounty auditor is not authorized to datcr-
mine whether or not a oert~aln purol?ace was made a8 an
omcrgenoy, his dutlos being to examine any ecoount expended
ror en emergenay as to the oorreotncss of the 3am4 and not
whether the csrrgcnoy exlcted.
~rtlole 1659, aupra, spociticsllp provides that
‘In oase$ of an rAzlcrg4noy, purchases not In excess of on4
hundred and fifty dollarc may be zadr upon requisition to
be approved by the oommlaalonsrs court, without advertlclng
for oonpetltire bide.” Clearly unler the abore mentioned
statutes and authorfty, the oommissIsnersl oourt should da-
termlne whether an c&orgcnoy existed or not.
Honorable 3:. 8. ?oreman, pago 4
fn miser t0 YOU riret qumion, ~00~ a10 FO-
8motfu.lly ldrirrb that it 18 the opinion of thla Depart-
mnt that the discretion of the oouimla5lone1rs’ court 18
not lbaoluto autborlty to expend oountp fundo In the ease
of an lmer%enOy, and is final, only where ths question
la debatable or *hero the lxlatenoe oi an en;srgenoy la
unquastlonable. Boweror, raid oourt has no authority
to determine an4 dec k a that r e an lasrgsnoy edate, and
oxpen oounty fun48 therefor, where the faots olearly show
the oontrrry. Sal4 oourt har no legal authority to deolsro
an amergenoy and evade thr law, where In faot, no lIcsrgenop
lrirtr .
with referenoe to your reoond question, you ars
resgeotiully adtleed t&t It lr ths opinion oi thlr De-
partment that the authority ror deolarlng an emrgenoy
an4 amending the budget for the emergen6p purahasea of
aatsrlals and 8ugplier not exceeding one hundred and fifty
dollar8 Is rested In the oommlselonerr~ oourt. Art1010
WQa-11 and Article 1659, rupra.
Trusting that the Iorrgolng fuLly answsra your
inquiry, we are
Yours very truly
ATTORNIX GEN3RALOF TEXAS
@lAi$?vua
BY
Ardell Wlll.lakn8
AsIirtant
f~‘FRC)vECJUN6, 1940 ‘.