OFFICE OF THE ATT’ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUFTIN
Hon. R. 9. Wyohe
county iuadltor
Gregg county
Longview, Texas
Eear Sirr
latlng to the above
matters, haa been reoelvs
a8 r0ii0w8:
aooordlng to the laat tar
our population according to the
8~8 is 15,778.
aae lnfofm me how the oompsnsatlon of
the Treasurer ehould be set up an4 how he ehould
be Hid. Doss he have authority to draw his own
pay from whatever fund he may desire, or does
Hon. R. S. Wyohe, Page 2
the County Clerk i ssuo him a warrant ae other
officer8 are paid?”
We note tram your communication that the oompen-
setion of the oounty dfioers 6f Gregg County has been
prboidsd for on a salary bask@, preeumably in adoordanoo
with Seation 15 of Article 3912e, Vernon’s Annotated Civil
Statute6 of Tezaa.
Section 3 of Article 3912e, eupra, reads a8 fol-
lOWa:
“In all caeee where the Commieelonere* Court
ehell have determined that county 6$fioers or
preoinot officers in euch county shall be oom-
JnMksated for their eervioes by the payment of an
annual salary, neither the State of Texas nor
any oounty shall be charged with or pay to any
of .the otffoere 60 oompeneated, any fee or oom-
mission for the performance of any or all of the
duties of their offioee but euoh officers shall
receive said salary in lieu of all other ieee,
oanmisslone or ocmpensation which they would
otherwleo be authorized to retain; provided, how-
ever, that the aaseeaor- and collector of taxes
ehall continue to collect and retain for the
benefit of the.Officers’ Salary Fund or funde
hereinafter provided for all fee8 and commlesione
which he ie authorized under law to collect; and
it shall. be hi8 duty to account for and to pay
all euoh moniee received by hLm into the fund
created and provided for under We provisiona:of
this Aot; provided further, that the provielone
ot this Section shall not affect the payment of
oosts in oivil case8 by the State but all such
coate 80 paid shall be acoounted Ear by the of-
fiosrs oollaot~ng the same, a8 they are required
under the provisions of thie Act to account for
ices, dimmissione and oosts collected from pri-
vate parties .-
Under this statute, neither the state of Texas
nor any oounty ehall be oharged wl th or pay to any air the
officers 80 compensated on a salary baais,~ my fee or oom-
mission for the periormanoe of any or all of the duties
Hon. R. S. Wyohe, page 3
of their offioaa, ,aave only the tax asaeaaor and oolleot-
or who shall continua ‘to oolleot and retain for the bena-
fit of the Offioera*~ Salary Fund or run&a provldad for in
the Aot, all faea ando aaiona which he la authorized
under the law to oollaot.~.ormt The only feea, oommieaiona and
wata~ whioh the officers of the carnty, save only the tax
aaaaaaor and colleotor, are +uthorlzed by law to oollect,
are thoae fees, oommiaaiona an.4 costs that private part188
are required to pay under the law, and coats in civil oases
by the state.
Aocordingly, the con&salons which the county
treasurer would be authorized, otherwise, to receive on
monies of the county received, and dlsburaad by him, under
Articles 3941-3943 in.oluaive,.Raviaad Statute8 of Teta8,
may no longer be oollaoted againet the county. To allow
auoh collections would do violenoe to Section 3 of Art&-
ole 3912e, aupra, in that the county would thereby be
charged with and pay auoh commiaalona for the performance
by the county treaaurer of hi8 offioial duties.
This matter waa exhaustively diacueaad by this
department fn opinion Ho: O-807, aaareaaea to Mr. L. P.
Heard, County Auditor, Ball County, Belton, Taxaa. We are
enoloalng, herewith, a copy of this opinion for your fur-
ther information.
You are, therefore, ‘respaotfully advlaed that it
ia the opinion of this department that the compensation
of the county treasurer, plaoad by ordar.of the Commi6aion-
era’ Court on a salary baa18 under Artiole 3Vl2e, aupra,
ahould be @ia out of the Orrloera~ Salary Fund in aocord-
anoa with Section 4 thereof, which reads:
vXn all oountiee of this state containing
a population of lea8 than one hundred and nine-
ty thousand (190,000) inhabitant8 acoording to
the laet preoading Federal ‘Cenaua wherein the
county or pracinot ofricare are compensated on
a salary baa18 under the provisions of this Act,
there shall be created a fund to be known a8 the
‘Officers( Salary Fund 0r county,
Texas. ( Such fund shall be kept separate and
apart rroak- all other county funds,. and shall be
held and dlabursed for the purpose of paying ‘the
Hon. R.S. Wyohe, page 4
salaries of offloers and the salaries or dap-
utiaa, aaaiatanta and clerks of officera who
are drawing a, salary from said fund under the
provlaiona Of this Act, and to pay the author-
ized expenses of their offices. Suoh fund
shell be depoqited in tthe county dapoaltory and
shall be protected to the aama extent as other
oounty finds.*
In anawar to your aeoond question, it is the
opinion of this department that th6 salary warrant of the
oounty treasurer should be issued in the same manner as
the salary warrants of the other offioers of the County,
as set out in Seotion 7 of Artlole 3912e, aupra, which
provides :
“All monies drawn rrgn said Offlcera~ Sal-
ary Fund or funds shall be paid out only on
warrants approved by the oounty auditor in ooun-
ties having a county auditor; otherwise all
olaima against aald fund shall first have been
audited and approved by the Cozmalsaionara~ Court
of eat14 oounty and the monies shall be disbursed
on auoh approved olaima by warrants drawn by tha
oounty ‘tireaaurer on said fund.
” * * +n
We trust this answers yogr inquiries satlafactor-
ily, and we remain
Very truly yours
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
APPROVBD,WOV15, 1939
BY
Wm. J. FaMing
Assistant
BY
ZC8:ob Zollle C. Steakley
Encl. APPR3VED
opinion ocmmlttea
BY BWB
&$EZan