OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF IEXA8
AUSTIN
Rcnorable Jemo8 A. Ouest
County Attorney
amp couBty
Fittrburg, es4kesr
30 6ro in feocip
aat0 and puoto ~POBI your
Y, it has booomo Impore-
payment in aash for rator
008, iiatsaa of aoooptfng a8 horoto-
u0a agalmt th0 ocr~eral mna of tho
II rla of the inability of the
this obllptlon logally, threui#
a ~alntaiwa tborobJ, tho County
* Court pP880a an odor at It8 regular
Of thin yOW, PW$UfriB(s pmOBt in 048h
Out Or th0 @oIlOral ftlad, for watOr and 8Oworom 8Or-
ThO8, ana also, 8alary of the Wurtheu80 J8rdbor.
of fSO.00 $WP menth, netwitlmtendl.n& that than 18
an OUt8tiknah.g a8fi0lt agaln8t tho 8aid &moral ma.
'Wov, tho aotlon of tho Od881onOM' Court,
uider tbo eari of tho wrltbs, woo borrod PM? the
747
FionorableJames A. Guest, pae,e&
ocnviotions of that body that It Is lawful to
pay the eotucl operating oxpensee of the aounty,
in oo8h, rm5 the proper fma, regardless of any
dafioite, or reglatertrdsorip that might be out-
atending, especially, in oonsideratlon of the
preSsing neoessity to meet thi8 emergenoy;how-
ever, the County Tron6uror doe8 not rO8poad to the
order of the COmd8SioBere’ Court, and In oon8e-
quanoe thereof, I, aa County Attorney, advirred
the Treasurer that, under the provisions of
Article 1709, It was ag oplaion that he would be
aoting within the law In oomplying with tho orders
duly passed by the CommisslonersgCourt in this
ease. My advice wes submitted to the Treasurer
in writing, but having railed to retain a copy 0r
same, I am unable to &ive you the bcneilt of the
wmdlng of my opinion in it6 entirety but It We8
substantially as outlined above In this paragraph.
liyadvice to the Treasurer, 18 also disregardOd,
as In the case or the order of the CommlesIoner8*
Court.
"It oocurs to me that the throat and detePmIna-
tion of the City to aiaoontinue the water ana 8-r
8ervioe8 to the County Courthouao, oonetltutoe an
omergenoy whloh duly jastitiee the aourao we bavo
taken, since hundreda of pcraona, including jurio8
and prisoner8 in Jail, all oourts and regular dounty
offioiale, together tith people from a dlstsnuo,
patronize tke orrices of the Courthouse daily.
Tour edvfoe on the following questions will be
fully appreciated:
"No.1. under Article 1709, 1s it the duty of
the County Trestsurorto aomply with the ardor
passed by the Cosaairsfoners~Court, as herein
above outlined?
w0.e. If the oraer of the CoDZkissiOnOP8'Court
as above outllned, should be fully complied with
by the County Traasarer, and such order Should
be routi to bs inwia, roula the Treasurer bo
llabls on his bond, or in any mtmner whatSoeVw?
748
Honorable James k..Cueat, page #3
"NO. 3. fr an order is pamed by the Comis-
siocera' Court, in ,qoodfaith, and 8am4 be-
coxes affeotlva, and later such order is found
to be invulla, ii fUna or the oounty havo been
expended thereundar, and no fraud is shown, rho
is liable and,what the penalty?
*NO. 4. Ia a County Commlaelon6rs*Court in any
mmner subservient to the directions of the
County TreaSur4r, in authorizing the dlsbur8e-
rent or county runas ror operetlhg pwposo 0r
the county?
"MO. 5. In the abaenoe of fraud or flagrant via-
lstion of State law8, 1s a County Tw8uror jueitl-
fied in dieregarding ordOr8 duly paasod by a
Comml4elon4rS~ CoSt'ln good faith, for the pur-
pooaeof promoting th4 welfare oi the oounty.
wherein such orbs8 requlrs the aervloee and oo-
oyeratlon of the County TrOaaur8r?w
We feel that the rlrat important question im0lv0a
here is _ the power of
the COllml2S81OnOr8'
Court to sat aolaa
a portion of the rev4nu4 of the oounty as a fund for the pay-
mont in oaah for wetef, ssrerage and janitor ssrvloea for the
County Courthouse, to be paid in prOfer4noe over othecrreglr-
tared indebtedcase 4f the oounty.
16 the ease of Honard VS. Henderson County, 116 9. W.
479, Chier Sust!.ceBond said:
"The county treaaurer,,by atatuto. 18 the 4us-
todlan of county funds; and the statute, Artiolo
s., direate that: 'Eech oounty treaeurar
1025, I-L.
shall keep a well-bound book in which he ehall
re@ster all alaims against his county in the
ordaf of presentation, and~lf more than one 18
presented at the same tine be shall register then
in the order OS thafr date. H4 shall pay no suoh
claim or any part ther0or, nor shall the Oarno,or
any part tharaof, be raaalvod by any officer in
749
Honorable &uses A. Guest, page #4
psyuxnt of any Indebtedness to the county, until
It hns been duly regfstered in nacordame with
the rrcvlsions of this title. 131 cleims in eech
class shall be p6L-3in the order in which they
ore registered!: bnd, Article 1713, that: 'The
county treesurer shall not pay any zimey out of
the county treasury eroept In pursuance of a
certiflaate.or rarrsnt from some oftlaer euth-
orlzed by low tv issus the s6nie* * **.
"The langmge of the stetute8 Is plain, the
authority $a exclusive and prese&s no ground
for construatlon. The aounty treasurer is not
authorized to pay claims o&nat the aounty,
exaept on warrants drawn by sonxeofflaer auth-
orized by law to lsfsue@ame; snd the coxmlseion-
era' court Is without power to bLna the aounty
by contract or otharwlse to pay alaims in cash,
without providing some means for such payments,
thereby giving preiereace in payment over other
registered indebtednear of the oounty."
The coae of Wlllcinsea~8. Frenklln county, et al.,
94 5. W. (2d) 1190, holCs.lo substnnoe that Article 1625
clearly provides the order in which clnlstsdrawn agaIn&
the Oounty Treasurek are to be paid, and amnmt@ to an
appropriation o? the funds of the County Treesury.to the
payment of all. alalma legally drawmagsinst the eeveral
olassss of fundsln the order of their reglstratlor.
Therefore, under this deofeion, the order of the
Commlaeioners* Court of Camp County requiring paysent in
oa8h out of the General Fund for water, sewerage and janitor
services, is oiolntlve of Article 1625, Revised Clvll atat-
utea, and is therefore void.
In view br the above ruling, we reel that it is un-
necessary to enswar further the questions submitted by you.