Case Information
*1 325 OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS . > AUSTIN ?
Q @~m*LD c. MANN hw*“*.” 0.*.-&L
Honorable E. L. Hlnson, Jr.
county riuditor, Polk county
Livingston, Texan
Dear Sir:
43, r4qusatingtls opin- d question reada, in ion of this depertae part, a8 follows:
oran8 Ssrvlco 48th Legielnturo, it Bill 368 of aald Legle- an Oplnlon on the SolloW- ounty Treasurer of Polk County be a County Service orricer and oon- offlaa Of County Treaeurer and [4] be the County 6ervfce Offlimr aa created under the Acts of the 48th Legieleture?w
Houee Bill No. 968, dot6 of the 40th Lsgialkture, 1943, ae tollown: reaba, in part,
"~eotion 1. When the oom~~loeionere' court the county shall determine of that a Veterane County Service Officer is a public neoeeslty in the dlspatah *2 &horsble X. i. HIneon, Jr., aage 2
of the county bueincaa, it eh.111 by a majority vote at the f’uil mstubershlp thereof, create a d establish a Veterans county Service Office. ‘fhe ooro~ieaioners~ oourt shaall ap;)oInt suoh Veterans to suoh dervice Oiflae and ewh nasletant Veterans to ouch Service OtfIoe a(1 ehall be deemd neoeeeorp by the ooudy oofsm18aionera1 court. Suoh Vaterana County Aervlce Officer and/or Iisaiataat Veterana Servlae Officer &all reoeive a aalarf not to exoeed one huadred ($,lOO) dollar8 per month ior / the principal orficer nor more than r iitf (@Xl) --- Qllars per math, f lred by the OownIssfomrre* Oourt, to be paid in equally monthly Inmtallmnte out of the general funds of the oounty and all salaries, and other expeusss of such office travel
shall be paid on order of ths oomniaeIoaere* oourt.
The &t further prescribea the qualiffoationa Cf aueh Veterans County 0rr:osr ar;d/Or Aesistant Veterano County ;iervlce Officer, the dutlea of such offioera, the term oi off l.oa, etc. the language In Section 1 of
Literally construing the &t, it Is apparent that the ~o.:m?ieslonere~ oourt Ie au- timsIzed to create and establleh a Veterana Countr bernbe Of- f’ice when the oounty conuals~ionera* court determiner, that a Vetirans County Servlo-e Offloer is a puhlio neoeeslty in the dispatah of county busineaa. Generally speaking, aom offices are areated by the Constitution and other8 by the statutea.
It is a settled prinolple also thst an offtoe oo~mm Into exlst- once only when created In the preaoribed manner, aad oontinues only so long ~8 the law to whloh it owes existence re;lPlins in force; when that law 1s abrogated the offloe Ipso facto oeasee to exist, unlosa perpetuated by virtue of som other enactment. (City of San id3eonfo v. Couitreas, 169 S. Y:. 917, 179 S. iti. 515, lZZJ 3. ii. 194; Bennett 0. CIt 268 S. Y. 785; Tex. r v. ~omm.lselons~
37) 1nt &t ,“~‘~a~~~d%he~ County, 146 S. it. m70, the Suprent
32’7 Court of this State has said:
“The creation of an ofSice is peculinrly a le&lntlve satter.”
The question whether tkB oommiesionerr* Oomt creiites the ofilce or nkther the Legislature haa.orsated tfr, oSfice and the Aot merely Surnisi~a a method by whioh appointmnt to the OS- lice is rsnde, 18 not bdore IS the Ltgi slature bar not created ~8. the osrlce but authorize6 the oomlosioners* oourt to oreate eald oSSloe, then a eerloue quretlon ea to the oonatltutionalitf OS the mt is raised. Thsrerore, we express no opinion as to the validity OS aaid ikttr
Ypeclflcally anawerlng your question, lt 16 our oplnlon thut in view OS Section 40, etiole 16 OS the Ytate Conetltutlon prohibiting tha holdtag or rxerclalng, at tha same time, Bore th&n one olvil the county oSSice OS emolunsnt, treamrer cannot legally hoti the oSSlce OS County Treasurer and tbs ofiice OS Votarane County OfSicer at the uame time.
Vary truly your8