Case Information
*1 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 l xoe98 one ty dollrr~~ mar be aad* upon 8pprotsd by tha oomairrlon- out l avr rtirliq r o r ooutpetitirs appreoiate barlug your o~lnlon r0ihing puastion81 that a oortain puroharr wa8 -do a* an emrg6noy t&e Co5m~srionrrr~ Court datslPina8 and the opinion or the County Auditor aon- ili6ta therowlth, that 18, he ir of the opinion
.: Bonorablr L. 8. Foreman, Page 8
that l uoh purohaso ua a not an emrg enoy, whose o pi3x.lo o la to gorarn?
-18 the authority ror dealming an l -r- genoy and an~endlng the budget or the emergemy purohaaea of materials and supplies not xo8ed- 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 mUt3t be ~UrOhtVOd on inatitUtiOn8 oompetitlrr bide, the contract to be amrded to the part9 who, in the &d-ant of the OOEI- her aubaittad the lmeet and m.iaalonera oourt, best bid. The oountp aadito,r shall adrortlse ror a period or tw0 weeks in at least ona dally nawr~per, published olrctilatad 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 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- to 1napQation by any om desiring jeot 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 dollar8 my b9 br the oom- to be a??rorrd oourt, without advertising for 001p- tia~ionora ptltire 34, Artiole 1646 to 1676, lnoluaire, under title and the ammdmanta thereto, the general dxtiea of the oolmty auditor is keep an otaralght all 0r or- ricer8 of the oounty, who may be authorized required reosite or aollaot money for the uae or belonging to the *3 Honorable II. S..Porcman, Page
oounty, to 844 to the atrlot entorocment of the law governing aountr rlnanoes. b?ore spcolfically, It la his duty to l xar,Ine coounta reports, oount oash, prr- scribe forms rules to be used the oollcatlon of count7 rcvcnuea, and rsoclre bids for icltsrlala and aup- plier. to kcap enumerated aooounts, make Ha 18 rewired quarterly and annual rlnanolal to the oo3;~lls~i~n- reports 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 authorizing some othar eganop to oontraoti of statute and If an agreement la not through or anotlonad by auoh agenoy It binds neither 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 governmental and admInlatratlr4 boards poascas only such powers as are expressly uson them by law ar8 aoriferred 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 ‘In oase$ of an rAzlcrg4noy, purchases not In excess of on4 hundred and fifty dollarc may be zadr approved by the oommlaalonsrs court, without advertlclng Clearly unler the abore mentioned for oonpetltire and authorfty, the oommissIsnersl oourt should da- statutes termlne whether an c&orgcnoy existed or not. *4 Honorable 3:. 8. ?oreman, pago 4 fn miser t0 YOU riret qumion, ~00~ a10 FO-
8motfu.lly l drirrb it 18 the opinion of thla Depart- mnt that the discretion of the oouimla5lone1rs’ court 18 to expend oountp fundo In the ease not l baoluto autborlty of an l mer%enOy, and is final, only where ths question la debatable or *hero the l xlatenoe oi an en;srgenoy la unquastlonable. Boweror, raid oourt has no authority to determine an4 dec kare that an l asrgsnoy edate, oxpen oounty fun48 therefor, where the faots olearly show oontrrry. Sal4 oourt har no legal authority to deolsro an amergenoy and evade thr law, where In faot, no Icsrgenop .
with referenoe to your reoond question, you ars resgeotiully adtleed t&t It lr ths opinion oi thlr De- ror deolarlng an emrgenoy partment that the authority 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 GEN3RAL OF TEXAS @lAi$?vua BY Ardell Wlll.lakn8 AsIirtant f~‘FRC)vECJUN 6, 1940 ‘.