Case Information
*1 PRICEDANIEL ATTORNEY GENEIWI.
Hon. R. S. Wyche op1a10n No. v-101 County Auditor Re : Authorlt Jr of a County to
oregg county Longview, Texas make contribution to an
incorporated city for the purpose of oonatruct ing an airport end to purchase fire f lght ing equlpmnt . Dear Sir:
Reference is made to your letter of Maroh 3, 1947, In which you request the opinion of this depart- ment on the questlous:
‘%as the Commlsslouera 1 Court author- ity make a contribution of the Per- manent Improvement Fund to the City of Qlade- water, au incorporated city of Greg County, an f lrport for the purpose of construotiug near that Cit . said Airport to be owned f? and operated y that City?,
%aa the Commissioners I Court author- ity to contribute funds to incorporated in Gregg County to purchase fire cities fighting equipment to bs use& outside the city 1lmi.t 87 n
Seotion 18,‘~rtlcle V of Constitution foxas provldes for the dlvlsiou of oounties la ‘cosmls- aloners’ precincts, for the eleotioh of oountiy oomals- siouers, an& limits powers of Commlssloners~ Courts aa follows :
“The oounty oommlssloners so chosen, with the county judge, as presiding officer, shall compose the County Commissloners~ Court, which shall exercise such powers and jurisdiction over all aounty business, as 1s conferred by this Constitution and the laws of the State, or as may be hereafter pre- scribed. ”
In Mills vs. Lampasas County, 40 S . W. 403, 90 Tex. 606, decided in 1897, the Supreme had *2 uttdtti ooasiderrt&oa powew of Oo~~~issiaasro~ Ooor6s ‘-@lad rldt 0 Ia 1942, Lk, 8aw of Oelvestea tl.‘, and 8. A.
w. OO. VI. Uvalde Oouat~, a67 9. W. ;c#l 305, was de+ oidod by the Ooart a$ O$vh &po&io ate (klnst,on koly other “’ a writ of error war refuod lR oue. that thittgr the hurt satit
Beetion 3 of Artiolo XI of @he Ommtltutlon .:..alted by tin Gourt mad8 a# fJbltrt
%aorraa’y. 60 oefm , oity er other nioLgaloerperatloe @h&oredtw boaomm
olt&fhaatr our4 8ffoblsa 53 of Art1ele III of 8tdte osc- stlta6iottprovia,e that the bgislatum till have ho power to authorlse the payment of any alalm orsated agsinat any county or munwlpallty of this State utuler *3 Hon.. 81, 8. Wyche, Page 3, V-101
any agreement or contract made without authority of law”. 2351 of the Revised Civil Statutes of
Article Texas, 1925, prescribes the powers of Commlsalonera~ Courts and the pertinent provision of that Article 1s in Section 15, which reads:
“Said court shall have all such other powers and jurlsdlctlon, and shall perform all such other duties, as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law”.
The queatlon of powers’of Commlssloners8 Courts as administrators of the affairs of aountles ia covered in Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 11, pages 565, from which we quote:
“Sect ion Powers - Qenerally. - Counties, being component parts of the State, have no powers or duties except those that are olearlg set forth and defined la the Constitution and statutes. The statutes have clearly defined the powers, presorlbed the duties, and imposed the llablllties the Commissioners1 Courts, the medium through ~~ which the differeat counties act, and from
those statutes must come all the authority ‘- vested in the counties.”
We have not found any provision in the Con- stltution or any law of this State which attempts to authorize Commlssiouers~ Courts to contribute any couu- ty money to a olty for the purpose of oonstructlng an Airport to be owned and operated by such city, Our an- swer to your first question 18 in the negative.
Your second question involves the conatruo- tlon of ~iiouse Bill No. 262, Acts of the 47th bglsla- ture, Regular Session, now appearing as Article 2351a-1, in Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which reads as fOlloWa:
” * * * The Commissioners* of any county of this State shall also have the auth- ority to enter into contracts with any city, town or village within the county and/or a%- joining counties, upon such terms and condl- tlons as shall be agreed upon between the Com- mlssloners I Court and the governing body of *4 hon. R. 5. Wyohe, Page 4, V-101
suah city, towa,or village, for the use of the fire truoks and other fire ?l&htlng tqzir@ of the olty, town, or village. give0 auth-
The Uoassissiotwrs ) Oaurt king ority by law to enter into suoh oontraota, rash l uth- orlty must be liberally aonstrued tb lve effooti to tm purpose. Conmis~ioners~’ Ua1 coo, f 13 8. lf. t 2a8) 4 525. opinion lVe. O-6160, of thir *partmat wa ,” mitten lo anawe@ to qusstlms rutim-lt.ted by Hoamable ‘Joha T. Butohinioa,. County Atlmrtit of hrar, ,obcmhy, as- follows i
:,; ! :‘!lf .your ant&or.: 66 tih ilret ~quer~i0tt ~lr’~‘jes;. then la tha Oounty Auditor Lulrr, ‘, ., ~~Qounty’authorlred to pay ia;d’ $100 pas awmb’ ,and If so, o? ulpt fund would ,h6 be m&h- same? ,pay *riced .~ ‘We quote, frq8 ,tltrt opltilo~ 9 +lourt “’ ,2)5la-1, ‘aupra, q4sltlball~, , ,~ : %rtlole i$iith&itelp ~o~mairrionorr ? aourt or 0ag ,’ ‘. I, ,~’ e~out~t,y~ oi’thls ‘State fo enteb lato OoQtmM, ,,’ ” kith:~aay pity; ~toua,/oti village w$t&Witho., ‘al bounty a@or adjolsiag c,ow~~ss “upon’ rtttd’ ‘, :” teras sad dondit lam as ehall k amued: :upoo “bstreeit the commlrslotters~ mart and tbm
overning body Of the oity, tova or tll~ f, or the use of fire trwks 8txI ohor flro equlpmnt, of the olty,. tom or, ~11: tightin )wrefore mu are mspe0tfPlly atl- t%i that it ls’the opfuloa of. bhlr dofmrb nt that the Oou&lssioners * adurt of &alum ounty is authorl6ed under the law ,to. enter P Late a aoatraot with the Oity of Parla to fmoilitiM t0 pro- rovlde for fire-fighting k ect property located. outalde of city
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Hon. 8. 9. mhe, Page,~5, Q-101
,’ lludts of Paris, Spec if lcally acmverlng
our first question, you are advlaed that the E omlasloaers~ Court of Lamar County is auth- orl&ed to coutract with the City of Paris to protriad for fire-fl*ting ana w facilltles Gt $109.00 per moath for suoh aervI*ea, x p8wvide au& bxpahdlt urea are m40 in aam-
plimce Pith tbra otmity bnd@tt rad t&m law ~applicable to the aouutJ b-t. “IQ m8vor to ‘pour wooad queattom, you
alrcl *bprisea thet it is our optiiocl, tn vimi to your rmt queatioa, of our anmer the amtf *editor is authorized to approve claimu for tha mam or 1)100.00 per month for the above Yntbt~d w~tleea, PCov.lbed that a &Bat#Wt ha8 ‘Iyy1p uldr, b7 and between the ooslPtr *aa ywQtxJ CitJ iOr SUOb *otiiCeS, actd that et& r*da out of the gamecal fund a Ip” rGtu the aill oouut expenditures Mwf’ullf auth- orrUed’to k laatke 3: y (I oountP must be ~14 out of trh0 4Qwty’l IMP*1 rua4, mlew thaar, 18 wem lry vhiah thea a ohwge agaiaot tb f =a. W-roll, 1182 J. U. smaial 29 &ae~ Cotutty, et al, vs. II&an, 157 S.W. 2d, 14, D *
We are of tha opinloa that the Coma~isslonem &NH of &egg County is authoriEed to contribute Suads to lacorporate4 cities In Oragg County to purahase filn r*t~4tqulp1813t to ba used far Llre pPol;vctioP iQ f3rcrgg 00bwy t2wa30 0r SW~ ,0ity umt5, it 8wh em- is masonable, and ii prde tn aoooMaace tr1buW.m uith ‘(rhs county by&et and otimr applicable statutobr 1. The Ommissloriars ( Court 0r OFS@
County does not have authority to make a oo?k- tributlon to the City of Oladelsate* of the Permaneut mmprovercnt ha 0r that cou6tf rm aa l irpmt purpoaa of constructln$ to ba ovnad and operated bj that city.
The Commissioners I Court or BEem Counti’haa the authority to ceatriBu&e lpMJ *6 ,801~. R. 9, Wyche, Page 6, V-101