Case Information
*1 R-38 . 2’ February Opinion x0. v-38
Hon. Robert Goading
County Attorney Re: Whether or not It is
P.ed Rivar County legal for tine Comls-
Cltirksville, Texas
slot~ers' Court of Red River County to appoint a stenographer clerk for the County Attorney who is not a licensed lawyer Dear Sir:
We'are in'receipt of your letter dated January 9, 1947, in which you requested, an opinion of this De-
psrtment on the above.captioned matter. We quote the
first paragraph of your letter whioh Is as Sollows:~
~"As County Attorney of Red River
County, Texas, having a population of
29,769 by"the Federal Census of 1940;
thus. throwing the County Into brackets. ~: : ,, ~.
of 25,001 and to 37,500, I desire to
know whether or not the appointment and conflmation by the .Commissi.oners'!Court
of a stenographer clerk for the County..~
Attorney, who Ls not a licensed lawyer,-~~
is legal.'! ~.
We find. no statutory or constitutional pro- ' vision for the Commissioners' Court of any county of
this State~to appoint a stenographer clerk. Therefore,~~ it is the opinion of this Department that there can be no such'appolntment.
We 'Sal1.t.o find any provision in the Constitu- tion or the statutes for the appointment of a stenographer for-the County. Attorney save and except that set out In Article Qla, Revised Statutes, which Is as follows:
"Sec. 1. That in e-ng c.ountg having a
poDulatlon ofmore than 100,000 and less
than 150,000, and containing a city of more
than 75,000 population, according to the
Enited States Census for the year 1920, the
County Attorney is hereby authorized to ap-
Honorable Robert Goodlng - Page 2
point two Assistant County Attorneys, each having the qualifications required of County Attorneys, one of whom shall receive a salary of $3000.00 per annuffi, and one of whom shall receive a salary of $2400.00 per annum. The said County Attorney is also hereby authorized to appoint one,stenographer at a salary not to exceed $1800.00 per annum. The.salarles of the Assistants and stenographer above provided for shall be paid monthly by the county in which such appointments are made.
Red'River County does not come wlthin that 1 cparticular population bracket as above set out. There- : i
fore, It is the opinion of this Department that there . . can be no appointment of a stenographer for then County E i
Attorney of said County. Article 3902 reads in part 8s follows: i k "Whenever any dFstriot, county or pre- clnct officer shall require the services of f. deputies,. assistants or c1erks.W the per- formance of his duties he shall apply to the t County Commissioners' Court of his county for authority to appoint~such deputies, assistants or clerks, stating by sworn 8pplicatlon the i number needed., the position to be filled and 1: the amount to be paid. Said application shall be accompanied by a-statement showing the pro- .F. bable receipts fromfees', commlssions'and com- B pensation to be collected by said office during I the fiscal year and the probable disbursements. : X~ which shall include all sslaries and expenses
I of said office; and said court shall make its ! order authorizing the appointment of such depu- ties, assistants and clerks and fix the compensa- f
tion to be paid them within the limitations here- ..in prescribed and determine the number to be ap- 'i' pointed as in the discretion of said court may.
be proper; provided that in no case shall the Commissioners~ Court or any member thereof at- '~ tempt to influence the appointment of any person as deputy, assistent or clerk in any ofSic.e. Up- on the entry of such order the officers applying for such assistants, deputies or clerks shall be
.,~ i- .: Ronorable Robert Gooding - Page 3
authorized to appoint them; provided that
said compensation shall not exceed the
maximum amount hereinafter set out. * * *"
In our opinion No. O-1874, th$s Department hsld,that the County Attorney of Liberty County, Texas, upon compliance with the provisiors as set out in Arti- cle 3902, a clerk might be appointed for such County
p.ttorney and that it was withln the discretion of the
commissioners' Courtto determine whether or not the ,~ duties to be performed by the person employed constitute
t:ne duty of a clerk. .The statutes do not prescribe the qualifications of a clerk for county officers. A per- aon having tb.e qualifications of a stenographer is not for that reason disqualified from holding the position of clerk in the office of the County Attorney or any other countyoffice. Therefore, there 1s no'legal ob- jtiction to the County Attorney appointing such a person to the position of clerk in his office.
'We know of no statutory or constftutional~pro- vision for the clerk of a county attorney to be a li-
~censed lawyer.. The duties imposea upon,the clerk are
wholly different from those imposed upon an Assistant~ County Attorney. Therefore, it is the opinion of this Department that a clerk of a county attorney is not re- quired to be a licensed lawyer under the laws of this
State.
Sections 2 and.9 of Article,3902, V.A.C.S., are applicable to RedRiver County and govern the amount of compensation which may be paid to said clerk of the County Attorney.
There is no statutory or'constitutional
.provision specifically authorizing any county
officer toappo$nta "stenographer cle~rk."
Likewise, there is no authority for the County
Attorney of Red River County to appoint a steno-
grapher as such. He has then authority to appoint, with the consent of~the Con!?!issioners' Court of
his aounty, .a clerk~who may have the qualifioations
Eonorable Robert Gooding - Page 4
OT a stenb rapher. iArt. 3902, V.A.C.S.;Opinion No. O-1874 . Such a clerk is 'not required to be a licensed lawyer;
Yours very truly ATTORXEY GEKERAL OF TEXAS Assistant A?PROVED FEB. 7, 1947 ..' 2z.L/ tYi?a?d ..
BA:djm:lh .. 'i
Approved Opinioo.Committee
By BWB; Chairman
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