Case Information
*1 ^ ..-.-
Honorable Thphamas L.Blenton,Jr.
County Attorney
8baokelfOrd county
Albany, Texas
Dear Six-r opinion NO. o-6404
Rer Canpeneatlon of the deputise of the Sheriff who is also the AeeeeeorColleotor of Taxee, and other matters.
Ymr letter of January 24, 195, requesting the opinion of this Department regarding the matters mentioned therein, ie in part, aa follows%
"The auditor who has audited our ouunty booka ham brou&t up oertaiu legal question6 in oonneotlon with the admlnietration of our oounty buaineee uponwhioh, a8 County Attorney, I would like to get oplnlona fran your offioe.
*The population of Shaokelford County'ia lea8 than 25,000 inhabitants, and the total tiaes~ed~valnatione are approrkuately &',000,000~00. Ihe offlob of 'Sheriff, Tax Asaeesor, and Tax Collector, IE ofanbined into one offioe, and held by one individual.
Vor a number of yeare prior to the eleotion of the present offioer, and aleo prior to my becoming County Attorney, the feee of the deputies employed by the Sheriff, Tax Assessor and Ta Colleotor, were paid by the,Oounty Treasurer out of the General Fund, and all fees of office were paid into the County Treasury.
"The auditor, who has just audited the oounty books, objects to this prooedure, and hae advised the Ccmrmieelonere' Court that the deputies of thle office muat be paid out of the feea of office and that their compensation 18 limited to the fees of office.
*In thl6 connection, the offioer who holdn the cabined *2 Honorable Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., Page 2 (O-6404)
offioe of Sheriff, Tax Aaserjaor, and Tax Colleotor, is Mr. Charlee H. Arendt. He has amployed under him as deputies the following: Mr. John Hightower, Chief Deputy Sheriff, at a ealary of $1800.00 per year; Mr. F3uory Mor- ris, Deputy Sheriff at Moren, Texas, at a salary of $1800.00 a year; Mr, R. S. Plnmmer, Chief Deputy Tax Asseeaor, at a salary of $1800.00 per year; Mrs. Eadine Brewster, Assistant Deputy Tax Colleotor, et a salary of $1200.00 per year. "All of these salaries have heretofore been paid by the County Treasurer out of the Oeneral Fund of Shaokelford County, and during 1944 the fees of the reepeotive offices did not quite meet the amounta necessary to pay the respec- tive salaries, and that of the Sheriff himself. . . . .* We thank you for the brief submitted with your inquiry. Shackelford County has a population of 6,211 inhabitants aooording to the 190 Federal Censue and the County offioiala of said County are oompeneated on a fee basic for their offioial servicea.
In countiee having a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants according to the last preceding census of the United States, the Sheriff of each of such counties in addition to his other duties shall be the Assessor and Collector of Taxes therefor. (Art. 8 Sec. of the State Constitution; Art. 7246, VaA.C.S.)
Art. 3902, V.A.C.S., providea in part: I . * e *the compensation whioh may be allowed the deputies, assistants or clerks above named for their services shall be a reasonable one, not to exceed the following emonnts:
"1. In counties having a population of Twenty-five Thousand (25,000) or less inhabitants, first asaietant or Chief Deputy not to exoeed Eighteen Hundred ($1800.00) Dollars per annum; other assistants, deputies or clerks not to exceed Fifteen Hundred ($1300.00) Dollars per annum each. Art. 3899, V.A.C.S., provides in part: " . s a . The amount of salaries paid to aesiatants and deputies shall alao be clearly ahown by such officer, giving the neme, position, and amount paid each3 and in no *3 Honorable Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 3 (O-6404)
event shall any officer show any greater amount than actually paid any such assistant or deputy, The amount of such expenses, together with the amount of salaries paid to assistants, deputies, and clerks shall be paid out of the fees earned by euoh officer . . . ."
We have carefully considered all the statutes mentioned in your inquiry in connection with the questiona under consideration. For the purposes of this opinion we do not deem it neceesary to quote said statutes in full.
Article 6869, V.A.C.S., authorizes the payment of Deputy Sheriffs out of the General Fund of the county only when the Ccnmni6sionere' Court is of the opinion that the fees of the Sheriff are not sufficient to justify the payment of the deputies. The purpose of the statute 1s to enable the Sheriff to have a sufficient number of deputies to perform the duties of his office.
This Department has repeatedly held that a Sheriff who performs the duties of Tax Aeseasor-Collector, la holding only one office, that is, the office of Sheriff, and that the aseeseing and collecting of taxes are additional duties imposed upon the Sheriff. This Depariment hae also repeatedly held that a Sheriff who performs the duties of the Assessor and Collector of Taxes is en- titled to appoint only one Chief Deputy. You are therefore respectfully advised that it is the opinion of thi6 Department that the Sheriff of Shackelford County, who performs the duties of Aaseasor-Collector of Taxes, Is authorized to appoint only one Chief Deputy for his office, with the approval of the Ccmm~issionere' Court, and such other deputies and olerks that are necessary. The salary of the Chief Deputy cannot exceed the sum of $1800.00 per annum, and the salaries of other deputies or clerks of the Sheriff oannot exceed $1500.00 per annum each. The Sheriff of Shaokelford County cannot legally appoint three Chief Deputies for his offioe and pay each a maximum compensation of $1800.00 per annum. (See opinicn No. O-91, a copy of which is enclosed for your convenience.) All of the deputize appointed by the Sheriff are deputy sheriffs and none of them are deputy tax asaeeeors or deputy tax collectors.
YOX are further advised that it ie our opinion that the oompeneation of tie deputies of the Sheriff must be paid from fees of his office, and there is no legal authority whatever authorizing the payment of such compensation out of "&e General Fund of the County except as authorized by Art. when the Cormuissioners' Court is of the opinion that the fees of the Sheriff are not sufficient to justify the payment of the deputies. this statute (Art. 6869) doe@ o,ot; contemplate that the compensation paid the deputies out of the General Fund in accordance therewith shall be charged against the Sheriff. Stated dif- ferently the Sheriff is not authorized to pay the County Treasurer all the feea of his office, neither is the County Treasurer legally authorized to pay the compensation of the deputies of the Sheriff out of the General Fund of the County.
H:Jzorable 'Rimas L. Blanton, Jr., page 4 (O-&Ok)
AE heretofore stated,,the compensation of the deputies of the Sheriff must be psid wt of the fees of his office, except as authorized by Art. 6869.
Yours very truly A!lTORNE!YGEfiERALOFTEXAS /s/Ardell Williams BY Ardell William Assistant APPROVED FE ': ;9";5
/s/Grover Sellers
AlTQRiEYGENERALOF~
APPEOVED OPINION coi.!mTlm BY'/ifkiB Chairman