Case Information
*1 Honoreble Ta A. Crown Thla oplnioa county Aubltor Ovarrulec Oplnlaa l4cIunnan county co-283 Yaco, Tcxaa
opinion lo. o-4454 Re: Appolntmcnt of deputy for Dear:Sii: county treaaurcr.
Tour requaat for
opinion haa been received and oarcfully con- aldcrcd by this department. Ye quote from your rcquert aa follows: 'Ill WVERT CoaTx TriEksm Is IRcAPAcITATED OR AccotmT OY Ixums SAID Im!E3arzmxxTOB%ExTgnru)OmSEPERAL~BuTAOT~
coum coumx TREASURRR lxRou~ PRocmmEuRxRTEIRTYliIuEliooGRT TYO~~~ISEdPWIfiDEPIlTPTOllCTIBCLmlIllGSI~G~W~ QUESTIOXNAFUCTRUSURXftISMEBTALIXSOUND"
We have carefully traced the Lcgl&k.lvc hlatory of Article 3902;~Vdmnon*r Annotcted Tcxaa Civil Statutes, and from that iqvea- tlgaltlon vc have forold that prior to its amendment In 1935 by &pate Bill 5 of the 44th Lcglnlaturc of Texas, Second Called Sceslon~‘khe artlalc, and all of It6 amcntits from 189i' to 1935, did not apply to the county trcaaurcr, aa each and all of aald acta limited t% ~:,: right of appointment of dcputlca and aaaiatanta to the offlcera named lnthcack, either nawddlrcotly in the act or referred to aa the officers named In the then prevailing raxlmum fee atetut+!, (Art. 3883, 3891, etc.). Innedlatcly prior to its amendment In 1935 by Scnatc Bill 5, above referred to, Article 3902, V. C. S., then read ln pait aa follovs:
ticnever any officer named In Article 3883 ahall~~cqulrc the a&vices of deputicn or aaslc.tanta ln the performance of hlq_, duties, he may apply to the county commiaaionera’ court of hia ,'; county for authority to appoint such deputlea or aaalatants, set- ting out by aworn application the number needed, the position aought to be filled, and the amount to be paid. Said application shall bc accompanied by a tstcment ahovlng the probable receipts and dla: bure~kmenta of the office; and Bald aourt pay make IQI order a&& rlzing the appolntnent of aueh deputica and fir the compensation to be paid them and &t-ermine the number to be appolntcd, provided that In no caac ahall raid cormn1salonera’ court or any member thereof attempt to lnflucnc+ the appointment of any peraon 66 deputy or *2 Honorable Tom A. Craven, ycge 2 (O-4454)
. . l arirtat in any OffiCe. Upon tha entry of l uah order, tha offlcara applying fo r l wh dcputiw ahall ba authorlsad to appoint .thca ir ncnr piovided by law, provldad that arid ompcnaatlon ahell not CI- coed the maxlmm l mountc hcrclnaftcr act out."
Thus we act at the time the above quoted tatutc woo in off&t, the comty trcaaurcr woo not authorized to hare a deputy or aaeletant, he not being one of the officcra named lo Artlclc 3883, V. A. C. 9.
Article 3902, R. C. S., of 1925, and all amcndmcnta
thereto, wan amended by aald Senate Bill>. Section 14 of iaid Senate Bill 5 provides In pert as follows:
%cc. 14. Article 3902, Revlaed Civil Statutes of Texas, 195, together vlth all amendment.8 thereto la hereby amended so a8 to hereafter read as followa:
"'Article 3902. Whenever any district, county or prcc&t officer ehallrcgulrc the aervlcca of deputies, aaaiatanta or clcrka In the pcrforxcnce of his dutiea he shall apply to the County Commla- sloncre' Court of his county for authority to appoint ouch deputlca, aaslatanta or clerks, atatlng by worn appllcatlon the ntmbcr needed, the poeltlon to be filled and the amount to be paid. Said application ahallbc accompanied by a atatcment showing the probabl& receipts from fees, commlaalona and compcnsatlon to be collected by aald office during the flacal year and the probable dlcburscmantn vhlch shall include all salaries and expenses of said office; and said hourt shall make Its or&r authorizing the appointment of such dcputlea, asalatanta and clerks and fix the compensation to be paid them within the llml- tatlons herein preacrlbcd and determine the number to be appointed aa In the dlacrctlon,of aaid court may be proper; provided that ln no case shall the C~lsslonerc' Court or any mcmbcr thereof attempt to Influence the appointmcnt any person aa deputy,'aaalstant or clerk In any offtcc. Upon the cntry'of auoh order the officers applying for ouch aaslstantc, deputies or clerka ahall bc authorized to appoint them; provided that sold compcnaatlon shall not exceed the maximum amount hereinafter set out. The compensation which m~y'bc alloved to the deputies, assistants or clerks above named for their services shall be a reasonable one, not to exceed the following amounts: . . .v
(The act sets the llmitationa on salaries according to different population brackets.)
The provision of Article :.:XY, V. C. S. prior to the
1935 amendment, as follows:
"The maximgm compensation which may be allowed for deputies *3 ,
.i -
Boaorable Tan A. Craven, page 3 (O-4454)
or aasirtanta to the offloan named In said Article 3883 for iiMp services;shall be aa r0ih0, to-wit:. . ."
was cntlrcly climlnated fromSectIon 14 of Senate Bill 5.
Article 3902, aa amended, authorizes the appointment of deputlcs, asilstanth and clerks for district, county and precinct officers. There can be no question but what the county treasurer is a county officer.
You arc rcepectfully advised that It la the opinion of thla department that the County Treasurer McLcnnan County vould have authority to appoint a deputy If the provisions of Article 3902, V. A. C. S. arc complied with. It la OUT further opinion that such deputy would have authority to slep varranta where the treasurer was authorized to algn such warrants.
Opinion No. o-283 of thia department Is overruled Insofar
as It conflicts vlth this opinion.
Very truly your6 ATTOFlNEXQ2JERALOFTEXAS By /s/Wm. 3. Panning Wm. J. Fanning Assistant APPROVED M&R 10, 1942
/a/ Groover Sellers
FlXTASSISTAKl'
ATTORNEY-