Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF TNE A’ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN s- 0. mAan mTaeavQOUUS
Honorable L. L. RistJert8
county Auaifor
Iiutchlneon County
Stlnnett , Texas
Dear Sir:
"AHlo1e 6674q
utm any moneys out of.:t < ! lowed by ths Commiesioaers* Zourt for 0th~ county funds7 a
Articles 1709, 3941, 3948 and 3943, Vernon'8 AMOP tated Texse.Civil Statutes, read as follow6r~
Honorable L. L. Robortr, Page e
*Art. 1709. The county treasurer shall reaeive all moseys belongl~ to the aounty from whatever aoume they may be dsrived, and’pay and appl.y,ths ssme as required by law, in suoh IpcLIuIer as the oomaissloners oourt o? his oounty may require and airrot.
*Art. SQ41. Tha oounty tre6surar shall reoelre oommlsslons on the moneys reoeivsd and paid out by him, said oomsissio~s to be fixed by order of ths OaPrmLluSionerS Oourt as tollms: Bor raosiviA6 all moneys, other than sohool funde, for the oountp, not exceeding two and one-half per oent, and not sxoesdina two and one-halr per oent ror paying out the same; provided, Mstt he shall reaeiro AD oonmissions for reosiving money frcu-6 his predeosssor nor for paying wep money to his suooessor in OtflCe.
"Art. 3942. The treasurers of the sereral oounties shall be treasurers of the available frea school. fund aad also of perman- jmblio ent oounty school fund Sor their nspeotire 0 ountl es. The treasurers of the several oouA- ties shall be allowed for reaelving and dls- bursing the sohool funds one-halr of on6 per OttAt for reoelvlng, ana one-hati:oi 0130 per OSAt for 8&3bU~SrriA~, said COmraiSsi~M to be paid out of the available sahool fund of the oountyi provided, no CAmmlssions shall be paid ror reoei~l~g the balanoe transmitted to him bg his pradedessor, or turnlag over'the balaaoe in-~h%s hands to his 8uooes8or; and pro- *ided, that he shall rsoeiva AO oeuamiasions on monsy transferred.
"Art. 3943. The oommissions allowed to any County Treasurer shall not exoesd Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) aAntlally.yt provided, that iA s3.l OOUAtiSS In *hIoh the assessed value oi the property suoh oountles shall be One Hundred &Jllllon Dollars (Q100,000,000) or more as'shown by the prsosdlng assessment roll, the Treasursrs thereof shall receive as their commissions a SUBI not exoeeding Two Thousand, Seven Hundred .Dollars ($2,700) annually; . . l .* *3 95
Honorable L. L. Roberts, Page 3
Jirtiole 6674q-Bo. Veraoa's AAnotated Tens Clril Statutes, reads as r0ii0tt8t
*It shall be unlawful for any County Judge or any County Conmissloner, while aotiAg in his
offloial oapaoity or otherwise, to use any
money out the Lateral Road Aooeunt for any
purpose emept the purpases l AUserated in this
Aot . I? any County Judge or Amy County Commis-
SiOAW Shall kOOrin&y @X&WUld Or US@, OX' Vote
for the use or agree to expend or use any sum in this State
of mosey aoorui~g to any county Omn the lateral Road Aooount, for any purgose
not authorized by this Aot or shall kpowlngly
make any falss statement aoncernlng the elpen-
dlture of any suoh money, he shall be deemed
guilty of a felony and upon oonviotioo shall
be punishsd by eonflnement iA the State PeAi- for not less, than two (2) nor more than
tentia
rive (5 years." 7
Opinion No. O-lob8 Of this departm6iAt held that the County Treasurer of a fe6 county was satitled to rsoeioe ocis- missions for reoeiring and disbursing monies reoelred tram the Bedsral Ooverment and onmoniee red.lMd from the eaxs of aountp bonda issued for the purpoee ot conatruoting a oounty jail. We quote from said opinion as follower
"The money she (referring & the County Treasurer) has reoelred from the Federal Gsv- ernmaAt, wa8 l videAtly,a dlreot girt or grant to the oounty for.the purposs of defraying a 4 part of the expense inourred by ,the county in ';:
t fr 80, it beosme ooaulty ruAd8 building~a jail. i and for r~osiving and paying it out, she is
entitled to reoeive the oommlsslo~ f’ixed 1A eourtts order. The money reaeived tran the i sale of the 3ai.l bonds are likewise OOUnty funda for which ah6 is entitled to ~eoelvs the i atated oommlsslon rsoelvlng end disbursing ~.* Z)resltllo Csuotp 0, Walker, (Sup. Ct.) them.
69 S. W. 97; Wall Y. McConnell, 65 Tex. 397;
Trinity County v. Vlokary, 65 Tex. 354; Bastrop
County Y. Hearn, 70 Tex. 383, 6 S, W. 302."
Hoh@rabls L. L. Robert*, Page 4
It ie true that the act referrad to in Artlole supra 6674q-80, V. A. C, S., doea not ilpnoifiaally in so mtmy words authorize ~omabs ona to the County Treasurer i
for reoeivlng and disbur8ing fund8 and the striat letter of suah statute would apparently prohibit the Treaeursr in a fee oounty from reosloing oo~~1ls63lon~ for rooc4iving and dlabuming suoh funds. However, there ie 8 w8bu known rule of statutory oonrtruotion whiah we Qaemapplicable to this eituatlon. In the oama of Uel@h v. State, 14S 5. W. (2d) 690 (writ refuaed), this rule of statutory oonrtruotion was applied. In the P&oh cam the pleintiffm sued the State far the tort of the Btate*s agent for the Wrongful death of plaintiffa* &w&tar, a mlnori plaintiffs oontended that the term %unloipel corporation 7 in the wrongful death stat- ute (Article 4671) inoluded the Stata and that therefore the Stats was liable. We quota Iran the court'0 opinion a6 followst
While In a latitudinoum taense the State While In a latitudinoum taense the State may be found within the letter of the phmre may be found within the letter of the phmre 'munioipal corporation.' Yet, a6 gsnerally 'munioipal corporation.' Yet, a6 gsnerally
ursd In law literature and legislation, we do ursd In law literature and legislation, we do not think euah 18 truei srpsolally, in view not think euah 18 truei srpsolally, in view of the elsarly indioatad eonrtitutlonel men- of the elsarly indioatad eonrtitutlonel men- lng of the phram, we do not think It 16 true lng of the phram, we do not think It 16 true with reference to legislation in thl8 State. with reference to legislation in thl8 State. We think the situation here is soaewhet analogous to the right the Treasurer to rocsive oonmissione on monies received and disbursed from bond issues. The oourts hers
..-. 97 Honorable L. L. Roberts, Page 6
held repeatedly thet 8uch bond monis8 sgst be faithfully
a?plled to the purposes for whloh t$e9 wem voted and mis- ed, yet it bar been un.lf0rml.y conosded and bald as pointed out in opinion No. O-1088, supra, that the County Treas-
urer in a ree dounty is entitled to his statutory oommls~ sions on same.’ Tae paying out of tha Trezwurer~s consui~- diversion of the funde of the bond sions is not em unlawful money but is merely a statutory 8harge BgafI&st said fund to compensate’the Treasurer for handling sazne. ‘:,
St’18 our opinion that %h%le the purpose of Artiale 6674~410, V. A. C. S., SUpm, 18, to provent un-
lawful diversioncr froze the Lateral F&I AOOount for pur-
;;oses not authorized by the sot suoh artlole doer not
oonteaplate the denial and prohibition Of statutory in e fee county
con~~issio~ of the oounty Tneesurer re- ceiving and disbursing suoh funds.
It is thereforr our opinion that your question should be answered In the erfiraative, and it is so ens-
wored.
Very truly youre ATTORNEY OElcERAL 09 TEXAS .