Case Information
*2 Konorablo Ubauriob R. Bulbok, Page 8
*sproial livestock deputy' to patrol the raDoh oountry of the entire oounty to guard againat livestock theft aA6 apprehend personr, who,
might be gnLlty of lfroetook thaitr Tt ir a serious mad sxhtr for euch
admittad that ofriosr, and our only quratlon la whether or not he my lqally be bmployrd and ptlb as aforoaaid.
*Art. ,I188A, R6rleod Civil Statutes, ha8 AO% been &VOA OtfOct iA Pa008 CouAty
w QfbtitiOll Of 0144tiOA.
"Eaolored herewith you aill find copy of letter brief OA ,the~ above pubatlon f have ’ today submlttod to the Honorable V, P. Roomy, County Audltor, Fort StooktoA, Texaer*
Tbia departmoAt has rutrstorore ruled 01) a qUW#tiOA eireflar to the one presented your inquiry. this Kawqver, opinion iAvOlVO6 the employment of a sZMcia1 offiosr work- ing iA four counti to apprehend cattle thieve6 instead This oplolon ie,No. O-I?41 and holdar Of OA4 ODUAty.
"The oaluafsrionerr' oourt has no authority to pay out oi Bounty fmds money
r0r the mplOmeAt oi the epeoial oltloer
working in rour'oountles to apprehend
oattle thieves. Artiole .71588, R.U.3.
ll'P6xa8 ;lur1eprudenoe, page S62-866, ino.
Suab offloe does not exirt at law and the oourt is without' authority
oomniaeionera~ to oreate suoh oifioa~.~ IA your latter to the Oounty AuQitor of Peeor County, bearing date July 16 1041, you, reier to Artfole 6869 Vernon(r Annotate& Cirjl atatutea, relative,to the appointmnt or deputler by tha rherUP. The number oi deputies to which the sherift is uztitled in fully &is- ousrrsd fn our Opinion No, 0-u , a, oopy of vrbioh wo enoloslng for your iniormation. This Opinion holda thAti Artlole 6869, haa been aupersodrd and that the appolnt- IlleAt OS deputy 5herijia ia in the 8Otltld dlsoretion of the oourt tmder krtiols 3908, using the follow- oomlssfonere’ ing languagst
"ThO dtQY&plrt?neAt is AOt iA gOS3@55iOn Of U~ffnitO dOf3i6iOA the WiStiOA f%ImatiRg on hand and therefore must arrive at thr
oonolue i on that Artlole 6009 * * * whioh
appllee to the sherlft# under Bee law;
he8 been aupereedsd + * * by Artiole 3908
* * * and by the Offioers' Salary Law of Jhm *3 Honorable ?iaurloo + Rullook, Pege b
Stat. of Tefs8,
** ? *it reato within the Ufsoration of the Honorable &maisrIo~e~* Court of Dalveeton County, Tezas, a8 to the number of deputies
whioh the sheriff should employ.”
The tOllowI~ quotation la fouAd the oaee of Tarrant County VB. Smith, 81 3.W. (2d) S371
“The oommiasI~oners~ oourt .QaA limit the. numbmel: and salary of deputy sheriffs, but they have no power over the namnlng of the Iadividualm to be appointed, and are eepeofallp prohibited rrom atte;PptIas any auot last mued Inrluence.
Artiole ,990Sr”
Article 71bSa, Verzma*a Annotated 01~21 Statute4 provides in part ae r0ll~ffar
“seotlon 1. In all. ootmtioe in this State having ten thousand (lO\OOO) or more cattle, sheep, and goate rendered for taxation, the qual- ified rotors of such oounty may, as hersin-
after provided, enplop &dbl+Ional assistance to the law enioroement offlcere or such aoucty as herelsnfter provided. .
Ylpon the petition oi ten (103 per cent of :the gualIfla4 voter8 ot auoh e,ouAty, pre- sent to tho ComIW.onere’ Court IA open
Regular E;esaIon, requeetfng euch Court to.
order an election to be held, in mob CoUAty to determine whether or not eaid Court, when aoting a8 a Board oi Eqtialization In suoh
Couaty, ahall levy, and oaueo to be
assenaed and oolleoted on annual tZ3X not
to exoeed one (1) sent per h@ad.ihn.~.all
cheep and 6;oats, tnd not ,to 4fossQ five
(5) oar&per head on all oettld, Within
auoh Countyi said Court shall ordbr such.
sleotion to be hold within, euoh oounty,
~nea~~ordanoe with the ptitioe therefor;
“3eotIon 2, All monege aeseaeed and oolleoted by the Assoseor’ and COllbOtOE
of Taxes for each,County of this-S&ate arr
provided for in’seotion 1 heroof, shall bs
paid by aald Colleotor unto the OouAtJ
Ronoreble Maurice R. Balloak, Page 4
Treasurer of suoh Oounty, and said Treasurer shall deporit said monspn to a fund to br
known as ‘The Domeratio Llveetook Proteotive Fund* and 8noh moneylr @hall never be expend- ed ror any other purpose than is herein pro- vldsd . “Deotion 3. To aid in the’ eniOmwnt or
.a11 the Penal Ia$ of this Sate and in ferreting out and detecting any vlolatiqu!!
thereof,. it shall be the duty of the Qom- mioaionbrsv 00-t of rush Xountp, adopting the proviaione hereof, and they are hereby authorized and required to employ for ~u~h~~~emlce, ,fn addition to the oiifaesa;now provided fez by law, a8 many ,other oompetent aud dlsorest
peraone as, in ~th@ judgasnt oi eaid Court, ,~is deemed neoammry ,ior aaid ,&urpossa, end shall tix ,their. ooxupeensstioni provided however, no tiuo h, person,, or peraone ahal. be paid in
axoass of Five Dollars 1$5) per day, a?lils in aotual semioej and provided further that
at no t&e, shall the moneys expsnded in the payment of, suoh parson, or peraond, for
eertrioesi excesd the amotUit of money aolleoted therefor. Suoh Court rhall ds$igmte! the du%iee Co be performed by all suoh parsonrr and shall require them to make uonthlp reports in writing to said Court aa to thd manner in wh$.oh they have performed auc?h duties.*
.It ia stated in ,#our letter, In affeot, that Artfole 7156a mxpra, has not been &ven eifeot in Peooe County by petition and eleotion. Tbreiors, said Oounty would ha~e no euthoritp,to amp10 any pemon., or persons in addition to oiiioers now grov dod for by law, for the purpose8 eet f forth 163 said statute. L
In view,of the io&goi,ng atiitutsg and authorities you are re~peotfullp advia& that it la the opinion of thir departient that the Oom.fe0ionern~ &Wrt of Pee08 County has no rCr& authorLt ‘to employ a Watoial llveetook deputy”, whose duty I L II be oonflnrd to proteoting livestook in Pecos County from theft, With referenae to the nuzcber oi deputies the sherift Bqappoint with the oondaht and pemlealon of the aomiastonfm~ oourt its discu88sd in our 0 inion. X0. O-12. ‘Se are al60 enOlOSing a oopy ot our Opln f on No. O-341 for your information.
Honorable Naurfee RI Rulloe#, 'Pa@ 5
Trusting that fore&3143 fully answer8 your inquirp, we
Itours very truly