Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

AUSTIN

nonorable J.C. Govdy

county Auditor

Wichita County wichlta Falla, Texas

Yotq Pequeat for op

carefully oausldered by this

rsquert as follows1

courthouse door, or some other the total number of votes,, as at the time, counted for e&b ,,,'~ r for or a&art each proposition votera for betanainetion. When aaah pm&not OS the courity ahall have been tabulated the oouaty alee ooxmty chalrmansballinnsediEtelyp~~re aaunoffloial NeEloPaadum of the total. number of votes receiwd by eaoh uandidate, sad/or cast&r or agalnat eaah proposition aubmftted to the people, and &all post a sopy of the iwne at the wurth0une Qaop 0p at some other designated publia pLece in t$r caup- ts* Aad such 0rrit30r shall, amar making the m- *2 gonerable J.C. Qavdy, Page 2

offlolal memorandum, inmediately transmft by telegraph or by more expeditious means to the Secretary of Stata, 6n unofficial but complete report of the number of votes east in his oounty for each oandldate for state and dletrlot of- flcea, and/or east for or against each propoal- tlon submitted to the votera of the entire State.

The Secretary of State &all tabulate the unoffl- cidl returns received at hl8 or her office and shall prepare an unofflolal menborsndm~ concern- lng the status of the returne waelved, at leant.

unoe each day until he shall hew reoelved oom- plete, unof'fioial returnr from eaah oounty, at vhlch time he shall prepare a nm~~~andua giving the total number of vote8 received by eaab eandl- date, and/or case for againat eaoh proposition aubmltted to the people, a8 shovn by the unoffl- clal return8 received at hle office.

"Sec. 3. For receiving unoffloial returna by telephone and tabulating them aa herein pro- vided, the county olelik or oounty chairman and aasiatanta employed in the work shall receive the same oompenaation per hour as alloved pre- cinct Judger of eleution.

"&a. 4. Charges for telephone or other aer- vice in transmitting unoffiolal return8 to the county clerk shall be payable out of the general fund of the oounty. Clhargen for suah eervlce in prlmary elections &all be payable out of the funds of the political parties holding such eleo- t1olm.

*F&c. 5. !Vhe tabulation of unoffloial re- turns &all be preserved for public Inspection until such time a6 offiaial returns &all have been tabulated; themafter, the unofficial tabu- lation may be destroyed."

Article 2,943, Vernon'e Annotated Texas Civil Sta- tutes, reads a.8 followsr

'Judge6 and Clerk6 of general and rpeclal eleetlons shrill be paid %?wee Dollara ($3) a tiy oaah, and Tb.lrty (30) Cent8 per hour eaoh for any *3 Honorable J.C. Govdy, page

ti6m in eXCe68 of a day's work aa herein defln- ed; provided that in all counties having a popu- lation in excess of th@ee hundred end fifty-five to the thousand (355,000) inha~ltanta, aocolaing last preoeding or any Suture Federal Cenaue, au& Judges and Clerks ahall be paid Five Dollara ($5) a day each, and Fifty (50) Cents per hour each for auy tlm in exoeas of a day'8 work as heroin defined. The Judge vho delivers the re- turn6 of eleotlon lmmadlately after the votes have been counted shall be paid Tao Dollara ($2) for that rervloe, provlbd the olllng plaoo of hia pmolnot la at least two (2 P miles from the eourthouae, azid provided also he shall tie M- turns of all eleatlon supplies not use4 when he 6akea roturn of th4 sleetion, Ten (10) workbg houm ahall be aonaldered a day wlthln the maxi- ing of thle Artitle. The eompenaatlon of Judaea and Clerka of general and apeulsl sleetions shall ikif%iu% the C-tr '-%%d":~~f the l ervloeo are re 666laeloners Court of such aounty." (Undersaorlng OUPS]

Bectlons 3 and 5 of Article 3912e, Vemon'a Annotat- ed Texan Civil Statutes, read as follovat

"Sac. 3. In all oases vhere the Coa6Uaalon- era’ Court shall have detemed th&t uounty offl- aeFa or precinct offioere in such county ah611 be compensated for their servloea by the payment of an annual salary, neither the State of Fe'exaa nap eny oounty shall be oharged with or pry to any o?

the offioers no compen6ated, 6.ny fee or ~omnisalon for the performa.nce OS any all of the duties of thefr offices but such offloe?+ ahall receive aald salary in lieu OS all other fees, oo666iaalon6 or campensatlon vhlch they vould othervise be author- ized to retain; provided, however, that the asae86or end oollector of taxes shall continue to aollect end retain fop the beneiit of the Wfl.aers* lyIlary Fund or funds hereinafter provided for all. f446 and c~laalons vhlch he la authorized under law to collect; and it shall. be his duty to aGoount for and to pay all auoh mopiea reoelved by him into the fund oFeat&d and pFopld& for under, the provilio%l8 of thla nstg p@ovlded furtbr, the the provlaloaa of this Bsatlon shall not affeat the *4 Honorable J.C. OovdJ, Page 4

the payment of costs in civil cases by the State but all such costs so paid shall be acoounted for by the officers collecting the same, as they nre requlmrd under the pFovIslona of this Act to account for Peea, commissions and costs collect- ed from private parties.

"Sec. 5. It rhall be the duty of all ofti- cera to oharge and colleat in the manner author- lsed by law all fees and cmlssions vhlch am petitted by law to be assessed and collected for all official service performed by thorn. Asand when such fees are collected they shall be deposlt- ed Ih the Offlcers~ Salary Fund, funds provid- ed in In event the Cossslssloners~ Court this Act. finds that the failure to collect any fee or oom- irisslon was due to neglecrt on the part of the of'ficer charged with the respenslbillty of aolleot- tng same, the amount of such fee or conaisslon shall be deducted from the salary of suah oiit- 08F. Before anysuch deduction la made, the Com- ~&ssioners~ Court shall fumlsh suah officer vlth an Itemized statement of the unaolleoted fees,wlth vhlch his account Is to be aharged, and shalr;kaotl- fJr such offlaer of the time and place for a hearing on mm, to determIne whether swh offleer vas guilty of negligence, vhluh tisls for hsarlng shall be at least ten days subsequent to the date of noti&e. Unless an officer Is uhapged by law with the responsiblllty of collecting tees, the Com- missionerat Court shall not ln any event make any deductions from the authorired salary of such offl- car.”

We quote from Opinion Ao. 0-807 of this department as followsr

'You are respectfully advised that It 1s the opInlon of tNs department that all oountg and precinct offleers who are compensated on a salary basis are required to eolleot all aosts in civil cams by the state end all fee8, oosmlsslons IUU% costs fram privata partlen who are required by law to pay aueh fees, comm.lsslons and ooets,

"The costs in civil came by the state ud 811 PeesI, commfssions and aad collsoted iKla

43.0 gonorable J.C. Qovdj, Page

private parties vho are required by lav to pay suah fees, cosnlssloIls and costs vhen colleot- 8d by county preciaCt&fiQerS compensated on in the offi- a salary basis must be deposited

cers' SalarJr Fund of the county.

"tie tax assessor-oolleotor shall collect all fees requlrsad by lav to be collected by the tax asseesor-collector and he shall deposit such fees ln the Offluers' Sslarg Fund of hi8 COUtIty.

'80 county or preclnat officer who is com- pensated on a salary basis shall collect from the state or county any fees, ocsWsslcn or costs for any or all of the duties perfonred by h;)" ex- oept the costs of clvll oases by the State.

We enclone herevlth a cop9 of opinion to. O-607. In VieV Of th8 fOr8going authOritie8, you are re- spectfully advised that it is the oplnlcn of this departntsnt that your question should be answered in the ttOgatiV8 insofar as it app1188 to COUtlti8s Opmting under the offiC8rS' &I.- ary System, and it is 80 answered.

Very truly yours ATTORHEYGXEXALOFT5XAS Wm. J. FarmIng Asslataat USFtAli