"In October of

ill rram the physi- I would appreulate hether this bill rtnrnt or EUbllo .slonera Cwrt or Travis Tatum was charged wlth ng the Cepartment of Fublio Safety, the in the departnent the enforcezent of the e public safety and providing for the pre- atlon of orime, end authorized the Comls- te plans end ?olloies for the enforcement of such criminal laws and or the traffic and safety lam or the Etate. The coordination of the work of the lax enforoemnt officers of the State under the superlvlslon of this depart- rent doer not relieve the counties of any liability or their

Xcnorsble Tioser Car: lson, Jr., paEe 2

duty to provide ror the sofekeeplnc of prisoners confined in county Jells or kept under guard or from pyyment or ell outhorlzed expenses incurred and for vhlch they may by lnw

tend charfed,

,'e have exaxlned ihe statutes reletIn tc the Le- ;srtment of %bllc Taf%ty, Articles 4413 (1)) et seq., Fer- non’s Annotat.ed Civil Statutes, and failed to rind any authority given by the Legislature to the Doprtaent of :-ubllc Salsty to pay oat or its funds for nec’lcnl treat- cent rendered to an lndlviduel, any rJoney in payment far services of e phyeiclan, vrbere the necosrlty for such services wae occasioned by a mmbiber of t3e Ikpartnent in the ofrlolal discharged of !TIS duties. ?:olther do we f Ind ;ny a@roprIetion r;Rde by the Legislature to t?.e Cepsrt- ment for such ener(:encIea.

In view of the foregoinG, the physIclen’s bill In question, If a proper cbarce, should be greeented to the Cozmissloners’ Court of lravle County, the county wherein the arrest WEE. made tad vihlch retrlned th8 custody of said v:ou%led fllsoner. i%ether or not the cuinty 16 liable in t%ls particular ziatter, 1s a question cf fact which we do not pss upon in t3le opinion. Doubtless in this situation, an orfioer could not bind the county to any extent by authorizing such sarvlces to be ps-fcrraed by other than the County Zealth Officer, without being au- ttorlzed by the Comalssloners~ Court, which facts are See Rlllacy County vs. Valley not shown in your request. 3aptIst Xospltal, 29 S. ‘2:. (2d) 456.

You are theretore respeotfully advlssd that the Department of tibllo Safety has no authority to pay a physician*6 bill for eervlcee rendered to a r;ounded bank robber, shot and wounded by a Texas Xl2hhcay Patrolman in the d1scharE.e or 51s duty.

YOUrE Very Trudy JZT:CO EY

hi. J. l-i. iclne ;I3F.OWD AZ? 2: 1940 Assistant (E) Gerald C. X&n A>r-ElJVvJS ATTiRNZY CEN-EAL OF %%3

opinion ocmml*.tee By x.3 OEii5E