Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

aoeunlw eal help in an bondid lndabtad- out a'rohakule of t in that ~rtloulu that part of the y pay* and not part or the State pay8 iron th? prooqdlr ot thr n.0 tax, In order that mob botdd loh must be pnld from aounty Wada ed tat0 $he ~earb when the rewnu~m, aad p~flalonm of .aald Bowr Bill .flslont to pay mtBh lnQebtedmr8T"

'We thlnlr the toreLqbl#ig question pre84ntt two ~lrrbJesli. matterr the fimt being ---~whathex OT not the oowtty lane the autfklt ti retali or siq&oy teehnioal ~btM1 ia an ad- visory oapao I ty in ana2yslng the bouQoQ. lndeb t&o.* ef the Bltnty, and wwldng out a Mhebale ai raiasbty: of a. road bond (lebt ia tmt partiaalar obanbr, and aemnd, quertien *2 Eonorable B. U. WhIteacre, page #e

melas to inquire es to whether or not that part of the debt which the county pays, and not that pert or the debt v&i& the State pays rrom the prooeeds of the one-cent gasolhe tax, can be separated into twe types of debts, namely, eligible and ineligible.

In treating of the firet subjeot matter ralsed in

your question, that IS, as to the authority of the oounty to e~@oY technloal help for the purpose stated in pour qumt&m, we epproaoh the subjeot by stating the well recognlsed rule tbst the mnimis~sloners* court, the governing body of the oountY, is a court OS limited jurisdiction end has only such powers a8 are oontarred upon It by law. The rule has been extended to empower the conmlsaloners’ oourt to appoint agents ror the aooompllshmnt of purposes authorized by law. A majority of the oases touohlng upon this queetlon involve the emploYme& af attorney6 at law end it has orten been held that an attorney may be retained In speclcl cams ror speoirlo services but that the..eourt would not have the puwer to employ an attorney on a salary basis for aervloes neither required nor performed. See 3% S. W. 188, droouis va. Atasoasa County; also City Natlonul Benk vs. Freslbbo County, B6 S. W. 775, Jones vs. Peltman, 171 9. pi. 281. ‘.In the 0888 or Russell vs. Cage, 1 S. f. 270, the Supreme Court held thst an arohftect may be emploYed te prepare plmts and speCiriestiOn8, make 6i dreft Or a OOntreOt, and,make the oontraot itfSelr, subjeot to the approval of the 0011PDissionerli* court. In the oe8e or Gull Bltulithle Co-Y vati Wueoea County, reported in 11 S. F. (td) 505, the Supreme Court sustained the validity of a contract enploylng a super- visor of roed building, and ‘in an earlier oese, Galveston county vs. Greehm, 230 5. 19. 660, the court held thst the oomalerrlonere~ court hed the power to employ an attorney to onrry out its power to oonrtruot a seawall.

It aust be borne in mind that all of the foreROiD.iS authorities construe to the oomm%ssloners* oourt the authority to employ egents only for thb aooomplishment of apeciifc objeo- tlves, and that the general trend of authority denies the pwer to the oonmlssionere* oourt to employ agents one saleY or oontreet basis ror the performmoe of 6ervices that mW or mey not be required during the course of their emploYme%+- Quoting the court ln the aase oi$,he City Hational Bank vs- presidio County, 80 S. 1. 775 -We conclude for these reaaona that the employment 0r oounnel in the oass ot State vs. Cqrothers, wus a legal esecalse OS pwer on the Part ef *3 Houorable B. If. Wteaarre, page #6'

the aommlesloners~ oourt dons in the interest ind buslaess of the aounty." This oass was datermined in I.894 by the Court of Cltil Appeals end IntlldeteS that the aommlssioners* oourt could t%lldly ezerolse the powem of smploying agents IX done in the lntsrest end business OS the aounty. The question as to the lmportsnoe Of the servloe. ta be performed must WOW- s+rllybe a question of Seat to be determined by the aomm%s- sibners~ aourt . we, thererore, conalude thst while thsre 18 so express autharitatlon for the employment of teohnfaal ad- risots for thd purpose oi es8lstlng the aounty in the mfund- lng OS its road debt, we think the welgfit ot authoritp~d igplr that power to the a6msdssloners~ aourt it the mCsndlng was OS' suffloient ~lmportanae to make its aooompllshment fital.

to the interest of the asunty end la arah a msnneras to.sls881- fy suoh SerTfo~e as being for a ootmty purpose, but that ,io no awant muu.lU the. 6ourt bare the- autlmrity to oontra'ot ‘for the ssnioes of a te6hnfeal expert for a *ad psrbd at 4 gl~en ti6 pertons’ duties whtoh may or may xt?t. be reed..’ 6uliu-y . the seoond sul&et mettar a&a&g Xert ws otmsti~ lb,. de&her Or not a partisu~ %n ‘jour first qirest$~,n, and that oi bontls maybe.tsgarded as.partly eligIb$s and p6rt4

.l%ri+aue lusl.Qlble;~ln'othsxworifs. aan that par;t or the issue which p%rt%ofpates,iti th4,County ard Road Distriot .Xighway Fu%d.be oonsldened apart irfm the balanas.of such issue whiah does not psrtlslpste 11% suoh~ Suud. We are or the oplnlon thst'no'woh oharaoter aan W imputed to an issue unUer the terms or Boxme Bill 688. Suoh issue must be aoxisidered as a uuit and that all bond8 ooraposlng sime.partlalpste ratably throughoat in the bene- fit aooorded.under this law.~ In support of this aonalugion we quotg from tibseotlon (01. of Sestim 6 of .Zfouse Bill 6SS, which ra+ds, In part: i

Vheneter ii the oase of any~partioular fssue or obligations the prooeeds. thhreot shall here been erpeittled partly on designated State highways or highway* her&ofore oonstitut+ug desl&nated State highways, ad partly on roads whloh never here been.

designated State klghwsys, said Board shall SSOertsin and-determine the smonnt of said obllgstliiss, the pro- eked8 of whish tire actually etpsnded oti State high-' rays o$,on roads,heretoiore aoustituttig State +gh-: ways, sud sald.o~ligat+5,to -said amount and extent

Honorable B.,, HI, WhItesore, page #4

shall be eligible for prtlolptlon in ths moneys oaaing Into the County and Boad Distrlot Eighwsy ?'Und, and said asoertelnmest and detezlinatlon shall be certified to the oountp judge by said Board and all of the nnmtured OutStanding obli- getiOn ofTid lsst~e shall ratsbl hate the bene- fit of said partlolpatIon in se dney ." This same subseotlon StStbS subrtantlallp that fol- lowing suoh esoertalnment by the Board end after nesonsbls notiee and hserlng thereon, the dete&atIon shall be fiml end oonoluslte and shsll not be subjeot to review in any other tribunal. We think thia~conelusion le further strength- snod by the language or subseotion (g) or Ssotlon 6, vihloh, to state it brlsfly, requires tha oountles te oolleottaxes. ontho poparty in said ,respeot$te etnmtlee end dsflnod road distriots in an amount o? money equal to the dlfferenes be- twesn the amount of the requlremsat end emount etellebls far.epplIoatlon from the gssollne~tax inuring to the County and Road District Ziighway.Fund, and that the entire poceeds of all taxes collected on any eligfble lssiie ot bonds shall be rsmlttsd by the County Tm3aStWU~or eaoh aoonnty oolleotls& th'same to the Stat8 Treasurer to be hsld by the State Treas- uror 88 ez-orffolo treasurer of said 'county or ddined road Uistriet for the benefit'tif the oarmty or defined rosd dis- triot remIttine the same and be dlsburesd to meet the lst- srest, principal and sinking fWnd requIremen% on the ellgLbXe obllgatlons OS such oounty ore defined road dlstrlct. Whsn thb monsy frem the eountp Tar any partlcular~ interest or principal mstnrlty, togefher with that supplied @rough the County sob Road Dlstrlct Highv@y Fund, are used ror tht pSySient thoreeS @n suoh eligible obllgatlons,'it beoomes the duty OS the Oomptroller OS Fubllo Accounts upeh receipt of said obliga- titans and OOUJXGW, to catioel themand return same to the oomdsaloners* oourt of the partlo*ar oounty, and which aourt shall ceusa to be duly entered a reoord of suoh Can- cellation. It therel'ora follows that this law does not oontwplate a ditlslon of obligat$cias whereby'ons pert of which could be called ellglble land the other ~nellgible. The law expressly oonfera upon th.9 Board the right to re- qulre any Issue or any part ther&?f.to be refunded IntO rsrundlng obligations,' bearing @toh iate of Interest and having such maturities as will pi?eyent an fnequitable or *5 Howrable B. &I. WhlteaOX$ page #5

disproportionate partlolpatlon in the money oo=tnng Into the Cow&y end Road Dlstrlot Highway Ftmd in any particular pulod. This lauguage we rind in subseatlon (I) of 8eotlon 6 of the law, to whlah you are referred.

Your seoond queition reads es follows: *If it were shown by the.county that the refunding 0s thiit part or its road bond debt

whleh the oounty levies en ad valorem tax to

pay oould and would be retired at the dates

of prrrturities and that the reveuues under the terms aud provisions of House Bill 688were

snttlolent -to smet kmoh maturltles, muld it

be nesessary for suah oounty to hate the

approval of the Board of Coustyaud Dlstrlot

Road ,tidebtedness to effbot suoh.rerunding?~

In Opinion Xkmber 04399, ~endared by this depth- asntlhresponse to eti~uesttromt,heBoardof Countyend MM&et Road~Iudebtedurms, ws oarefulXy covers6 the refund-' i.n&$dutleci impose Open Board by Emse Bill 688~ Brtsfly our $ntUpretetioti 0S that.'provls~on is to the ertsot that tha Boa&*8 duty.titl& raspeat to the refunding’of bonds e% .t8nd6 onlfto ~8~S‘of bonds sll&ble to parti%lpate in ~ttlm3m3a3~beneflt~ or t214 gasoline tax 0s one oent sUosated

'Eerelnabove we have outlined our conaluslon es

to What oonsktutes eligible obllgatlbns and, in haniumyulth lmoh oonoluslon, re.must advise that it la our oplklonthat auy suoh roa$ debt %s is desorlbed In your seaond q+z#tlon which the countymay.seek to refund must necessarily be'sub- mlt+ed to.the.Board for approval prior to etfecting such rerundlng., As stat?d in Oplnloq.?wber 0-1295, above re- ferred to, the expense or ally suoh refunding must llketisd 'be subml$te$ to the @ard for %p,proval prior to lnaurrlug

s%me*

'Re are enclosing herewith a copy of our OplniOn '.Efuu&Gr O-1895, la the hepa that same aU prove 0s 84x8

benefit to you end assist you in solving so? of t&e prob- lems arising out of House Blll'688. .

Very truly y&r&