Opinions
Opinion Number JC-0069. (RQ-0009)
The Honorable
David Dewhurst, Texas Land Commissioner, General Land Office, 1700 North Congress
Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701-1495, Re: Whether the General Land Office validly
conveyed title to certain submerged land to the City of Aransas Pass in 1944,
and related questions.
Summary.
A 1944 conveyance from the Land
Commissioner to the City of Aransas Pass attempted to cede an interest in
certain state-owned submerged land to the City of Aransas Pass. The Land Commissioner
did not have authority to transfer submerged land. Moreover, submerged land,
or an interest therein, could not have been validly conveyed to the city without
compensation to the perpetual public school fund established by article VII,
section 2 of the Texas Constitution. The acts and conduct of the Land Commissioner,
including mistakes of law, cannot estop the state from recovering public school
lands improperly conveyed.
TRD-9903704
Elizabeth Robinson
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: June 22, 1999
Opinion Number JC-0082(RQ-1109)
The Honorable
Delma Rios Kleberg County Attorney P.O. Box 1411 Kingsville, Texas 78364
Re: Whether a commissioners court may purchase fire-fighting equipment for
or pay a volunteer fire department without having contracted with the volunteer
fire department to provide fire-protection services for county residents
S U M M A R Y
A county commissioners court
may purchase fire-fighting equipment for or pay a volunteer fire department
only if the volunteer fire department has contracted with the county to provide
fire-fighting services to county residents living outside the boundaries of
a municipality.
Opinion Number JC-0083(RQ-0010)
The Honorable
Jack Herrington Red River District and County Attorney P.O. Box 364 Clarksville,
Texas 75426 Re: Whether a county judge may conduct an inquest when the appropriate
justice of the peace is unavailable to do so
S U M M A R Y
A county judge may not conduct
an inquest. Rather, as this office indicated in Attorney General Letter Opinion
Number 97-101, when the appropriate justice of the peace is unavailable, the
county judge must appoint a temporary justice of the peace to conduct the
inquest.
Opinion Number JC-0084(RQ-0014)
Mr. R. R.
Noble Andrews County Auditor County Courthouse, Room 109 Andrews, Texas 79714
Re: Whether a county auditor may require a county attorney to submit documentation
for expenses incurred from the hot check fund
S U M M A R Y
A county auditor may, as an
ordinary accounting and control procedure, require the county attorney to
provide receipts for purchases of goods and services from the "hot check"
fund, or for reimbursement for such purchases therefrom.
TRD-9904421
Elizabeth Robinson
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: July 21, 1999