RQ-0721-GA
Requestor:
Mr. Amadeo Saenz, Jr., PE
Executive Director
Texas Department of Transportation
Dewitt C. Greer State Highway Building
125 East 11th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Re: Whether certain monies in the state highway fund may be transferred to a bank outside the state treasury that is administered by the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (RQ-0721-GA)
Briefs requested by July 28, 2008
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200803425
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: July 2, 2008
Opinion No. GA-0638
The Honorable Hector M. Lozano
Frio County Attorney
500 East San Antonio Street, Box 1
Pearsall, Texas 78061-3100
Re: Whether, without the approval of the commissioners court, a county clerk may supplement her deputies' salaries with money from the clerk's records management and preservation fund (RQ-0659-GA)
S U M M A R Y
A county clerk may expend money in the county clerk's records management and preservation fund to pay deputies' salaries, but only subject to the following conditions: First, a county clerk may not supplement salaries the county commissioners court has set in accordance with statutory budgeting procedures unless the county had in place, at the time the deputies were performing the work for which the clerk seeks to compensate them, a bonus or supplement plan. In addition, a county clerk may not supplement her deputies' salaries from the clerk's records management and preservation fund without the prior approval of the commissioners court and without considering whether the supplement is proportional to the amount of time each employee spends on specific management and preservation, including automation purposes. The county clerk's records management and preservation fund may be used to pay that portion of the salaries of any and all employees in the clerk's office who perform tasks that further specific records management and preservation purposes.
If the county treasurer receives a request from the county clerk for money from the clerk's records management and preservation fund to supplement salaries of deputies in the clerk's office, the treasurer must ensure that the claim is first approved by the county auditor and then by the commissioners court.
A county clerk may use the $2.50 records management and preservation fee collected under Code of Criminal Procedure article 102.005(f) from defendants convicted of an offense in county court or county court at law for any purpose for which the clerk may use fees collected under Local Government Code sections 118.011(b)(2) and 118.0216. The use of the fee is subject to the conditions set out above.
Between September 1, 2003, and June 17, 2005, the records management and preservation fee collected under Code of Criminal Procedure article 102.005 was to be evenly split between the county's records management and preservation fund established under Local Government Code section 203.003(6) and the district clerk's records management and preservation fund, with $10 going to each fund. The county clerk's records management and preservation fund was not at that time authorized to receive any portion of the fee collected under article 102.005.
A county clerk may not collect a records management and preservation fee under article 102.005(f) from a defendant whose case has been dismissed.
Opinion No. GA-0639
The Honorable Hector M. Lozano
Frio County Attorney
500 East San Antonio Street, Box 1
Pearsall, Texas 78061-3100
Re: Whether the County Assessor-Collector may award additional compensation to her salaried deputies from monies collected under the Certificate of Title Act, section 501.138, Transportation Code (RQ-0660-GA)
S U M M A R Y
A county tax assessor-collector is not authorized to award the fee in section 501.138, Transportation Code, to office employees as compensation in addition to their salaries approved by the commissioners court. A county treasurer presented with a request for such compensation must report the matter to the commissioners court for the court's consideration and direction.
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200803424
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: July 2, 2008