Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1940 )

No. 3099 Holding that a county conmissioners oourt may rent a building in which to store food and clothing furnished by the Federal Gov- erment for d$sbribution to indigents, may employ cs~sowzkers to assist in dstarmin- ing those to whom aid must be extended, and mly purchase a truck with whioh to distri- bute such ocmmoditias, if reasonably news- say to provide support for those persons mentioned in Subdivision 11 of Article 2351, Revised Civil Statutes. Also holding that suoh aaaissionars' courts may rant office spaoe for old age pension in- vestigators, the W.‘P. A. and other Federal Govertrmentprojects, if such projects are en- gaged in the administration of relief to the unemployed and needy people of the county. June 13, 1940 Honorable J. M. Allen , County Auditor, Hunt County Greenville, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-2217 In your letter of recent data you request our opinion in response to the following questions: *lo May the Cceuaissioners'Court legally lsres P building to be used 18 a-warehouse te store surplus oommoditiee, such a8 foods and cloth- ing furnished by the Federal Government to be is- sued to the indigents of the aaunty, and pay 8lOO.00 ~~psrmonth rtial'for said building? Honorable J. Idobllen, Page 2 - O-2217 Juno 13, 1940 *20 Can the Canmissioners' Court legally pro- vide offioes, pay for utilities, purchase office furn- iture anp pay the salary of tw, men who are commonly called or designated as 'Case Workers' whose duties are to investigate various families af the county to detsr- mine whether or not such families are entitled to re- aaive the above mentioned commoditiss? "3s Cpn the Ccmmissionarsl Court legally pay for a truak purchased by the oounty which is used to distribute the above mentioned acanmoditissand pay for gasoline and the upkeep of such truck? -40 Kay the Ccmmissioners' Court legally pay office rent for sn old age pension investigator, and the IL P. A. and other Federal Gowrmnent projects?" Wile it is true, of course, that cgmni8sionerst courts in this State are limited in their powers to those conferred by the Constitution or by constitutional statutes,,it is likewise true that such povmrs do not of absolute nece88ity have t0 be SXpmSS1y given but may exist by necessary implication. 11~Tex. Jur. 564; El Paso County v. Elam, 106 S.lTe(2d) 395; Reward v. Henderson Co., 116 S.W* (2d) 4793 Ccmmissioners' Court of %di- son County ve Wallaos, 15 S.VL (ad) 335* Article 2351, Revised Civil Statutes, provides: *Each aommissionars court shall e ,,. "11. Provide for the support of paupers and such idiots-and lunatics as cannot be admitted into the luna- tic asyllrm,residents of their county, who are unable to support thsmselws. By the term resident as used herein, is meant a person who has been a bona fide inhabitant of the county not less than six months and of the State not less than one year. When the commissioners courts were expressly giwn the power md duty to "provide for the support of paupers," by nsoessary ixxplioa- tion they were clothed with the authority to do 01lths inoidental things necessary to provide for their support. Just as the power to erect I courthouse and jail carries with it authority to aoquire a building site, Moore ve Alred, 277 SeHO 787e And, just as the power of general control owr all roads, highways, ~ferries end bridges necessarily implies author- ity to aonstruct a drainage ditch to protect such roads, bridges and high- nays from flood waters. El Paso County vo.Slam, suprae See dso Terre11 Honorable J. M. Allsn, Fmge 3 (Jun8 13, 1940) O-2217 ve Spwks, 135 S.He 519 Authority to provide food 8nd alothing for 8uoh purposes necessarily includes the power to pessess, store and preserve the same to that end. Furthermore, it may be more eoonamicrl and desirable to distribute such commodities, rather than h8ve the racipienC8 come or send for the sam8. Power to provide such food and olothing would in- clude the power to deliver 't, 8nd authority to aaquire the nsaessary means of delivery would Cpllow. When ccmrmissionsrs'courts were burdened withtha #uviyof providing support for such persons, they wer8 given the sound disore- tion of determining those nhcm they mwo required to provids for under the terms of the statute. By neoessary implioation they 8oquired the pcmr to employ such help 8s might be necessary to properly sift cut those entitled to such relief and to investigats and ascertain the extent and amount of the need. The f8ot that the Fedor Government prwid8s the oommoditi- es doss not, in our opinion, render the authority sf the Ccsnmissicners' Court of Hunt %mty any less in the distribution thereof th8n would ha true if the County itself were furnishing suah provisions, so far as the Stats laws 8re conowned. It goes without srying th8tthe disorsticn reridingin the ocmaissioners' oourts in snchmatten must be soundly exercised. If the recipient8 of such relief ar8 not so indigent as to fall nithin the tanus of the statute, the commissioners oourt would be without authority to do uly of the things you inquire about. &88uming however that the benefi- oi8ries of such relief are within the statute, that a storehouse is neoessary in providing then with support, that the county has no avail- able spaae without ranting the rune, that the house rented is of size 8nd loeaticn cesunte with th8 mod and the rent reasonable, your first question is 8nswered in the 8ffizm8tiv8. Yeur third question 18 8nsrrsradin the same way, 88 well a8 that part of your Second qu88tioR uerlxining to office furniture urd the tag c8se workers. 'Ilbnow address ourselves to your fourth question, md to that part of the seaond question relating ta the payment of utili% bills. We quote Section 1, Article 23720-2, Vernon's Civil St8tutes, 88 follows: *Seso 1. The County Ccaamissioner8~Courts and the City Commission ef any incorporated tanm within said County of this State are hereby wth- orized to lease or rent office space for th8 p,w- pose of aiding 8nd cooperating withthe agenncie8 of the State and Fedor Geverrment engaged in the rdministration ef relief of the unetaployodpnd needy people of the State of Taxas, and te payths regular HcnoraUe J. M. Allen, Page 4 (6-13-40) Opinion O-2217 monthly utility bills for such offices, such a8 lights, gas and waters and when in the opinion of the majority of the Commissioners' Court of a oounty such office space is essential to the prop- er administration of such agencies of either the State or Federal Govarrm&&, said Courts are hereby spaoifiaally authorized to payfor sax88and for the rst;ularmonthly utility bills for suoh of- fices out of the County's General Fund by rrPrr8nts as is the payment of other obligation8 ofthe county. . . .* You will note that the authority extended by the preceding article is limited to the provision of off108 spaae for the purpose of aiding 8nd cooperating niththe agencies of the St&e and Federal Gov- ernment engaged in the administration of relief of the unemployed 8lld needy psople of the State of Texas. 1ysto Federal agencies so en- gaged, your fourth question 8nd that part of the second relating to utility bills is ansmred in the affinntiw. A Ccu8missioners Ccurt could not extend such 8ssistmca to any Federal or State~agency mt 80 engrged. Yours very tNly BlTORIiEYGEKERA.7, OF TEX&S By s/Glenn R. Lewis Glenn R. Levis 4**1*tm t GRL:EF:egW This opinion has bwm considered in conference, approved and ordered recorded. s/Gerald C. Mann Gerald C. Mann ATTORNEYGERERALOF TEXbS