Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

NEY GENERAL EXAS ‘Hon. J. B. :1tor Opinion No. V-641 County Attorney Uvalde County Be& The necessity for the Uvalde) Texas County to pay for rem pairs and upkeep on automobiles furnish- ed to the Sheriff un- der subdivision (b) of” Srctlon 1 of H*B* 501, 50th Legislature. Dear Sir: Your request for our opinion is in part as follows; “We will appreciate your opinion construing the provision of subsection B, HOUSSBill 501, 50th Legislature as to whether or not the County would be required to furnish tires batteries and general repairs in a&tion to the allowance of four cents* (4#f per mile for gas, 011, wash, and grease.” H, B0 5019 Acts of the 50th LegW,ature, 1947, (Article 6877-1, V. C, S. 1 reads in part8 btSec. 1. The County Commissioners Courtr of this State are directed to g;blm of sheriffs of eir respective counties and their depue ties to and from points within this State, * under one OS the Sour (4) following set- tionst ‘l(a) Such sheriffs and their depu- ties &&.l be fur&shed ad a ate mot= transoortatfon fncluafna aF!l”exnen~ gental to the uwkeew and oweratfon of suq,Q r&z-or vehicle s0 Hon. J. B. Ator - Page 2 (v-641) “(b) Motor vehicles shall be fur- ,_ ,~ ficr. “(c) Alternatively such County Com- missioners Courts may allow sheriffs and, :, their deputies in their respective ooun- tie6 to use and operate car6 on officia2. business which cars are personally owned by the36 for which such officers shall be paid not less than six teats (6Q) per mi.16 nor more than ten cents (Lop) per mi1.e far,;;~,’ each mile traveled la the performance~of official duties of th*ir offlce.” (Em&a-” sis added) 3n words ma Phraws vobm 17, page 839 “” “to furnish” Is defined as foliausr ‘Vhrase ‘to furnish’ means to equip, fit out, supply, aeuvef to hand, to pro- vide anything needed by another, to pro- vide what is necr,ssary. D o 0I’ SchnaZdsF &?Pevey Dairy Co, (,Mo, Sup,) 40 S, U, 24 . The Act directs Coruni66ioners’ Courts to R6U and pay for tra~r6, ortation of sheriff@’ and the putios. subdiwia L 463 #roWLisa that sher= iff t&ear deplltd&o “shall bz furnishsta adequate mot6jr tranaportat , WXuUing all expense incid6nt- al to the upkeep operation of such motor vehicles.* st%tTaaua 26’ Court of Uvalde County eleoted to ogl*rate W&division (b) of the Act, Under ouch ovision6, 6h6miff8 and their deputies w&y fm?nl gas and 0a3, aa6 wash and grsase incident- al to th* operation 0% 6uoh vehicles” furnished .to theta far Craneportatf@zl. @or this they must be compen- sated at tihe rate Crt not aroseding four cents ($!) per .’ Hon. J. B. Ator ‘!- Page 3 (v-641) mile for mileage traveled In the performance of the duties of their office, No authority is given to the sheriff or his deputies to remove, substitute or change parts of such motor vehicles. The only direction of the statute being that adequate motor vehicular transportation be furnished and paid for, the Commlssionsrs~ Court may withdraw such vehicles from the sheriff and his deputies and supply other such vehicles, as such court may deter- mine. This clearly indicates that it was not the leg- islative intent that damaged or worn parts should be furnished by the sheriff and his deputies. It is plain that if the sheriff and his dep- uties must pay for tires, batteries and general repairs without any compensating return, they are not supplfed with paid transportation. We are of the opinion that the Commissioners* Court of Uvalde County is required to pay for tires, batteries, and general upkeep of motor vehicles furnish- ed to the sheriff ana his deputies under the provisions of Article 6877-l. Section 1, subdivision (b) in addi- tion to the sum a 1lowed for oil and gas and wash and grease. -~~ s!?%%@x Where a county has determined to furnish transportation to the sheriff and his deputies under the provisions of Art o 6877-l Section 1, subdivision (b), such sheriff and his deputies are not required to pay for repairs and upkeep of motor vehicles furnished to them by the COUII- t9* Yours very truly, ’ ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXA8 W. T, Williams WTW,wb Assistant