Can a Texas county commissioner be reimbursed for using his personal vehicle on official county business?

Plain-English summary

A county prosecutor asked whether a county commissioner could be reimbursed for using his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court may authorize such reimbursement.

The answer rests on Local Government Code section 152.011, which gives the commissioners court authority to set the compensation, office and travel expenses, and other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees paid wholly from county funds. The opinion noted that an earlier opinion read the predecessor statute the same way, confirming that the commissioners court may fix the amount received for travel expenses by county and precinct officials, including the commissioners themselves.

The opinion also described the limits prior opinions placed on travel allowances. No formula is required, and county officials may receive a fixed monthly travel allowance without accounting for every mile when their duties require continuing travel from their official stations. But the amount set must reflect expenses actually incurred in official business, resting on some factual basis and reasonable calculation, and must be reasonably related to official county business. The county auditor may not require documentation from members of the commissioners court who receive a fixed monthly travel allowance. Finally, the opinion noted that a commissioner's travel between his residence and his office is not normally reimbursable.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2001. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. Local Government Code section 152.011 may have been amended since 2001, so verify the current statute before relying on the rule described here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The requesting county prosecutor (what the opinion held): The opinion answered that a county commissioner may be authorized by the commissioners court to receive reimbursement for using his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties, under the court's section 152.011 authority to set travel expenses.

Commissioners courts (what the opinion held for them): The opinion treated the court as having authority to set the travel-expense amount, including a fixed monthly allowance, so long as it reflects expenses actually incurred, rests on some factual basis and reasonable calculation, and is reasonably related to official county business.

County auditors (what the opinion held for them): The opinion noted, consistent with prior opinions, that the auditor may not require documentation from commissioners court members who receive fixed monthly travel expenses, and that home-to-office travel is generally not reimbursable.

Common questions

Can a county pay a commissioner for using his own car for county work?
The opinion concluded yes. Local Government Code section 152.011 lets the commissioners court set travel expenses for county officials, including commissioners, so the court may authorize reimbursing a commissioner for official use of his personal vehicle.

Does the commissioner have to log every mile?
Not necessarily. The opinion explained that prior opinions allow a fixed monthly travel allowance without accounting for every mile when duties require continuing travel, but the amount must rest on some factual basis and reasonable calculation.

Is driving from home to the office reimbursable?
The opinion noted that a commissioner's travel between his residence and his office is generally not reimbursable.

Background and statutory framework

Local Government Code section 152.011 provides that the commissioners court of a county shall set the amount of the compensation, office and travel expenses, and all other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds. Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Ann. § 152.011 (Vernon 1999). The opinion relied on prior Attorney General opinions construing section 152.011 and its predecessor, article 3912k, which held that the commissioners court may fix the travel-expense amount for county and precinct officials, including the commissioners themselves; that a fixed monthly allowance is permissible where duties require continuing travel but must rest on some factual basis and reasonable calculation and be reasonably related to official county business; that the county auditor may not require documentation from members receiving fixed monthly travel expenses; and that travel between a commissioner's residence and office is not normally reimbursable.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Ann. § 152.011 (Vernon 1999)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0433
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2001/jc0433.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official scanned PDF. Minor character-level errors from the source OCR have been corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - STATE OF TEXAS

JOHN CORNYN

November 6, 2001

The Honorable Tim Cone
Criminal District Attorney
Upshur County Justice Center
405 North Titus Street
Gilmer, Texas 75644

Opinion No. JC-0433

Re: Whether a county commissioner may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the official use of his personal vehicle (RQ-0402-JC)

Dear Mr. Cone:

You ask whether a county commissioner may be authorized to receive reimbursement for the use of his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that a county commissioner may be thus reimbursed.

Section 152.011 of the Local Government Code provides: "The commissioners court of a county shall set the amount of the compensation, office and travel expenses, and all other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds." Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Ann. § 152.011 (Vernon 1999). In Attorney General Opinion H-992, this office said that article 3912k, the predecessor statute of section 152.011, "gives to the commissioners court authority to fix the amount which shall be received for travel expenses by county and precinct officials, including the commissioners themselves." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. H-992 (1977) at 2. The opinion continues:

            No formula is specified for the calculation of traveling expenses. The legislature therefore apparently did not intend that members of the commissioners court would be required to show that traveling expenses allowed them had been actually incurred before payment could be made. Thus, we believe the legislature intended, in enacting article 3912k, to authorize counties to continue the type of lump-sum reimbursement for traveling expenses previously authorized by the legislature. Nonetheless, we believe that the use of the term "expense" in article 3912k requires that the sum set by the commissioners as "travel expense" reflect the expenses actually incurred by county officials in the conduct of official business. While county officials may receive a monthly travel allowance without the need to account for every mile traveled when their duties require traveling from their official stations on a continuing basis, the sum set as a travel allowance must be premised upon some basis of fact and reasonable calculation.

Id.

Likewise, in Attorney General Opinion JM-148, the attorney general held that a commissioners court was authorized to fix the amount of travel expense allowed to members of the court "so long as the allowance is reasonably related to official county business." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-148 (1984) at 3. Another opinion said that the county auditor may not require documentation from members of the commissioners court who receive fixed monthly travel expenses. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-879 (1988) at 3.

Both Attorney General Opinions H-992 and JM-879 indicate that a commissioner's travel to and from his residence and office is not normally reimbursable. It is our opinion that a county commissioner may be authorized by the commissioners court to receive reimbursement for the use of his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties.

                                  SUMMARY

            A county commissioner may be authorized by the commissioners court to receive reimbursement for the use of his personal vehicle to conduct his official duties.

                                         JOHN CORNYN
                                         Attorney General of Texas

HOWARD G. BALDWIN, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General

NANCY FULLER
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

SUSAN D. GUSKY
Chair, Opinion Committee

Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee