Did Texas county employee salary warrants need commissioners-court approval and prior county-auditor approval?

Texas AG Opinion JM-192: County Salary Warrant Approval

Plain-English summary

JM-192 concluded that county employee salaries required commissioners-court approval before salary warrants could issue.

"Salaries paid to county employees require approval by the commissioners court before warrants may be issued."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

The county auditor did not have to give prior approval to the salary payment as a claim, but the auditor had to countersign the warrant before it could be paid.

"The auditor's prior approval is not required, but his co-signature must be affixed to the warrant before it may be paid."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

The opinion distinguished salary payments from the claims, bills, and accounts that articles 1660 and 1661 required the auditor to examine before commissioners-court action.

"Salary payments are not 'claims' under articles 1660 and 1661 which require prior approval by the auditor of such claims before action of the commissioners court."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1984. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG 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.

Common questions

Did every county salary warrant need commissioners-court approval?

Yes. JM-192 concluded that each warrant paid to a county official or employee required approval by the commissioners court.

"Each county warrant paid to an official or employee of the county requires commissioners court approval."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Could the commissioners court delegate recurring payroll approval to the auditor?

No. The opinion relied on prior guidance that the commissioners court could not delegate its duty to audit and settle county obligations through a standing order allowing periodic payroll without its approval.

"The commissioners court's duty to audit and settle claims against the county pursuant to article 2351(10) cannot be delegated to the county auditor under a standing order authorizing the auditor to pay county officials and employees without periodic approval by the commissioners court."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Could the auditor refuse to countersign a salary warrant?

Yes, when the auditor in good faith believed the payment was unauthorized or had reasonable grounds to question it.

"The auditor may refuse to co-sign a salary warrant which he believes, in good faith, to be unauthorized."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

What happened when the employee had a clear legal right to a fixed salary?

The auditor's duty to countersign was ministerial, and mandamus could be available to compel the signature.

"If the county employee, as a matter of right, is entitled to be paid a sum certain, the county auditor has a ministerial duty to co-sign the warrant and may be subject to a writ of mandamus to do so."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

What if the auditor had reasonable grounds to question the payment?

The auditor could refuse to countersign, and the employee's remedy was a suit against the county rather than mandamus against the auditor.

"If the auditor has reasonable grounds on which to question the salary payments, he may, in his discretion, refuse to co-sign the warrant, in which event the employee's remedy is a suit against the county rather than a mandamus action against the auditor."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Who actually disbursed county funds?

The county treasurer disbursed funds under commissioners-court direction after presentation of a properly drawn warrant and confirmation that sufficient funds were available.

"The funds are actually disbursed by the county treasurer under the direction of the commissioners court."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Background and statutory framework

The request asked whether county-official salaries required monthly approval by the commissioners court or the county auditor.

"You have asked whether payment of salaries to county officials require monthly approval either by the commissioners court or the county auditor."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Article 2351(10) required the commissioners court to audit and settle county accounts and direct payment.

"A commissioners court is required to 'audit and settle all accounts against the county and direct their payment.'"
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

County payments also had to comply with the adopted budget, and county money could be withdrawn only through checks or warrants drawn on the county treasury.

"All payments must comply with the county's budget with regard to those salaries which have been approved for county officials and employees."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

"No moneys shall be expended or withdrawn from the county treasury except by checks or warrants drawn on the county treasury."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Citations and references

• Article 2351(10) supplied the commissioners court's audit, settlement, and payment-directive duty.

"A commissioners court is required to 'audit and settle all accounts against the county and direct their payment.'"
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

• Articles 1660 and 1661 supplied the county-auditor claim-approval rules that JM-192 held inapplicable to salary payments.

"The above requirements for the approval of claims do not apply to payments out of the county treasury for salaries."
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0192
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0192.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain. The linked PDF is authoritative.

The Attorney General of Texas

JIM MAlTOX
.k1gust 13, 1984
Attorney General

Suprm Ceurl Bulldlnp Honorable Patrick. If. Simmons Oplnlon No. Jn-192
P. 0. Box 12548
District-County Attorney
AUSlirl,-I%. 76711-2543 Limestone county Ile: Whether salary payments of 51214762501 P. 0. Box 146 county employees mmt be approved wex 91(y87~1307
Groesbeck, Texas 76642
monthly by a c&ssioners court
l.IecOpler 5121475.0255

Dear Mr. Stins:
714 Jackeon.Suite 700
Dallas. lx. 75202.4508 You have asked whether payment of salaries to county officials
2l4n42ao44 require monthly rlpproval either by the comPliseiooers court or the county auditor. Although you specifically inquire as to the effect of 4524AIberIa Ave., Sulle 150 article 1660. V.!!. C.S., other relevant statutes must be considered In
El Paso. TX. -2793
resolving this qclc:stion. We conclude that each county warrant paid to
01- an official or InPployee of the county requires cotissioners court
approval. ~Tylfr ‘I. Shelby County, 47 F.2d 103 (5th Cir. 1931). The
10011exaa.Suite 700 county auditor s rsrlor approval is not required. however. Nc.uetcn.TX. 77w2-3111
71Y223a56 A comlssiaoers court is required to “audit and settle all
accounts against the county and direct their payment.” V.T.C.S. art.
2351(10). All ptlyments must comply with the county’s budget with SO5Bmadray. &It. 312 iegard to those or.laries which have been approvid for county
officials
L&bock. TX. 7940+34To
Kef747.5232 and ,amployees. 1r.T.C.S. art. 689a-11; art. 166611. The funds are
actually :disbursc!cl by the county treasurer under the direction of the comifmioners can’t. Article 1709s. V.T.C.S.; generally requires that
43W N. Tenth, Buile B all county money be deposited with the county treasurer or in the McAllm, lx. 7s501-lw5 5lmS24547
county depository and that

[n]o m~leys shall be expended or withdrawu from
200 MaIn Plaza,Sul1e400
the cmnty treasury except by checks or warrants
Ssn Antonlc. lY.. 7S20&2297 drawn OII the county treasury . . . .
512l2254191

V.T.C.S. art. 17OIla. 14. It Is the duty of the county treasurer, upon
An Equal oppoftunlcy/ the presentation of a warrant drawn by the proper authority. to AfflmmtlveActIon Emplw~ endorse said wsrrknt for the benefit of the named payee if there are
sufficient funds znallable. Id. W(d). Thus, the proper authority in the payment of ,slaries is-he- commissioners court, whose order directing paynenl: , i.e. the, warrant. is attested by the county clerk.
-Id. 14(e).

Although the county auditor has broad authority to “see to the -. .. strict lnfo r c em4 nt or cne law governing county finances.” article

Honorsble Patrick H. Simmone - Page 2 (JM-192)

1651, V.T.C.S.. and the potter to disapprove certain claims against the county unless contracted for according to law, he does not have the authority to require prior approval of salary “claims.” Of course, the auditor may refuse to s:o-sign a salary warrant which he believes, in good faith, to be unauthorized. Without his signature. the county warrant is invalid and camzot be paid by the depository. Attorney Caneral Opinion S-149 (1955). The courts have been inconsistent in their discussion of a count:r auditor’s authority to disapprove salary warrants. The rule to be tlczived from the cases. however. is that if the county employee, as a clatter of right, is entitled to be paid a sum certain, the county autl:Ltor has a ministerial duty to co-sign the warrant and may be subject to a writ of mandamus to do so; however, if the auditor has reasonable grounds on which to question the salary payments, he may. in his dA,Ecretion , refuse to co-sign the warrant, in which event the employee’s remedy is a suit against the county rather than a mandamus action agaj,r,st the auditor. In any event, it is clear that salary payments are n>t “claims” under articles 1660 and 1661 which require prior approval by the auditor of such claims before action of the commissioners court. Article 1660. V.T.C.S.. provides that

1411 claims, t8illa and accounts against the county must be fj.led in ample time for the auditor to examine and allprove same before the meetings of the comissionerci court. No claim. bill or account shall be r.llowed or paid until it has been examined and app:cc)ved by the county auditor. The auditor shall examine the sams and stamp his approval thereon, If he deema it necessary, all such accounts, ‘bill [sic], or claims must be verified by affi,iwit touching the correctness of
the same. The auditor is hereby authorized to
administer oaths l’or the purposes of this law.

Article 1661, V.T.C.S.. metalwhile. states the following:

Section 1. E,e shall not audit or approve any
such claim unl~s it has been contracted as
provided by law, nor any account for the purchase
of supplies or materials for the ,use of said
county or any of !.ts officers, unless, in addition to other reqdirrments of law, there is attached thereto a requisition signed by the officer ordering same an2 approved by the county judge.
Said requisition must be made out and signed and
approved in triplicate by the said officers, the
triplicate to raprlin with the officer desiring the Honorable Patrick H. Slwons - Page 3 (JH-192)

purchase, the &rplicate to be filed with the county auditor. cmd the original to be delivered to the party from whom said purchase Is to be made before any purchase shall be made. All warrants on the county tlz!asurer. except warrants for jury service, must be-counter signed by the auditor.

‘Sec. 2. The county judge of a county having an auditor may waive by his owu written order the approval of the county judge on requisitions. The order shall be .recorded in the minutes of the Cowissloners (Iourt. If the county judge’s approval is waived. all claims must be approved by the Conm&Monexs Court in open court. @mphesis added).

The above requirements for the approval of claims do not apply to payments out of the county treasury for salaries, judgments against the county which are settl.c!d by the commissioners court. or purchases under special contract. Attorney General Opinion 8-977 (1977).

The most recent ca;ltr discussing the auditor’s authority to withhold his signature fxom salary warrants Is Smith v. I4cCoy. 533
S.W.2d 457 (Tax. Civ. App. - Dallas
1976. writ dlsm’d). In this case
three deputy sberiffs had been suspended without pay by the sheriff and later reinstated. TCz sheriff requested the commissioners court to award back pay for the period of the suspension. The comdssioners court agreed to do so a:iLi issued the warrants, which the auditor refused to co-sign, ques:::loning the legality of back payments for salary to suspended couhty employees. The deputy sheriffs, as plaintiffs, sued for a writ of mandamus against the auditor. seeking to compel his co-signaturr:. The court found that the auditor did not abuse his discretioh in r8eCusing to co-sign the warrants because the matter of back payment prc!clented a “difficult legal question,” or, In
other words, that the plaintiffs
did not as a matter of law have a
right to the salary payments.

Where a claimsnt’s r!L(:ht is established as a matter of law, the
auditor has a ministerial tluty to approve payment. Thus, in the case of Jackson v. Leonard, 578 S.W.2d 879 (Tex. Civ. App. - Houston [14th Dist.1 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.), the court held that the audit6r could not question the salary increases awarded justices of the peace pursuant to the salary Ii::ievance committee procedures. The court found that these claims were not claims subject to the auditor’s approval authority under articles 1660 and 1661, but that he was under a ministerial duty to cc-sign the warrants. See also Nacogdoches COUlltY V. Jinkins. 140 S,,\l.Zd 901 (Tex. WV. App. - Beaumont 1940, writ ref’d) (the county auditor had no authority to disapprove district clerk claim for salary under articles 1660 and 1661). Honorable Patrick H. Simmons - Page 4 (JM-192)

In the case of Guerra v. Weathbrly, 291 S.W.2d 493 (Tex. Civ.
APP. - Waco 1956, nowrit),: the county had employed an attorney for which the conmissioners court had ordered three separate warrants to be issued serially as compensation. The county auditor refused to co-sign the warrants and t’h: attorney sued for a writ of mandamus. The court did not discuss al,ticles 1660 and 1661, as to whether or not these payments were claims :subject to auditor approval, but held that the conrmlssionera court was r,uthorized to employ an attorney and order warrants for his compensatlc~r, to be Issued.

Earlier opinions from the attorney general’s office have been
less than ,clear regarding the’ auditor’s authority to disapprove salary payments. None of the opinL,ns clearly conclude that the auditor may simply withhold his signature if he believes that the expenditure would be illegal. Attorney General Opinion O-6624 (1945) concerned the employment and payment ol’ an inventory clerk for the county. This opinion concluded that, pursuant to article 1651. regarding the auditor’s authority to see to the strict enforcement of county finances, the auditor would be authorized to inquire as to whether the clerk was actually performing duties contracted for by the commissioners court. The olbz.nion simply concluded that if the auditor believes that an employee is not discharging his duties, he should simply refuse to counter-sign the employee’s warrants. Attorney General Opinion O-4053 (1541) concerned the authority of a county attorney to continue salary payments to an individual not working on
account of personal injury.
This opinion advised that the auditor has
the authority under article 1660 to require an affidavit from the county commissioner for ir>m the injured employee worked, to the effect that indeed the individual was employed and working. Ewever,
as we have discussed
above!,, article 1660 does not apply to salary
payments, since they are not accounts or claims. Similarly. in
Attorney General Opinion O-5890 (1944).
it was found that payrolls
signed by the respective county officials were’ required to be
submitted to the county autl:ltor for his approval under article 1660. We believe that to the exta!nt that either of these opinions conclude that articles 1660 and 1661 require prior approval by the county auditor of salary payments, they are in error and are hereby overruled.

In Attorney General Opinion O-5049 (1943). St was concluded that
the commissioners court’s duty to audit and settle claims against the county pursuant to article 2351(10) cannot be delegated to the county auditor under a standing o:c&er authorizing the auditor to pay county officials and employees wIthJut periodic approval by the comlssioners court. In other words, tbe monthly payroll reports prepared by the respective county offlcialll are turned in to the commissioners court for its approval and its order issuing salary warrants. See V.T.C.S. art. 1637. Attorney General Opinion O-5049 concluderthat the commissioners court cannot clelegate this responsibility to the county Honorable Patrick H. Slmorr - Page 5 (J&192)

suditor. In summary, we conclude that salaries paid to county employees require c~issicl~,ers court approval before any warranxs may be issued. The auditor’s prior approval is not required, but his co-signature must be affixciil to the warrant before it may be paid.

SUMMARY

Salaries paid to county employees require
approval by tl~ co&ssloners court before
warrants may be issued but do not require prior approval by tht! county auditor, although his co-signature is required.

(l$&Y&b
Attorney Gsneral of Texas

TOM GREEN
First Assistant Attorney Grleral

DAVID R. RICHABDS
Bxecutive Assistant Attoane-r General

Prepared by David Brooks
Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

Rick Gilpio, Chairman
David Brooks
Colin Carl
Susan Garrison
Jim Moellitiger
Nancy Sutton

p. 042