Could the Sutton County Commissioners Court set the county auditor's office hours?

Texas AG Opinion JM-440: County Auditor Office Hours

Plain-English summary

Sutton County asked whether its commissioners court could establish office hours for the county auditor, an appointed rather than elected county officer. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

JM-440 answered no. The statutes governing the county auditor addressed appointment, qualifications, duties, and salary, but the opinion found no provision authorizing the commissioners court to set the auditor's office hours. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

The opinion applied the rule that a commissioners court possesses only authority conferred expressly or by necessary implication by the Texas Constitution and statutes. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1986. 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 the county auditor's appointed status give the commissioners court more control over office hours?

No. JM-440 found no statute placing that authority in the commissioners court, even though the question concerned an appointed office. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Who appointed the county auditor and set the salary?

The district judges with jurisdiction in the county held those powers under the statutes discussed in the opinion. JM-440 did not decide whether those judges could set the auditor's office hours. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Why did statutes for larger counties not resolve the Sutton County question?

Those laws depended on population thresholds. Sutton County had fewer than 5,000 residents and did not meet the minimum population required by the provisions discussed in JM-440. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Background and statutory framework

Articles 1645 through 1647 governed the county auditor's office and placed appointment and salary authority with the county's district judges. They did not assign office-hour authority to the commissioners court. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

The opinion reviewed laws authorizing work-hour or employment rules in counties meeting specified population levels, along with narrow statutes governing particular employees or offices. None applied generally to give Sutton County's commissioners court the requested power. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Citations and references

• articles 1645 through 1647, V.T.C.S.
• article 2372h, V.T.C.S.
• article 2372h-6, V.T.C.S., section 8(a)(7)
• article 2372h-8, V.T.C.S.
• Election Code section 12.004
• Commissioners Court of Harris County v. Fullerton, 596 S.W.2d 572 (Tex. Civ. App. - Houston [1st Dist.] 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.)
• Smith v. McCoy, 533 S.W.2d 457 (Tex. Civ. App. - Dallas 1976, writ dism'd)
• Canales v. Laughlin, 214 S.W.2d 451, 453 (Tex. 1948)
• Attorney General Opinions JM-182 (1984) and JM-49 (1983)

Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0440
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1986/jm0440.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF via OCR. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

The Attorney General of Texas

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General

February 21, 1986

Honorable David W. Wallace
Sutton County Attorney
P.O. Box 1508
Sonora, Texas 76950

Opinion No. JM-440

Re: Whether a commissioners court may set the office hours of the county auditor

Dear Mr. Wallace:

In Attorney General Opinion JM-182 (1984), we concluded that the commissioners court of Lampasas County, a county with a population of less than 8,000 people, does not have authority to establish office hours for other elected county officials. You ask whether the commissioners court of Sutton County, a county with a population under 5,000, has authority to establish office hours for the office of county auditor, an appointed office. We answer your question in the negative.

The office of county auditor and the method of appointment, the qualifications therefor, and the duties thereof are governed by articles 1645 et seq., V.T.C.S. Authority to appoint the county auditor and to determine his salary is reposed in the judges of the district courts having jurisdiction in the county. V.T.C.S. arts. 1645-1647. There is no provision, however, which purports to repose authority for setting the office hours of the county auditor in the district judges who appoint him. You ask specifically whether such authority is reposed in the commissioners court. We have found no statute which purports to do that in the situation you describe. See Commissioners Court of Harris County v. Fullerton, 596 S.W.2d 572 (Tex. Civ. App. - Houston [1st Dist.] 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Smith v. McCoy, 533 S.W.2d 457 (Tex. Civ. App. - Dallas 1976, writ dism'd) (both cases discuss authority and duties of county auditor and those of commissioners court).

As we noted in Attorney General Opinion JM-182 (1984), there is no statute generally applicable to all counties which sets forth the office hours or the work week or which empowers a commissioners court to set such office hours to be observed by county officials and employees. In counties with a population of 500,000 or more, the commissioners court has explicit authority to adopt

rules and regulations governing the hours of work, vacations, holidays, sick leave, medical care, hospitalization, compensation and accident insurance, and deductions for absences [for certain specified employees]. . . . (Emphasis added).

V.T.C.S. art. 2372h, § 1. Section 6 of article 2372h extends the reach of such rules and regulations to the county auditor and his assistants if such rules are adopted by a majority of the judges of the district courts of the county. A second statute permits counties with a population over 200,000 to establish a civil service commission which has the authority inter alia to adopt rules relating to the "rights, benefits, and working conditions" of county employees which we believe may include the authority to set office hours. V.T.C.S. art. 2372h-6, § 8(a)(7); see also V.T.C.S. art. 2372h-8 (sheriff's department civil service system in counties of more than 950,000 population). Other statutes of narrow applicability govern the hours of work for persons employed by a county. See, e.g., V.T.C.S. arts. 5165.1, 5167a. See also Elec. Code § 12.004 (office of county elections administrator required to remain open on election day); V.T.C.S. art. 5165a (full-time state employees required to work 40 hours per week; normal state office hours set at 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday).

There is, however, no statute generally applicable to all counties which purports either to set the office hours of county personnel or to empower the commissioners court specifically to set the office hours of the county auditor. We do not address the authority of the district judges to do so. See Attorney General Opinion JM-49 (1983). Neither articles 2372h nor 2372h-6, V.T.C.S., applies because Sutton County does not possess the minimum population requisite. Relying upon the oft-cited authority of Canales v. Laughlin, 214 S.W.2d 451, 453 (Tex. 1948), for the proposition that a commissioners court has only that authority which is conferred upon it either explicitly or by necessary implication by the state constitution and statutes, we conclude that the commissioners court of Sutton County does not have authority to set the office hours of the county auditor.

SUMMARY

The commissioners court of Sutton County does not have the authority to set the office hours of the office of county auditor.

Very truly yours,

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

JACK HIGHTOWER
First Assistant Attorney General

MARY KELLER
Executive Assistant Attorney General

ROBERT GRAY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Jim Moellinger
Assistant Attorney General