Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-23 Page: 1 of 4
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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - STATE OF TEXAS
JOHN CORNYN
March 23, 1999
Mr. John Branson Opinion No. JC-0023
Fisher County Auditor
P. O. Box 126 Re: Authority of a commissioners court to order
Roby, Texas 79543 an independent audit (RQ-1 182)
Dear Mr. Branson:
You tell us that the Fisher County Commissioners Court voted on and approved a motion for
an independent audit of the 1997 fiscal year. You ask whether there is any action that you, as the
county auditor, may take to deter the audit, which you oppose as unnecessary, unjustified, and a
waste of taxpayers' money. We conclude that a county auditor may not prevent a properly ordered
independent audit absent an abuse of discretion by the commissioners court.
A commissioners court may authorize an independent audit of the county accounts and
officials in two circumstances: 1) upon notice and duly adopted resolution ifjustified by an impera-
tive public necessity; or 2) by an order properly entered at any regular term determining that an
audit would best serve "the public interest." TEX. Loc. GOV'T CODE ANN. 115.031 (Vernon 1988).
The latter circumstance was addressed in a 1955 amendment to the statutory predecessor of
subsection 115.031(i), accompanied by this emergency statement: "The fact that it is almost
impossible for a Commissioners Court to secure an independent audit of the county records at the
present time without casting some reflection on the county officers or the institutions of the county
creates an emergency ... ."' Before the addition of subsection (i), a commissioners court could
order an independent audit of county accounts and officials only when justified by an imperative
public necessity. See TEX. Loc. GOV'T CODE ANN. 115.031(a)-(h) (Vernon 1988) (steps
commissioners court must take to order independent audit justified by imperative public necessity).
By adding subsection (i), the legislature provided another, less demanding, procedure for a
commissioners court to order an independent audit. See generally 35 DAVID B. BROOKS, COUNTY
AND SPECIAL DISTRICT LAW 19.17 (Texas Practice 1989) (interpretation of statutes allowing
special and outside auditors).
A county auditor, who shares broad power over county finances with the commissioners
court, has "general oversight of the books and records of a county, district, or state officer authorized'Act of March 16, 1955, 54th Leg., R.S., ch. 50, 2, 1955 Tex. Gen. Laws 78, 79.
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-23, text, March 23, 1999; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274332/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.