Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-55 Page: 3 of 6
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The Honorable Michael P. Fleming - Page 3
Sec. 4. This Act shall not be construed as precluding other
government agencies or independent auditors from auditing certain
funds handled by county departments of education, in counties to
which this Act applies, in addition to the audit by county auditors as
provided for herein. (Emphasis added).
Id.
Section 2 of article 2919g-1 expressly requires the county auditor to perform an annual audit
of the county department of education, and section 4 makes it clear that audits by other parties do
not replace the audit performed by the county auditor. In answer to your question, the Harris County
Auditor must audit the Department pursuant to article 2919g-1 of the Revised Civil Statutes, even
though it is audited by an independent outside auditor.
We were informed in relation to Attorney General Letter Opinion No. 93-83 that the Harris
County Auditor had "always audited the books and records of the Harris County Department of
Education without compensation,"4 until a new Harris County Auditor questioned the practice
of performing the audit without compensation. Attorney General Letter Opinion No. 93-83
concluded that the Department must reimburse Harris County for each annual audit, even though
article 2919g- I ofthe Revised Civil Statutes expressly requires reimbursement only for the expenses
of the first audit. Attorney General Letter Opinion No. 93-83 based its conclusion on article III,
section 52 of the Texas Constitution, which provides in part:
Except as otherwise provided by this section, the Legislature
shall have no power to authorize any county, city, town or other
political corporation or subdivision of the State to lend its credit or to
grant public money or thing of value in aid of, or to any individual,
association or corporation whatsoever ....
This constitutional provision prohibits counties from making gratuitous transfers of money or any
other thing of value to corporations, but it does not prohibit the use of public funds or other items
of value to carry out a legitimate public purpose of the entity making the transfer. EdgewoodIndep.
Sch. Dist. v. Meno, 917 S.W.2d 717, 740 (Tex. 1995). It applies to municipal corporations as well
as private corporations. Harris County Flood Control Dist. v. Mann, 140 S.W.2d 1098 (Tex. 1940).
In our opinion, neither article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution nor article 2919g-1
of the Revised Civil Statutes requires the Department to reimburse the county for each annual audit.
We will address the statute first.
4Letter from Dr. Shirley E. Rose, Harris County Superintendent, to Honorable Dan Morales, Texas Attorney
General (Jan. 28, 1993) (on file with Opinion Committee).
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-55, text, May 26, 1999; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274364/m1/3/?q=%221999%22: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.