Should all contracts made by county departments be brought to Commissioners Court for approval, notwithstanding that the department and not the county is a party to the contract and there is no impact to the county budget (i.e. grant funds)?

Commissioners Court is the contracting agent for the County. Anderson v. Wood. Also, while we may debate the merits of whether a county may be sued it is at least a legal entity authorized under state law. A department is nothing but a convenient designation unless it happens to be an elected official who unless given express contracting power has no authority to bind the county.

The only exception that I can think of involving anything contractual, including grants, is the contract for commissary services or goods provided to inmates by the jail. The sherriff can sign off on these contracts.

[This message was edited by LV on 07-18-04 at .]

The fact that an individual commissoner or department head signed a contract may also give you an easy out if you wish to shed the contract at a later date (barring ratification by the commissioner's court).

Been there with that issue. Problem is that certain other issues also pop up that can complicate the matter (and that does not include the question of future personal relationships as people for some odd reason, seem to take a dim view of finding themselves "lonely").

Lee is correct. The fancy-schmancy Latin term (I had always hoped I would have a chance to throw that kind of stuff around after law school) for the problem Lee describes is quantum meruit. While our courts are all over the board on whether governmental immunity is waived for a claim of quantum meruit, that wouldn't save you from the burden of defending the suit at least to the point of a plea to the jurisdiction. Remember also that if the department head makes a contract in disregard of the rules discussed above, it's a matter that must be affirmatively pleaded under verification pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 93.

On a practical note, allowing county departments to contract individually is a bad idea for two reasons. First, it loosens the sod on an already slippery slope, since most county departments would prefer to handle their own fiscal matters without "interference" from the commissioners court. Yet, the constitution and case law envision that the "interference" they seek to avoid is but the salutary system of checks and balances necessary to safeguard county finances. Second, many contracts involve acquiring property. Thus, the question of purchasing comes into play. If your county has a purchasing agent, the County Purchasing Act requires that all purchases (except those noted by Lee above) must be made by the purchasing agent. Experience teaches that it's usually not just the commissioners court the department head wants to bypass in such a contracting scheme.

As to be expected, Scott is far more articulate. As for further encouraging individuals not to be buying stuff, hiring people, etc, all by their own signature, which is what I was referring to with the reference to "lonely", is the possibility under certain sets of facts, while the County might escape liability on a quasi-contractual claim, the individual might find himself facing individual civil liability to the other party, plus there are a whole set of criminal penalties that go with the purchasing statutes. For example, merely ignoring the agent has certain penalties. While these penalties are seldom enforced, they are on the books, and it is easy to stumble in this area, even with proper training. Finally the commissioners court might take money out of that department's already tight budget to pay off the claim. Then there are a number of even more complicated issues that I would prefer not to go into on this website, although I am certain that Scott, Ray Rike and others know what I am talking about and would be glad to discuss further in private communications.

Once again, I believe Lee refers to the much-ballyhooed Wanna Wanna Legal Forum, which will initially convene on the Wednesday of the Annual. Those who thirst for knowledge, or something else, should attend.

Sorta. I was actually referring to the "been there" experiences on this particular subject that give me (and others, I am certain) some very excellent "hindsight" on why I say what I say.

For reasons I have explained to Scott, alas, I will not be attending Corpus. However, none of my experiences on this particular subject match those described under "Self Inflicted Injuries" under the Criminal portion of this website.

My county judge needed some help from a criminal prosecutor, me, to try and locate a recent Fifth Circuit opinion regarding the validity of certain contracts for inmate telephone systems. Have any of you civil gurus heard about a possible opinion that says, they are no good? The discussion in this topic is on point for another reason, so I thought it a good place to ask. Can a Jail Administrator bind a County to a contract that has not been approved by the Commissioner's Court? Thanks for any help you can provide.

I had a jail administrator sign a contract for inmate phone service without my knowledge. Once I was able to show those folks from back east the applicable law (they not only can't make salsa, they don't read the law for the states in which they do business) we reached a rapid, equitable settlement!

Thanks to this topic I am now very familiar with Wood v. Anderson and 262.001 of the Local Government Code, however, I noticed in one of the cases that cited Wood v. Anderson a troubling phrase, "only a commissioners court or its authorized agent may bind the county to an agreement, and they may do so only by entering an enforceable contract or ratifying an unenforceable contract." Any cites where a county commissioners court was held to have "ratified" a otherwise unenforceable contract? Thanks again.