After exhausting my resources I don't have an answer to this. A county owns a valuable but expensive to maintain historic building. Selling it is not an option. Utilizing novel procedures directly related to the building, the county has indirect access to a large sum of money, the intent for which is to help maintain and repair this structure defraying if not eliminating use of budgeted funds to do so. What vehicle is available to the current commissioners court to lock in these funds for this purpose in such a way that several years from now another commissioners court could not, (or could not easily), pirate the corpus?

I don't think that the mechanism exists for one commissioners court to bind another. Perhaps the solution for your building is a historical trust?

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

Lisa, that sounds promising, but I was unable to find any statutory or "hornbook" reference to it. Can you expound?

I think that the Commissioners would have to "create" a board to set up the trust - sort of like they do with coliseums, libraries and the like. They have the authority to do that, and then to ratify the actions of that board - once the funds are in trust, future courts can't play with them.

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

That still sounds like a great idea, but after looking in the Gov't. & Local Gov't. Codes, and examining the Industrial Corp Act, (which years ago would have worked, but has been amended down, and only grandfathers actions taken before the effective date of the amendments), the Public Facilities Act, the Special Budget provisions, etc. etc. ad nauseum, (sp?), I find no specific authorization for a commissioners court to take "found money" and set it aside in a protected entity such as a trust. Special Budget only helps one year at a time. The other schemes are so narrowly drafted as to not provide for this kind of "project". We have already had to straighten out some not insubstantial problems caused by previous administrations' acting on the "surely we can do this" assumption. I've taken the position the county cannot act unless specifically authorized by statute, or as a reasonable inference to effectuate powers granted by statute. (Gee, sounds like an AG opinion). Currently we are investigating ways to set this animal up in a fashion that would make it politically indigestible to undo, but I'd sure like to be pointed to some legislation that would put a lock on it. Probably a pipe dream.