How many of you have a "Personnel and Benefits Department"? We have just "established one. If you have one, what gives the Commissioners or County Judge authority to do this? Our Department does payroll, insurance, life insurance, etc. They answer directly to the Commissioners Court. Is some of this usurping the County Treasurer's duties? any input would be appreciated.

We have departments for everything. Personnel provides a Governor Blago type control over this lucrative contracting area. There are AG opinions on this as I recall. The treasurer's area of interest is small compared to what is left open for Comm Court to invade.

We have an HR department and they (mostly) coexist pleasantly with both the Treasurer and the Auditor. Every time it has been suggested that one or the other department is stepping on the toes of another we have been able to work it out. In general, the Treasurer will need to sign the checks, with the Auditor counter-signing them. But that does not necessarily mean the Treasurer gets to calculate payroll or handle benefits.

Ray and John are both correct. Fortunately, our HR department runs a bit more like Amarillo than Chicago. The "core functions" issue as it pertains to payroll is pretty comprehensively addressed in Comm'rs Ct. of Titus County v. Agan. And Ray's summation generally reflects the conclusions of the Supremes. The Local Government Code provides authorization for provision of a number of perks/benefits, but generally does not assign responsibility for their execution to any particular office. Under Agan, that generally leaves it to the Commissioners Court to allocate. The AG opinions that have considered the issue aren't quite as succinct, but generally come to the same conclusion.