Our county judge has adopted the philosophy that the court may delegate non-statutorily assigned duties to other county elected officials and so long as the elected official is provided sufficient staff the elected official cannot refuse the delegated duty. Needless to say I do not want to end-up being responsible for the courthouse lawn or some other such nonsense. I have not been able to locate any case law or AG opinions on point. There are multiple opinions discussing com. ct. implied powers, but nothing discussing elected official's rights/duties. I have talked to the AG and to David Brooks. AG says "good question, not previously addressed, maybe so based on Com. Ct. being principal governing body of county and empowered to do what is necessary to conduct business." David Brooks says:" absolutely not. The elected official is autonimous from the court and derives his/her job description from the legislature who adopted the statutes and if it is not in the statutes it is not in the job description."

I agree with Mr. Brooks and disagree with the AG. The fact that the Commissioners Court is the principal governing body of the County does not imply the authority to direct the functioning of another independently elected official by adding to the elected officials statutory responsibilities.

The duties of each elected official are set forth by law. Duties beyond that are only what the elected decides to take on. I would suggest that if the commissioner's court wants to delegate additional responsibilities, they have the power to create another department and give them the responsibilities.

Good luck!

That brings to mind the discussion of Comm. Ct. trying to force the County Attorney to represent the County in civil matters, or reviewing contracts, etc. Best I recall, there are AG opinions that discuss the the role of the County attorney and limit the duties of that office to those statutorily imposed( representing the state in criminal matters and advising elected officals on proper reguest, etc.). As I recall, some offices bill the county for civil work as they consider it additional responsibility above their required duties. I think there is a good discussion in Brooks Texas Practice that concludes there must be specific statutory authority before the prosecutors office has an absolute duty to engage in the requested activity. We all know, that various offices choose to provide additional representaion to the county for no additional compensation, but that is a matter of individual choice as far as I can tell, absent specific statutory mandate.
Just my $.02 worth.

I also agree with Brooks. A commissioners court may exercise only those powers that are expressly conferred on it by the constitution and statutes, together with such implied powers as are necessary to exercise the powers expressly conferred.

I don't see how delegating the duty to clean toilets and mow lawns is an implied power necessary to any power of the court. I just don't see how the AG can come to that conclusion. By any chance did you call the AG's office on take your kid to work day?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONFIRMATION. I HAVE BEEN ARGUING THE AUTONIMOUS THEORY FOR SEVERAL WEEKS BUT BECAME CONCERNED WHEN THE AG PROVIDED THEIR VERBAL RESPONSE. I APPRECIATE YOUR HELP!