Has anyone ever come upon some authority that would prohibit office sharing within a courthouse? For example, the tax office and the county clerk sharing office space, or the county auditor sharing space with the district attorney?

I understand that such examples may not make sense as far as efficiency goes. There may also be problems with keeping some records secure within such offices. But, is anyone familiar with some authority on the subject?

I know it doesn't work with my teenage daughters.

I don't know of any authority that precisely addresses your question. Without doing research, the authority I'm familiar with essentially sets out a balancing test that's assigned to the commissioners court: The commissioners court has discretionary control over the assignment of space within county facilities, but at the same time cannot exercise its discretion in a manner that prevents a county officer from carrying out his or her constitutional or statutory duties. The inter stices between the two is the stuff of political Kabuki.

Thanks Scott. That's what I had figured. This is a new issue for me, since I don't have teen-aged daughters. Gives me something to possibly look forward to...I guess.