The following are statements read by the County Attorney to the Commissioners Court on April 15, 2019 regarding the FYE 2019 Budget of Crane County.

Public Statements for Commissioners’ Court – April 15, 2019

“Thank you once more for giving me the opportunity to speak on this matter. My statements will be very short as I have given each of you a legal brief in support of the “Order Amending the FYE19 Budget by Line Item Transfer.” I ask that the Commissioners please take a second to recall my previous statements made on this matter as those statements apply today as well.

“Before going too far, I wish to address some confusion regarding this issue. What I have advised the county to do is in compliance with the law, with opinions issued by the Texas Attorney General, with the guidance I have received from the Texas District and County Attorney’s Association, and legal counsel at the Texas Association of Counties. I want to be perfectly clear that I am not advising the Commissioners’ Court to raise the salaries for three elected officials unlawfully. Instead, and only after careful consideration of all the facts and of the applicable statutes and case law, am I advising the Commissioners’ Court to correct legal mistakes that occurred in the adoption of the FYE19 Budget. I also want to say emphatically that I am not suing Crane County or the Commissioners’ Court over this matter. Any statements to the contrary are false and I invite anyone that is confused about this issue to schedule a time to discuss this matter more thoroughly with me.

“The Order Amending the Budget by Line Item Transfer is necessary for several reasons. First, the Commissioners’ Court failed to give written notice to each elected official regarding the salary and expenses of the position, denying the elected official the opportunity to request a grievance. Additionally, the Commissioners’ Court adopted a salary schedule on September 25, 2018 after approving the FYE19 Budget, making the adoption of the salaries in the Budget arbitrary and likely an abuse of discretion.

“Secondly, the Commissioners’ Court held a public hearing on the proposed budget on August 16, 2018 without placing notice in a local newspaper at least 10 days prior to the public hearing. In fact, the newspaper notice was only in the August 16, 2018 edition of the Crane News, which is the same day as the meeting.

“Lastly, the “regular” public notice required for the public hearing on the proposed budget was legally insufficient as it only listed that the Commissioners’ Court intended to hold a public hearing. The notice failed to mention what the public hearing would be about or whether the Commissioners’ Court intended to take action after the public hearing on the proposed budget.

“Each of these deficiencies likely made the FYE19 Budget adoption unlawful. Taking the action today to correct the salary issues is a step in the right direction to mitigate the county’s liability going forward. This action also reflects a proactive approach to solving this County’s problems instead of waiting for a District Court to tell us what we already know.

“There have been additional questions about whether the three elected officials are entitled to payment for the difference in salary paid and the restored amounts for pay periods prior to the adoption of this Order. Article 3, §53 of the Texas Constitution provides that the Legislature shall have no power to grant a county the ability to authorize payments after service has been rendered. Importantly there is a distinction here that has been recognized in other instances. §53 does not prohibit the award of “back pay” for which an officer was entitled but did not receive. Here, if the Order is approved the officers are entitled to the FYE18 salary amounts, therefore back pay is permitted.

“Another question that has come up is whether the Commissioners’ Court has to give the public notice described before taking action on this Order Amending the FYE19 Budget. The short answer to that question is no. If the Commissioners’ Court now tried to set salaries it would be unlawful as we are not in the budgetary process. We can only take the remedial actions I have described. Any other actions run the risk of being unlawful.

“Before concluding, I want to add that this is the best advice I am able to give the Commissioners’ Court and is consistent with what I advised on March 13th of this year. If a lawsuit is filed by anyone regarding this issue, the Commissioners’ Court would need to seek outside counsel. However, I believe taking these actions today limits the possibility of a lawsuit. Thank you once more for your time. I am available to answer any questions you may have, and I do hope that we can resolve this issue today.

READ IN OPEN COURT ON APRIL 15, 2019

Austin Ryan Rawls

County Attorney