Inventory of the county archives of Texas : Gregg County, no. 92 Page: 13
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13(First
entry, p. 57)
2. GOVERBMLTAL ORGANIZATION AND RECORDS SYSTEMS
A. Legal Status and Organization of the County
The Texas county is a political or civil subdivision of the State,
It is created to aid, as the agent of the'State, in the enforcement and
administration of laws, powers, and policies common to the whole State,
as contra-distinguished from those of local or municipal concern. In
performing State political and governmental functions, the county acts
as an integral part of the State and has no existence or sovereignty
apart from the State.1
But, in order that it may properly perform State functions, a county
must acquire and own property, make contracts, incur and discharge
debts, and must sometimes sue and be sued; in these matters, it acts in
its corporate capacity, and is an entity distinct from the State.2 It
is, therefore, usually classed as a quasi-public corporation.3 Counties
in Texas are made bodies corporate by statute.4
The power to create counties is vested in the legislature subject
to constitutional limitations as to area and shape,5 but since the act
of creation only gives a name to the county and establishes its boundaries,
a county can have no real existence until it is organized. An
organized county is one having officers and other agencies for the performance
of its functions and for the management of its corporate business
independently of any other county.6
Gregg County, organized in 1873 by commissioners appointed by the
legislature,7 is, in the general structure of its organization, typical
of the Texas county.
1. Bexar County v. Linden, ! 110 Tex. 339, 220 SW 761 (1920); Johnston et
al. v. Llano County 39 SW 995 (Tex. Civ. App., 1897); City of Galveston
v. Posnainsky, 62 Tex. 118 (1884); Bell Count v, Alexanlr,
22 Tex. 8351 (1858)-.
2. Yantis v. Montage County, 110 SW 161 (Tex. Civ. App., 1908); Johnston
et al. v. Llano County, 39 SW 995 (Tex. Civ. App., 1897); Milam
County v. Bateman, 54 Tex. 1i53 (1880).
3. King County v. Martin, 173 SW 960 (Tex. Civ. App., 1915).
4. Vernon's Texas St. 1936, RCS, Art. 1572.
5. Const. 1876, Art, IX, sec. 1.
6. First National Bank of portales v. McElroy, 112 SW 801 (Tex. Civ. App.,
1908); Ryan v. Evans, 49 Tex. 364 (1878"; 11 Texas Jurisprudence 527530;
15 Corpus Juris 417; Speer v, Kearney County, 88 Fed. Reptr. 749
(1898); people v. Maynard, 15 Mich. eptr. 463 (1867).
7. Acts 1873, Gam. Ls., VII, 489; Minute Book, County Court, 1st vol.,
A., p. 0, in Minutes of Comrmissioners Cdurt, see entry 1.
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Historical Records Survey. Texas. Inventory of the county archives of Texas : Gregg County, no. 92, book, August 1940; San Antonio, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth25249/m1/21/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.