Attorney General Opinions and Advisory Letters

Opinion No. 55-6221

July 11, 1955

BY: RICHARD H. ROBINSON, Attorney General

TO: Honorable W. T. Scoggin, District Judge, Third Judicial District, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Receipt is acknowledged of your letter dated June 30 in which you state that upon the request of your County Commissioners, you are requesting an opinion as to whether or not the County Commissioners of your County can close the county offices on Saturday.

You state that we might have an old opinion on this question, but I fail to find one in our office.

However, under §§ 15-37-1, 15-37-12, 15-37-15 and 15-37-16, N.M.S.A., 1953, county commissioners of the various counties have very broad powers, and would have absolute discretion in determining whether county offices should be closed on Saturdays and work the rest of the week days.

Our Supreme Court has also held that the powers given to the county boards of county commissioners of the various counties are very broad and that it is not necessary to contain a specification of which particular act that may be done when the powers granted are sufficiently comprehensive to include the proposed acts. See Agua Pura Co. v. Mayor, 10 N.M. 6, 60 P. 208, and the case of Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Town of Belen, 56 N.M. 415, 244 P. 2d 1112.

It is, therefore, the opinion of this office that in view of the language of the above cited statutes and the holdings in the two Supreme Court cases cited, that the county commissioners in the various counties have the absolute power and discretion to determine if they should close the county offices on Saturdays.

Trusting that this fully answers your inquiry, I remain

By Hilario Rubio

Assistant Attorney General