Opinion No. 14-1397
December 15, 1914
TO: Honorable K. K. Scott, District Attorney, Roswell, New Mexico.
EXPENSES OF BOARD AND ASSESSORS.
County commissioners authorized to pay expenses of board and assessors while attending convention at Santa Fe.
OPINION
{*258} Mr. Herbert, county assessor of the County of Chaves, has advised us that you request our opinion as to whether or not the board of county commissioners is authorized to pay the expenses of the various members of the board of county commissioners and of the assessors incurred in attending the state joint convention of boards of county commissioners and county assessors now in session at Santa Fe.
We have heretofore had a similar question presented to us in reference to the reimbursement of the county commissioners in attendance upon the meeting of the State Board of Equalization, and under date of September 14, 1914, we advised that while there was no provision of law which contained any express direction upon the subject, still we were of the opinion that it was proper for the county to pay those expenses, and that the county commissioners had authority under the fifth sub-division of Section 664 of the Compiled Laws of 1897 to make such payments. The attendance of the commissioners and assessors upon this meeting is obviously for the benefit of the public interest in general and of the county in particular, and there is no reason to expect these officers to pay their {*259} own expenses when away from home upon what is really official business.