Administration - Historical Notes

County Clerk

The following act once affected the office of county clerk in Houston County. It is included herein for historical purposes.

1. Private Acts of 1947, Chapter 733, set the salary of the County Court Clerk at $200.00 per annum plus all of the fees collected by his office.

County Legislative Body

The following acts once applied to the quarterly court or the county legislative body of Houston County and are included herein for historical purposes.

1. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 17, validated the Houston Quarterly County Court's resolution transferring the city's interest in Ross Vaughn's Tobacco Warehouse and lot of land to the City of Erin.
2. Private Acts of 1943, Chapter 183, provided that the County Court was to meet quarterly rather than semi-annually.
3. Private Acts of 1953, Chapter 146, set the per diem compensation of Justices of the Peace at $5.00. This is now set by general law found in T.C.A. 5-5-107.

 General References

The following private or local acts constitute part of the administrative and political history of Houston County but are today no longer operative because they have either been superseded, repealed, or failed to receive local approval.

1. Acts of 1875, Chapter 56, authorized a number of Tennessee counties, including Houston, to borrow money and to issue bonds for the relief of the poor. This Act was necessitated because of widespread destitution due to crop failure.
2. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 57, made women over the age of twenty-one eligible to be notaries public in Houston County.
3. Private Acts of 1927, Chapter 215, set the salary of the Registrar of Houston County at $100 per month plus the fees of the office.
4. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 330, authorized the Houston Quarterly County Court to borrow money to pay floating indebtedness and outstanding warrants.
5. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 378, was an Act regulating county finance in Houston County. It had provisions dealing with the funding of floating indebtedness, and the issuance and sale of county bonds.
6. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 784, validated the resolution of the Houston County Court giving the County Trustee 1% of the proceeds of county bonds as his compensation for his services in the collection and disbursement of those bonds. The Supreme Court of Tennessee in Dreaden v. Halliburton, 166 Tenn. 331, 61 S.W.2d 670 (1933), held that this act was unconstitutional since it superseded a general law for the benefit of an individual, in violation of Article 11, Section 8 of the Constitution of Tennessee.
7. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 531, allowed H. C. Hagler to file a Workmen's Compensation claim for the loss of an eye in the course of his duties.
8. Private Acts of 1939, Chapter 171, abolished the office of Chairman of the County Court in Houston County.
9. Public Acts of 1974, Chapter 724, amended Section 8-2204, Tennessee Code Annotated, by requiring that the county officials listed in Section 8-2201, T.C.A. to file certain reports concerning the fees and commissions collected in their respective offices. Houston County was among the counties which exempted themselves from the effects of this amendment.
10. Private Acts of 1979, Chapter 16, approved by the Mayor and Aldermen on April 3, 1979, amended Private Acts of 1951, Chapter 403, the city Charter of Erin, by inserting a new paragraph after Section 308 of the Charter giving the Mayor the authority to suspend any employee for cause until the next regular meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen following the suspension. The employee's salary could be reduced or eliminated during the suspension period. Final action would be taken at the subsequent meeting of the Board.
11. Private Acts of 1979, Chapter 34, also approved on April 3, 1979, by the Mayor and Aldermen of Erin, amended the City Charter relative to the qualifications of and the length of the term of the Mayor and Aldermen of the City.