Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

The Attorney General of Texas August 20, 1980 Honorable Tim Curry . Opinion No. MW-222 Criminal District Attorney Tarrant County Courthouse Re: Authority of a justice of the Fort Worth, Texas ‘r6102 peace to collect restitution on dis- honored checks Dear Mr. Curry: You have requested our opinion as to whether a justice of the peace is authorized to collect restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored check. You have not inquired about, and we do not address, the collection by or on behalf of the office of district attorney pursuant to article 53.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 6252-24, V.T.C.S., formerly article 380a of the old Penal Code, provides, in pertinent part: Any Justice of the Peace, sheriff, constable or other peace officer in this State, who shall receive for collection or undertake the collection of any claim for debt for others except%nder and by virtue of the processes of law prescribing-the duties df such officers, or who shall receive compensation therefor except as prescribed by law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. . . . In Attorney General Opinion C-!90 (1963), this office said that a sheriff was prohibited from collecting restitution on dishonored checks: Article 380a not only prohibits the collection of claims for debts for compensation but also the collection of claims of debts for others except under and by virtue of the processes of law prescribing the duties of such officers. No bactment exists which prescribes as one of the &ties of a sheriff, the collecting of such claims for ~debts. A violation occurs under article 6252-24 unless the justicr of the peace is authorized by some other statute to act as a debt collector for private indivuduals. As loi,g ago as 1914, a court held thut there is no statute: which makes it the duty of a justice of the peace to act as a private collector of claims. Honorable Tim Curry - Page Two (Mw-222) Bray-Robinson’Curry Woolen Mills v. W. F. Walker J( Son, 165 S.W. 107, 110(Tex. Civ. App. - Texarkana 1914, no writ). See also Polk v. Peterson, 93 S.W. 504 (Tex. Civ. App. 1906, writ dism’d ). ay which would bring a justice’s efforts to collect restitution under the “processes of law” necessary to avoid the prohibition of article 6252-24. We conclude therefore that a justice of the peace is not authorized to collect restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored check. See Code Grim. Proc. art. 53.08; Attorney General Opinion MW-188 (1980). SUMMARY A justice of the peace is not authorized to collect restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored check. lwv.z* MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas ‘JOHN W. FAINTER. JR. First Assistant Attorney General Prepared by Rick Gilpin Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMlTTEE C. Robert Heath, Chairman Jim Allison Jon Bible Walter Davis Susan Garrison, Rick Gllpin Bruce Youngblood P. 709