A
EXAS
A-lTrORNEY GENERAL
August3 , 1970
Honorable Jamie C. Boyd
District Attorney
34th Judicial District
4th Floor, City-County Building
El Paso, Texas 79901 Opinion No. M- 662
Re: Interpretation of Section
2 (0) , Article 2328b-4,
Revised Civil Statutes of
Dear Mr. Boyd: Texas, as amended.
You have requested an opinion of this office as follows:
"Is the District Attorney of the 34th Judicial
District, who is not a criminal district attor-
ney , empowered to act as a prosecuting attorney
under Section 2(o), Article 232813-4, Revised
Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended, commonly
referred to as the Uniform Reciprocal Enforce-
ment of Support Act."
Section 2(o) of Article 2328b-4, as amended in 1969 (Acts
61st Leg., R.S., Ch. 553, p. 1698) reads as follows:
"'Prosecuting attorney' means the criminal
district attorney or county attorney, or the
district attorney where there is no criminal
district attorney or county attorney."
It is the opinion of this office that the above Section
quoted is quite unambiguous and clear. The responsibility
of the district attorney to act as a prosecuting attorney in
the enforcement of the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Sup-
port Act, Article 2328b-4, arises only where there is neither
a criminal district attorney nor a county attorney.
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Honorable Jamie C. Boyd, Page 2, (M-662 )
You state that the district attorney of the 34th Judicial
District, comprising the counties of El Paso, Culberson and
Hudspeth, is not a criminal district attorney, and that each
county in the district has its own separate county attorney.
Consequently, as a district attorney in a district where each
county has its own separate county attorney, you are not de-
signated in the statute as a "prosecuting attorney." The
statute is clear that the county attorney should act in such
matters as a prosecuting attorney where a county attorney
exists.
SUMMARY
----
A district attorney in a district where
each county has its own separate county
attorney is not designated by Section 2(o),
Article 2328b-4, Revised Civil Statutes of
Texas, as amended, as a "prosecuting attorney."
The county attorney should act in such matters
where a county attorney exists
/7
General of Texas
Prepared by Bennie W. Bock, II
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman
W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman
Charles Parrett
James Quick
Sam Jones
Bob Lattimore
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Honorable Jamie C. Boyd, Page 3, (M- 662 )
MEADE F. GRIFFIN
Staff Legal Assistant
ALFRED WALKER
Executive Assistant
NOLA WHITE
First Assistant Attorney General
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