OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable 0. Earl EutchlnC,n
OWty Auditor
8 oung *county
Uraham,Texa8
Dear Slrr
pour letter of J*b
o&dni~OUOf this depertma
is aa rollora:
led in the oounty
la1 wan had and &e-
ha4 earned $5.78, .ae his rcer
County Attorney at carried@lO.OO.
e their annual report ior tba
ttatrheda list of dollnqueiitrwb6
other oaaea. Th% GorUnty AttO2’ney
lnoluded kn addltlonal to hia tee or 10.00, the
oommle6lonor g40.00, ?&Lohuas ths L% a6 set out
in Artiols 950, code or urlmlnal Erooedura. Th8
sheriff iaoluded the #!J.TS,but dl4 not inolu40
$30.00, or Me 5% whloh is allowed under Arti
951, Code or Orlnlinal~roosdure.
Eonomble 0. karl fiutohinge,Page 2
"The q~eetion is when waa the oormeiulon or
tbi county attorney earned? ana was he justiriable
in eettlng this up as a delinquent ree?
m%hen was the coamtssion of the rrheriirsarmd?
*Both or these orricere rtiiledto reaoh the
maximum of r68s ror the year 1943.~
Art10108 950 ana 931, Vornon'8 Annotated 00aa Of
crlmlual proao4u.m are u r011466t
-A+olm 980. The diatrlot or oounty~$t*r-
58~ shau be 8atltiea to
tan per oant or ,a1 mm,
rorr0lturra or aoneyr oolleota4 ror tti @iate or
eouatf, u&ton judpents roooverea by himf and tzu
olork of the oouit .%MtAoh *la jhdgmnt+ dm repa-
end ,&as11 be entitled to rive per 08nt.of the.
amOu6t41, eaid ;?dgment8, to ba pal4 out or th0
amount ..wk& aollobtad.
"ArtlOll 981. me rrheritr or other ortlo~k,
exaopt a justlae or tba peioe or his olerk, who ...
oolhot~.,mo~yfor tha State oc oetmt~,lroopt
jur fewy , -un4 aer nyproddon or th is o o de,
lh a ll
be entitLmI to rotain fire par sent themof when
aolleo00&~
Artiole 3893, Vernon~r maotat c&*11 Natutoe,
prorid im plrtt
wmr Mfloar nuitioned in thim Oha ter rho
doe@ not oolleot the maxlmummount or L 6 rear
ror any fleoal year an4 who nporta delinquent
ices far +-hat youa*, ahall be ~antitled to reS8ln,
when' oolleoted, mob part or auoh +eunqtmnt r-8
as Im rrurriolest to"ooaplete the ga%imtm oomg~8a-
tion authorized by Artiolos 3833, 3688-A, and
3336 r0r the year in whloh aellnquent reer uer8
ohersed, and also retain the amount of lxoem
rees authorized by law, an4 the resuin4~r ,or the
delinpuent a06 rar that tiroal year, ahalL be
paid as herein provided ror when eoll.eolsed; Ho-
rided, the provisiona or this Artiale shall not
app~lyto any orrioer arter one year rko& the date
he oeafks to hOld the orrioer to whioh any dalln-
quentr80 18 due, and in the evnt the orrider
earnfng the rU8e that are deiinquent baa not ool-
leoted the 88918within twelve nonths after ha
xonoxable 0. Be& xutohlnea, iago 3
oeawa to ho14 tha 0rrioO, the amount or faea 001~
laotad shall be paid Into the oounty trcmrrury. . .a
Article 3897, Vernon~a Annotated Civil Statutes,
providea 15 part:
Qaoh alatriot, oounty and pmoinot ofrioer,
at the oloaa of aaoh rlwal year (omosmber 31at
mhalr make to the aimtrlot oourt or the aounty 1 5
whloh ha real4aa a morn atat~awat in Orlplloate
(On fOxma dSaignS4 ud approYe4 by tha State Audi-
tor) a oopy,oi rhioh statSma& ah~ll be foxwarded
to tha Stata Auditor b thS alerk d tha dietriot
oourt of said aounty wf thln thirty (W) 4aya Utor
th0 8e5i8 ha8 b0O5 rile4 in hiO 0rrioO O5d 050 00~~
to Be filed with the ooUnt auditor, if anq Othati
wlaa said oqpy shall be fl I ld rith tha DDp*f arloa-
err* uourt. aSi Feport ahalt &low the amount. of
all faoa, oommia6loita and wauaanwtion8whStov8r
la r wd by a@14 aftiou 4urlag tb rlaaal yaari
and waondry, awl show thm amount or i0tk8, 001~3
aisaioaa and'oaapanaatlona oollsotS4 by him durl
the $laoal year) thirbly, aG4 r6port lahLL1 eon6a"fiB
&o ltamlta4 rtatamant or all reer aeamiaalonr and
wm~nwtion~ Oar5Od aurlmg tha if8081 JSu wMh
WeF, not SSllSO@d, tog8th.F with tb n~.ma Of thS
gptii owlag raid fees, aommiaaiona an4 eoqaeaa-
. ..ln
drtlalr 8391, Var50ne8 A,Mobdta4 Clril ‘Statuka,
provldS8 in part:.
*. . .
*AL1 ourrant feea earn84 and oolleotad by
oriioera nawa in ~~%lola 9888 during any ilraal~
year In ezooS~'or tha maximumrsnd uaeaa allowed
by taia AOt, and rOF thOir .WXYfWe and rOS the
wrvlc?aS or 8hSlr dSputiS8 rad assistante and au-
thorized SrpSnaSa, together with all &l$nquent
ret00 oolle0ts4 an4 not uwa as provided in ArtloLo
3892, or use4 to pay aalariaa!or deputies str4aa-
aiatanta when ourrant fees lw iMUfriOi~aA~~, ahal
be paid into the &sunty Treaeury in th4 OoUnty
where the ex~asa aooruSd.
j..
Honorable 0. Earl ~UtOhingS, Page 4
!
“~11 feee due and not wllSotea, ae shown
in the report required by Artiole 3897, Shall be
oollaoted by thS offloor to whose orrloe the iwa
aoorued and Shall be diapowa or by Said offloer
in aacor4anae with tim proviSIonS or this Aot.
*. . . .”
In~anawer t.13
youx rkat quSatlon you an reSpSot-
fully advised it is the oplnlon or this aspartmnt that the
wtity attpmoy wrwd tha oommisalon in question whm he
obtafwd a fiinaljudgwnt in the wunty oourt in the wee
imolted and that the aou5ty attorney was 5ot only juatlrlsa
15 setting up this aommlaaion ae a dollnquent ree but was
mqtirad to 40 so under the provialons or tha roregoiee atat-
utea. It la bur fUrthor o lnlon thrt tbs oounty attorwy
who obtaina the IUagwnt Pn tha OOOR$J owrt is lntltla4
to ~paraonally r~etain tbo qwi golhr ($10.00~~ fee and tha
Portq Dollar (#40.00) ab~&Salon, provided, of oo.ucaa,thla
amount doss not lnonaae his oompaneat.ion beyond tha mui-
mumOompemtion whloh he was ehtitl.d to fW the yew 1913.
15 reply to yoursecond question you are a4dwd
that lt la our oplnlon that the ~shul.fr oarmd the wmmia-
aion authorlsed by Artlcre 951, veron!a Annotate4 uode or
Grimhal EroOednre when he eotu&ly aelloatad the money. 15
otimr wei48, if the aheriir ‘did net aotwlly eol19ot the rl5e
he is not entitled to a5 oozx.sUak5. The eh@rr I8 logally
entitled to retain the rf *a Dollars a54 seventy-iire ‘*n&a
(#5..75) as iwa earasa 15 1943, provl404; or oourw, this
amount does not iwreaw hle ooapenwtlon beyond thS wxlm~m
allowaa by law ror the year 1948. fr the aherlrr actually
aolleoted the rim 05 January 17, 194s, ‘raid rW wa slWWd,
as above Stated, when hS aatuall eolleoted the ri5a a@ u5-
dar the .orrlwra’ salary IJAW’
he f a required to bepoalt this
oommlasdon in the Orricers* salar,g Pu5d as the oou5ty la 5ow
coapa5aatlng eou5ty orriclale 05 @ annual rralary basis.
The sherifr properly lxaluiied the ‘omniad,on in his 1943 re-
port as it MS Rot earned at that time.
Yours very truly
AWtmp