Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

‘. 626 7 1 OFFICE OF THE All-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS b AUSTIN Honorable J. M. nilllam~ aounty Auditor Tarrant Oounty Xort Worth, Texas Dear Sir: equeating the opinion ttere reads a6 r0li0w8t haa also been de relative to 8 In other looal- nt Oounty Juvenile expanse be paid get that we are nowfoperating oats this expenbiture~ :?a real- ather an odd request and that y rerused to pa? these olaims, on or ruling that you may give e&ion will be greatly appreolated.” Senate Bill No. 44, Aots or the 48th Leglslatuxe ResuZar Session, 1943, 18 an aot athe purpose of whloh is b ahange the method for handling delinquent ohlldren from the Present orimlnal prooedure to guardianship in order to seoure ror each ohlld ooming within the dot suoh oare, gUidanOe and 62’i - Honorable J. M. WlLllame, Page 2 oontrol as ~111 serve the ohllb’s welfare and the best in- terest of the state1 providing for a Juvenile Court ln each oounty of the state in the County or District Courts elready eatabllshed) defining oertaln terms) providf!?g for the pro- aedure in oases or delinquent ohildrenl nunner or hearing1 dispositional power of Juvenile Courti seleotlon of ouatodlal agenoyl protidIng ior support of ohlldren oommltted to ous- &dial agenofj presorlblng that reoords shall be oonildentlal) permitting physioal and mental examinations of ohlldren upon order of the oourti presoribing plaoes of detention; oourt aeseioni oo-operatloni oontemptl methods of appeal1 saving Olause; re-enaotlng that partion or Artiole 2329, Revised Citll Statutes, 1925, dealing with dependent and neglected ohlldrea; repealing olauee; and deolarlng en emergency, and effeOtlYe date to be sixty days atter enaotaent.* Seotlon 3 of Senate Bill No,. 44, supra, provides in partr . No . . The term ‘delinquent ohlld’ meana any remale person over the age of ten (10) years end under the age or eighteen (16) ears and any male person over the age ot ten (10 3 years and under the age of seventeen (17) yearel “(a) who violates any penal law of this etate or the grade or relonyt ‘(b) or who violates any penal law or this state ot the grade of misdemeanor where the punlsh- nent prosorlbed for suoh offense may be by oonfine- malt in Jail; “(0) or who habltually violates any penal law or this state or the grade of misdemeanor where the punishment presorlbed ror suoh offense is by peouniary rine only1 “(a) or who habitually riolatea any penal ordlnanoe or a political subdlvislon of this statei “(e) or who habitually tlolates a oompulsory eohool attendanoe law of this state; 628 Honorable CT.& Wllllama, Pago 3 “(i) or who habitually so deports hlmselr as to injure or endanger the morals or health of himself or othersi “(g) or who habitually assoolates with vi- olous and Immoral persona.“~ Seotlon 11 or said sot provides: Whenever any orrloer takes a ohlld into oua- todp, he may release said ohlld to a parent, guara- Ian, or any other person upon reoelpt of a written or oral promise or f3aia person to assume ocfnplete responsibility ror said ohlld and to have him be- fore the probation offioer or the oourt at any time then, or subsequently, speolfled by said orfloer. II’ not so released, suoh ohlld shall be placed In the oustody of a probation otfloer or other person designated by the oourt or be taken lmedlately to the probation department, the oourt, or to the plaor or detention designated by the oourt. The oourt may make a general Order UeSlgnatIng suoh plaoes of detention whioh may InOlUde private foster or boarding homes fork ohlldren, or suoh other plaoes of detention which to the oourt seem desirable, The County Oodssionera Court may pay for boarding or foster home oare for suoh ohildren to be detained, or all ohlldren aoming within the meanlag or this Aot whether prior to, or after the ohlld has been adjudged a ‘delinquent ohfld~.” Seotlon 24 0r aaid aot protldesr *Artloles 1083, 1084, lOS$, 1086, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1091, 1092, 1093 0r the (lode 0r Criminal Pro- oedure, and ArtIole 1087 of the Code ot Criminal Pmoedwe as amended Aots 1927, 40th Legislature, Chapter 163, Seotlon 1, are hereby repealed. “Artlolee 2329 and 2338 or the ~p~~~aclvll Statutes or Texas, 1925, are hereby . RAll laws and parts or laws In oonfllo t hsre- with are also repealed.” Honorable 5. 11. WIlllams, Page 4 Seotion 24-A or da aot reads as r0ii0w “This Aot shall in no wise alter or aireat existing laws with referenoe to dependent or ne- gleoted ohlldren as that term is derlned by Arti- ole 2330, Revised Clvll Statutea, 1925, and the Dlstrlot Court only shall have original jU~lsdlO- tion in all prooeedlngs wherein it la sought to have a ohlla adjudged to be a dependent or ne- gleoted ohlld, and its rlndlngs in suoh oases Shall be entered in a book kept for that purpose to be known as ‘Juvenile Reoord*.* Detailed provision is made by statute (Title 43, Yernon*s Annotated Olvil Statutes) ror prooeedlnga for the adjuaioation ma dlsposltlon 0r dependent ana negleoted children also adequate provision is made,ror the dleposl- tlon,:~m&tenanoe and oustody of ohlldren who are found to be dependent or negleoted. Your request, as we oonatrue it, does not pertain to dependent or negleoted Ohlldren, There- fo?e, this opinion la w be OonstrUed as applying to delin- quent ahlldren only. Tarrant Oounty has a population or 225,521 Inhabib- !$anta aooordlng to the 1940 Federal Csnsus. Artlole 5142b, Vernon’s Annotated Cl~ll Statutes, moviaea in part; “Seotlon 1. That the provisions or this Aot shall apply to and arreot auoh oountles only in the State of Texas as have, apoording to the last preoeding Federal Oensus, a population of not more than three hundred and twenty thousand (jZO,OOO) inhabitants, and not less than two huudred and twenty thousand (220,000) inhabitants, aooordlcg to the last preosdlng or any future Federal Census. "Qeo. 2. The Juvenile Board of suah oountlea shall be oomposed of the Judges ot the several Dlstriot and Criminal Dlstrlot Courts, thereof, together with the Oouuty J&s thereof. The members oonposlng said Juvenile Board”f?&%*oounties on aooount or the additional duties hereby imposed in them are eaoh hereby al- lowed an aaaitional oompe*sat~on of Seventy-five 630 flonorable 1. M. Williams, Page 5 ($75.00) Dollars per month to be paid by the Oom- mi~d~nerr* Court in such oounties, and the same to be in addltloo to all other’oompensatioii now allowed by law to suoh oitloersr *. . . .” It will be noted that the population of Tarrant County is auoh, aooordfng to the 1940 Federal Census, as comes within the provisions of the foregoing StatUte. Section 11 of Senate Bill No. 44, supra, expressly authorizes the Ckmlssioneraf Court to pay for boarding or foster how oare for oertaln ohlldren to be detained, or all children oomLng within the meaning of the act whethsr ?rlor to, or a+3?r ~the ohfld has been adjudged a delinquent ohlld. ‘: In-answer to your first questlon, you are advised that it 1s our opinion that the Commisslonersl’ Court r;lay legally pay for boarding or fonter home oare’ for oertaln children as are mentioned in the preoedins paragraph, out of oounty funds, proolded, of course, suoh expenditure 1s made in oompllanoe with the county budget. We have failed to find any statute authorizing the peyment of any expense to the members of the oounty Juvenile bard relative to plaolng delinquent ohfldren in foster homes ! *ioh are situated In other localitlee of the state. There- fore, it is our opinion that the expense inourred by the mem- bers of the County Juvenile Board while making trips relative tc Plaoing delinquent ohlldren in roster homes oannot be le- gally Paid. You state in effeot that the 1943 budget under whloh the county la now operating did not allooate the expenditures inWired about. Under the faots stated and in Viea of the *oreeoing statutes, you.:.are advised that it 1s the opinion of 21s department that the Conmlssloners’ Court of the oounty uaauthorlzed to make any expenditures of the funds of the cou%, exoept in striot oomplianoe with the budget, except a?Utrgsnop expenditures in oase of grave publio neoesslty to -et unusual and unforeseen oondltlons which oould not, iy rraSO~ble diligenoe thought and attention, have been in- tipdsd in the origin& budget. Suoh emergenoy expenditures 1’ 631 - Honorable J, Id. ~llllams, Page 6 must bs made in oompllanoe with the proper amendmentto the budget by the Comlseloner8~ Court. Whether or not the pay- ment for boarding or foster hone oare for delfnqlant ohlldren is a eltuatlon as oan be olasslfled as a grave pub110 neoesslty requiring emergenoy expenditures under the budget law so as to permit the Commlsslonera 1 Court to amend the budget, is a question of faot primarily to be passed upon by the Commiseion- era* a0w. ~Yoors very truly