OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Newell Cambron
County Auditor
Hopkins County
Sulphur Springs, Term
Dear Sir:
Your letter or January
opinion of this department on the
reads a.s hollows:
on the r0it
on8 allowed
nd Constablea.
18 the full o d above men-
tioned orrice
ruli ~0nnniaon
on 00
eo d by an offloer upon reoognlzanoes
6 obligations reoorerod upon In
the name of he S te under any provision or this
iii: bi~rreltures judgments and jury
fees: oollected und& any provision of this Code
shall rorthwlth be paid over by the offlorrr oolieot-
lng the 'same to the county treasurer of the proper
oounty, after riret deduoting thererrom the legal
tees and oomlsslons for oolleotlng the 8ame.
fionoaable lewell Cambron- Page 2
"Art. 950.
*The dlotrlot or oounty attorney shall be entitled to
ten percent or all fines, forfeiture8 or moneys oolleated ror
the State or oounty, upon judgments recovered by him; and
the olerk or the oourt in which said judgments are rendered
ahall be entitled to five per cent of the amount or said
judgments, to be paid out or the amount when oollected.
Art. 951.
“The aberift or other offloer, except a justlee or the
pegce or his clerk, who collects money for the State or
county, exoept jury tees, under any provision of this Code.,
shall~ be entitled to retain five per cent thereor when
colleoted."
It is olear we think, that the above quoted statutes
regarding the payment of commissions on money colleoted by thr
orricers named therein under the provieions of these statutes
applies only to money aatually collected.
Referring to Article 950, supra, It Is stated in
Texas Jurlsprudenoe, Vol. 15, p. 425:
n. . . .
“The right of the prosecuting attorney to suoh
tees or oommissions accrues only upon the colleotion
of the money, and payment may be made only out of the
money oollected; the attorney’s right does not aocrue
upon the placing of an execution in the hands of the
sherlrr, since the execution may never be satisfied.
. . . . (1
The case of Smith ‘1. State, et al, 9 5. W. 274, among
other thlnge, holds:
"A county attorney is not entitled to commission
upon a~ilne uncolleotsd by reason of Its remlrsfon
by the governor . . . .”
The ease of the State v. Dyohea, et al., 28 Texas
535, among other thlngr, holdrr:
"CO~86lOn6 on adjudged fOrielt~es become
due to the attorneys representing the State only
when the moner Is eolleoted, and they are to be taken
out of the money oollectedi They are not *co6ts*,
and oannot be taxed as suoh. If the money be not
colleoted, no right to such commlsalon aoqruer to
the attorneys; and this, notwithstanding that their
failure to oolleot It Is attributable solely to the
* ’
Honorable Newell Cambron- Page 3
action or the governor remitting the torfeltti*.”
Hopkins county has a populatlon of thirty thousand
two hundred and two Inhabitants according to the 1940 Federal
Census, thererore, the county d~rlclals or said county are
compensated on an annual salary basis as required and author-
ized by Section 13 or Artlole 39120, Vernon’s Annotated Civil
Statutes. The precinct orrlcers oi said county are compensated
on a ree basis.
Under the orrlcer*a salary law (Sections 1 and 3,
Article 39128, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes) the county
attorney, county clerk, and the sheriff are not entitled to
retain personally any commieslone whatsoerer on rlnes, but
such commlsslone are to be collected as required by the
orricere~ salary law and when collected, such commlaslona are
to be paid to the officers’ salary fund. As the prec.lnct
orflcers of said county are oompensated on a tee basis, the
constables mentioned in your inquiry are entitled to retain
the 5% comlsslon when they actually colleot the fine or fines.
In,rlew of the roregolng authorities you are respect-
fully advised that It Is our opinion, as above stated, that the
payment or commlsslona RQd moneys oollected by the orilcers
named in the roregolng statutes &.@Effmitk4d to such commlsslons
only on the money actually aqlleoted. To illustrate, if a One
Hundred Dollar rlne la assessed and Twenty Dollars la paid on
such fine, the orricers are entitled to keep or retain the com-
m.iaslon on the twenty dollars actually collected. However, as
above stated, the county officials mentioned who are compen-
eated on an annual salary basis are not legally entitled to
retain personally any commieelona, but such commiealons when
oolleoted must be deposited into the Oiiloersl Salary Fund.
The constables who are compensated on a tee basis are legally
antitled to retain personally the commlselon allowed by th*
,foregolng statutes on the money or rlnee actually colleoted
by them.
Yours very truly
APPROVFD
FEB. 6, 1943 ATTORNEY
GENERAL
OF TgxAs
Grover Sellers
FIRST ASSISTANT By(slgned) Ardell Williams
ATTORNEYG- ArdeU w1111ams
Assistant
AW/PO APPROVED
OPINIONCOMWI’M’EE
XiC& By BWBChairman