Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

HonorableHaaer Garrison,Jr., Mreotor Deprtment of Publio Safety CemP=bQ &xitin, Texas Dear sin opinionHO. -145 ~. Rer lkuld'a countycommissioner, by viitue of the faat that at times he might skre as a magi&rate, be allowedto carrytipistol? Responding to your opinion request of recent &ate on the ques- tion a8 statedabove,we have oarei'ully investigatedthe authorities. The pertinentstatutoryprovisionsare containedin Chapter4 of Title 9 of the Texas Penal Code, Articles493 and 494, under the gen- eral headinguUnlamfullyCarrying&rms.-~~, Ue quote __- said articlesa *4rt. 463. 476, 339, 310 Unlkully oarryingarms "Shoevetshall awry on or about his person,saddle,or in his,saddlebags any pistol,dir&, dagger,alung-shot, sword cane, spear or knuoklesmade of any metal or any hard mbSta?me, bolrie lolife,or aqy other knife manufaoturedor sold for the purposeof offense cr defense,shall be pun- ished byfdne not less than#lOO.OO nor more than #600.00 or by oonfinementin jail for not less than one month-nor more than one year. Aots 1897, p. 6; 4ots 1906, p. 66; bat.91916, p. 194a 'b-t. 4040 476, 339, 319 Hot applioable "The precedingarticle shall not-applyto a person in actual serviceas a militiaman,nor to ang peaoe offioer in the actual disohargeof his officialduty,nor to the oarryingof wms on one’s own premisesor plaoe of busi- ness, nor to personstrpcreling,nor to any deputy oonsta- ble, or specialpolioemanwho receivescompensationof Hoa. Homer Garrison,Jr., Director,Page 2 forty dollarsor more per monty for his services as suoh offiosr,and who is appointed in wmfonn- ity with the statutesauthorizingsuoh appointmentJ nor to any deputy,whsn in the aotualdischargeof his dutiesas suoh,nor to any game wardan,or lo- oal deputyGeme, Fish end Oyster Commissionerwhen in the actual disohargeof his dutiesin the county of his residenos,nor shall it apply to any game warden or deputyGems, Fish and Oyster Cummissioner who aotuallyrsoeivesfrormthe State fees or oompsn- sationfor his servioes. bats 1871, p. 25, Acta 1918, p. 194.. Article 6, Seotion12 of the Constitutionof Texas contains this statements "All judgesof oourts of this State,by virtue of their office,be oonservatorsof the peaoe throughoutthe State." Smtion 1 of said Artiole 6 reads in part: "The judioislpower of this State shall be vested in ow SupreneCourt, in Courts of Civil Appeals,in a Court of Cr5min~lAppeals,in DistriotCourts,in Chnty Coufts;(b Coliimibsibnera~Couit~~ in thurts~ of Justioesof~thsPeaoe)‘sridin:suoh other oourta~&s'may be providedby law." (&~phasisours). Rhile Camnissioners'Courtsare Courtsof 1imLtedjurisdis- tion, th sre nevertheless"Courts.' Hill CountyV. Esmilton(Tex. 7 278 S.11,2921 Bradfordv..%ssley (Tex. C~II& App.) 226 6.W. Civ. &pp. 171, revsrsing(Tsx. Civ. App.) 190 S.U. 824. .~ 1. Artiole SK &our Code of CriminalProoedurr provides: "Art.'S3.‘ (41) (42) Rho are magistrates "Esoh of the f&lowing officersis a %mgistrstelwithinthe meaning of this Coder The judgesof the.SupremsCourt,the judgesof the Court of CriminalAppeals,the judgesof the dis- t&t court,the county judge,sny oountyoonrmissioner, tk justicesof the peace, the mayor or recorderof en inoorpor- &ed oity or to%.* (Dnphasihours). Hon. Homer Garrison,Jr., Page S Article 54 of.the tide of CriminalProoedureprescribes the duty of magistratesaa follows* “Art. S4e (42) (43) Duty of magistrates "It is the duty of every magistrateto preserve the peacewithin his jurisdictionby the use of all lawfulmeans8 to issue all prooassintendedto aid in preventingand supressingOr-J to cause the arrest of offendersby the use of lawful,meanain order that they may be broughtto punislaaont.(0. C. 32.)” &ile Article 36, Code of %ninalProoadure, reads as fol- lows, “&t. 36. (45) (44) Who are peace officers "The followingare 'peaoeoffioersr' the sheriffand his deputies,constable,the mar- shal or policemanof an incorporatedtown Or oity,.theofficers,non-ocmmiaaioned offioers and privatesof the State ranger force, and,eny privateperson speciallyappointedto~exeoute oriminalprooesa. (0.C. 63, hots 1919a p. 264.)" The last quoted artialedoes not nams a oou& oamaiaaioner as a '"peaoe offioer,'neitherdoes it name a justioeof the peace as 8uohJ but in the 0188 of PattonV. State, 129 Ten. '%. Rl 269, 86 S: W. (Zd) 774, we find.thefollowinglanguage(after oitingthe various statutes~snd constitutional provisionsquoted abore)r ". . . While a juatioeof the peace is not denom- inatedas‘a,peaoeoffioerunder articleSS; C.C.P., yet this aourthold in the case of JonesV. State (Tex. Cr. dpp.) 66 S.W. 92, thatt 'tiewho~is auth- orizedto ,preserve or maintainthe publicpeaoe,is a peace offioer. of courae,it would hare been oompetentfor the legialataire, in enactingthe pistol law, to have prescribedwhat officers. . . were authoriaedto oarry pisto.laJ but when they used the genera.1term, excludingfrau the opera- tion of the law all "peaoe officers,"it applied Hon. Homer Garrison,Jr., Page 4 as well to those who were constitutedpeaoe offi- oers under the constitutionas to those who were peaoe officersby the act of the legislature. While we have oonoededin what has been said above that the legislaturedoes not moan or treat wunQ- judges aa peace offloers,yet us think it is by no means clear that they did not intendto regardthem as suoh, aa oertainartioleaof the Code appearto anathemwith functionspertaining' to peace officers.+++ Fe hold that the oonstitu- tion m&es county judgespeace officers,end that ahen the legislature,in enactingthe pistol law, exoludedfraa its operationall peaoe officers, appellantwas embraoedin this list, sndas auoh peace officerhe was authorizedto oarry a pistol. e&rt&le 484, P-C., exemptsall peaoe offloers frau the operationof lirtiole403, P-C., prohibdt- ing the carryingof a pistol. In the case of Tippettv. State, 90 Tex. Cr. R. 373, 189 S.W. 466, 486, this court said:.Qyvirtue of section12 of artiole6 of the Constitution, all judges ++e are +++ peaoe offioers.+** A oounty judge is a peace offi- osr, then there is no esoapefrom holdingthat a judge of the oorporationoourt is also a peaoe offi- oer. eee &d if all judges are pesoe offloeraby virtue of the oonatitutionalproviai~ hereinbefore recited,then appellant,bgvirtue of being a judge of the oorporationoourt,muld be a peaoeoffioer, and authoriaedto oarry a pistol,evenwhen not in the .. actual.'dischargeof the dutiesof tha3~ffloe.': b. 'We see no good reasonwhy a justiceof tba~: -~, who-is a judge of a justicecourtwould not oome aith- in the defdnitionof a peaoe officerunder said ocnati- tutibnalprovision. We are thereforeoonstrained'to hold, in keepingalth the authoritiesabove oited,. that the appellant,being a juatioeof the peace,was a peace offioerand authoricedto oamy a pistol on the oocasionin question,even though he ma not in the actual disohargeof the dutiesof the off3ce. *. . . . * Ron* Rcmer C9rrisaP1, Jr., Page 6 See also Satterwhitevs. State, 112 Tax. Cr. R. 674, 17 S.H. (Zd) 623. at p. 926. Cles.rly,a countyoaaaissioner, while servingas a magia- trate,is a peace offioerwithin the meaningof the terms of Arti- ale 484, Penal Code, supre,which, maong other things,makes inap- plieableto peace offioersthe provisionsof Artiole 483, Penal Code, aupra,definingthe ,offenseof unlawfullyoarryingarmso Rut we cannotbring ourselvesin agreementwith the last statementquotm ed abovefraa the Patton base, i.e., that a magistrate,3 magistrate, is authorizedto,oarry a pistol on= oocasionwhen not in the actual dischargeof the'dutiesof his office. In additionto the language of Judge.Rawkins, mritingon the ~ats.te's.motion for rehearingin the patton o*se, "Ho oannotagree, as insistedby the state, that on the night of the killing appellantwas not in the dischargeof the duties of his office,'.whiohwethink olearlyindicatesthe statementin the originalopinion.tobe obiter dictum,we showingthat the languageof the statute literallywhat it sayswhen it exemptsaany actual dischargeof his officialduty:".TrimbleV. Nate. 132 Tex. Cr. . 6, 04 S.H. 2d 31 at pp. 34-35 (specialranger; dr%v.ving cattleat¬ on officiald&)~~Gti&ci V. State,-94Tex. Cr. B. 636; 252.S.W.156 (deputysheriff,drivingjitney and not on'offioralduty)3 Ransomv. State.73 Tax. Cr. R. 442, 165 S.H. 932 (deputysheriffout- side oounty). Wethink the proper Lnswer to your queation‘iathat a cow&. oommisaioneris a -gistrate by virtue of his officesthat when he acts in the oapaoi* of suoh~magistrate he is a -peaOeOffiOerJ',?$atfi~isE8 end when he sots as aoh peaoe offioerin the aotual disoharg officialduty,..~. he la _..anthoriaedto oarry a pistol and at othe,rtimes he 'i in diEferentpoaition~~than any other citizenor civil offiber. Gd in?hia connection, we point out that s%rince its originaleneats&& our presentArticle484 of the‘Penal-Code has been amended;-This~&at- ute was formerlyknown as Article47.5in the 1911 reviaionJandwas Artiale 339 in the revisionof 1596 and Article 319 in the revisionof 1679* The learned judge,writingin the Patton ease on originalsub- mission,must have overlookedthe ohsnge.appearing for the first time inthe oodificationof 1911, the languagein the exemptionsof 1896 and 1879 providing,that the prohibitionas to bearingamas shouldnot apply to ' a person in aotual aervioeas a militiaman,nor to w peace offi- oer or a poliocman,or person summonedto his aid, nor to a revenue Hon. Haaer O@rriaon,Jr., Page 6 or other civil officerengaged in the disohargeof offioialduw," etc., thus showingthat a "peace offioerawas iamme uuder those codes fram prosecutionfor Faring anaa at a~ tfme or plaae, whereasthe peaent statuteolearlylimitsthe peace officer's exemptionto the time end plase where he would be "in the aotual disohargeof his officialduty.* Truatingthat the above fully anwrs yvur inquiry,we are Yours vergtru1y ATTOBBEXGENEEiAL OF TEXAS s/ Benjamin&ode11 By Benjtiin%bdall &saistant APPROVEiD HOV 15, 1941 G~OV!SFt SELLERS FIRST4SSISTOT AlTORtiEY GBRBRAL Zip+vid Opigdpn Cumittee byBm chdrman