OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Hon. LInton S. Satag*,PageB
dred and seventy-nine(Sl,799) nor more than
fifty-two thousand, seven hundred and ameaty'
nine (SZ,7791,aooording to th8 last pmoeding
Federal Census OS the UuIted States, JustIoe8
of the Peaoe and Gonntabler *hall hare and r8-
oslte as fees of offloe Twentyderen mha~a
end Fifty Dollar8 ($WSO) eaoh per annum. Pro-
rlded that aaoh JUtIoer oi the Peaoa and Ooa-
stables 8hall al80 reoulra lx o ea afee8 In aa-
dltlon thereto by retaining one-third oi mob
%xoea8 fee8 uutll auoh one-third of auoh pxoua
f%e8, togetherwith the 8aia amount of lbenty-
aeven Hundred and Fifty Doll8ra (#Z7SO), equal8
the sum of Three Thousand Dollar8 ($SOOOl.*
Y3X.Z. All law8 or parts Of law8 in 0011-
illot herewith are hereby repealed.
*fBcI.
.S. This Aot 8haU beoane efieatlre
on and after It8 paaaage.
“8x. 4. The faot that the paaaaga of O&p-
ter t20, AOt8 of the Regular 8eaaion of the Forty-
third Legislatori,1995, Page OM, rade.haeqwe
provIaIon ror+be oompen8atlon of the Ju8tioer OS
the P%aoe and Constables In 8uoh OOtllltIe8, whloh
Oti881Qn and failure to 80 prwlde will, result in
a rerloua impairment of the work of the Jurtloe
Court% and Oonatablea,and Impo8e an uudue hard-
ship on those Ju8tioea of the Pea08 and COn8table8
in thq larger oltleo in luoh oouutlea rho will
reaoh their maxIam% fee llmlt8 and e~eaa fee8 of
ofiloe long betora the end of the ourrunt ye(LT,
and who will be expeoted and required to serve the
publla In thsir many dutIe8 without ramnorutlon
thereafter,and tha iaot th a tluoh offloiala are
oalled on and required to perform m%uy dutloa for
?hIoh no fee or other oempenaatlonIs provided,
oreate an emergenoy awl an lmperatlve publlo ne-
oeaslty that the ColutltutiotmlMule requlrl.ng
bill8 to b% read en three soreral Qay8 be, %ad the
same 1% hereby atuperidetl, and this Aot 8hall take
%?feot and be In Soroe tr%m aad after its passage,
and It Is so eaaoted.*
The aboimentloned Ast was finally paaasd In Yay,
lSSS, and iIl%d with the Saoretary of State on M%y 17, 19SS.
Naturally the queatlon %rI8e8 wðer Or uOt It ti WIfe8t
from th% langosge in the Aat It8eli that it was Oh% &Etul-
tlon of thu Legislatureto Iaore%%e the rarinuu allewaaoe
to auoh otiloura for the eatlrs
c year, lSJS, aud all futum
_~
Hon.L¶.ntonS.Ekva6e,Pye 8
years, or whether it raa th8 fntunt
to m& a8a blpplf-
a
sable only to the&portI~O? tie p~1@355oh solla~
sd the effeatlvmdate 0r t&a Aot.
Tbs eater&pnoy 8lau8e olearly IndIeatu an ltt
on the part of the L6gfrlatacre to make the fnareaae in 82:
aryt0 applytbroughout the lurr0atyearo?l935~ The me
oftbword~ourrent~aar~ la IndIeatIrsoftbe lntontof
the Legislatureto treat the allmauae to the Justioea o?
thePea and oormablea as klngona ymrlybaaie, t&at
la,?romfauuaryX toDeoamber 32. The rrauneratlonfor
these offf sea was treated u being 011 a parly ba618, a~%d
the inoruao proilded for in the Act wa8 elearly lnteaaed
to emer the entire year ior which the nxlatum See limit
was ptorid8d.’ It la true, aa a
apuak &WO8QO8tiV84 alla mot
a oontraryIatsDt on the
feat either br aprua
implidation muah laws 8ay have a retroaotirsl??eot. 668
the 8~08 Ot CUX ~a. Boblaoa 3.W 8. 1. ll49* &8riOan ~UXF
sty co. or P. T. vs. Axtell 60. 8s 8. w. (8aj 9l5.
The Juatioeor the Peaoet~~38his salary6 8om-
penaatlonotna par4 basis. His duties carry on through-
t tha -t year. At t&e end or *at o-t mar h8
It nqulrod to mke a m 8tatOM¶lt of th0 report m
~~~t~h~~eea,aonmIaaIoaa and ~enaatlmu t&m
. See ArtleleS391,Vera~n*sCIvll8ta-
ttlt.8.
I? aurf.ag moh year the alat1as o? the peaa h8
rooelvad tees In exmaa oftheltita proa~rIbedbyl.am?m
his remuneration, he has to reimburse the county. U he
ha8 reaelvedequal to or lea8 than the ~S~SWIS
throughoutsuch ya%r and was not pro ratable. We quote
traanthla oa8e aa?ollmar
Vhe fee H&ate pmvlder a 8ertala p8r
eunt o flaaea8bd valuation a8 py for the
aaaeaaor~a 8ervIoea. The ooupea8at.tlon
inmot
.EOn. Llnton s. Savage, Page 4
?or taking renditions only. xhe statute does
not 8Eay he 8hall reaeive So muoh ror part o?
hi8 work and something else for othar o??IaIal
duties. I? the oampen8atfoa was dlrlaable, it
would bs poaalbla to apply the 1930 Fee Statute
to part o? ralator’a aoaomt8 end the 1QZfi law
to tither portions tharao?, but, alaoa It Is Im-
po8slble to plsoe a value upon his aeraral 8er-
vloea, It must be assumed that the Lsglalature
Intended to apply the new rate to the ~1OEs8er-
rloea a8 a whole. xhI8 18 all the more rea8on-
able a oonolualon In rl~w of ~the Saot t+at the
Leglslnture kufiw he oould not present his bill
for 8enIoea until the fall 0s 1985. At the
tiae his aooouut baoame due, the new rate was
erfeotlre. I? the Legislature had lnteaaedto
apply one rate to part of the aooount and ano-
ther to the other, then he rhould hare provided
a method for doing 80. 1t rhould hate plaoed a
value on eaoh part o? the work. Mot having done
so, we hold thora was no auoh Intention on the
part of the lawmakers. We think tbl8 o??IoIo
rhould be paid tmdar the 19SS statute. We ha+e
80 authority awer* thf8 8ItuatIon, and oouuy
eel ofte none* we **awe that no ettoraey la
thie oaae has found any authority in point.*
We do no; pass upon the ooaatItutIonalIty of the.
8t8tute here Involved, beaaU8e not reqmeatea. Eowawr, r0r
your Iniormatlon, we are herewith eaolo8lng aoplea of OpIn-
Ion 1908.7% sad 643.
h view O? the foregulug authorities, you are rm-
apeottolly advised that It i8 the oplnloa or thI8 department
that’the Juatloe8 of thm Peak and oanrtable 8errIng a8 auoh
o??lel8la In the oouutlea that ame within tha popolatluu
braeksta a8 above designated were entitled to oolleot a maxI-
mum or ‘f’hrrr ThouSand Dollars (#3000) for their 8ervIoea
throu&otit the year or 193s and no proration was intendedby
t&3 Legislature.
Trusting that the foregoing Nip eaawara your In-
quIry,werueIa,
Yours wry truly
EDOCT 23, 1939 AT¶'O~NEY~EHSRALOTTEXAS
A@fbdJ&YGENERAL OF TEXAS