OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
-i AUSTIN
Honorable A. A. Uiller
! ;., Oounty kttarney
liewton County
tmfton, Taxae
opinion x0. 0-5686
Ro; lisherirrs
- Board bills for
prloooers.
*our rfi~~tm for opinion upon the r0uorrfag stated fp38-
tiont
WGan tha eoPllsi8alonerm*aourt psy a board bill
for the sherift when he only arreetb a prisoner
a~@ does’~notplaaehlm in Jail?”
has been rsaelved and oareI?ullToonsidsred by t&&o Department.
The tsherirrof Nawton County, TOMI, 28 oonipetlaatod
on
a tea basirr.
Artdole 1040, Vernon16 AnnotiatadTexss 006~sof Oriminal
Proaedure,reads am follwmr
CEor’tpe safe lceeplng,support and mxintenauae
of prleonere contIne In Jail or under guard, the
sherlrf shall be allowed the following ohargasr
“1 For the safskebp or each prisoner ror
etichdd the mutiof rittaen ceata, not to exceed
the mm of two hundred dollars per month.
“2. For support and malntenanoe,for each
prieoner for eaoh day SW& a~ amount as my be fixed
by the oormissfonerscourt, provided the same shall
Bon. A. L Uller, page 8
be reascmbly Sui%Oient for such purpose, an6 in
no event shall it be leas than forty aents pe:r day
AO~ more than seventy-fiveceritsper day for eaoh
prisoner. The net profits shell constitutereea
of oifice ad shall be accounted for by the sherlfr
in hie Wual report a8 other fees now provided by
law. The eherltf shall in au& report furnish an
Itemized verified eooount of all expenditurer mad8
by him for feeding and naintsnanaeof prisoners,
aocompanyingsuch report wlth reoelptsaxxlvouohem
in support 0r such item 0r expenditure,and the
dlfferencebetween such expendituresand the amount
allowed by the comadaafoner:scourt ahall be deemed
to oonstltutothe net profite ror whloh eeib oftioor
&all ao8ount a6 fees of oflice.
*3. Bar neoercrary
mediaal bill and reasonable
extra oompeneatlon for attentloxito a prleoner during
elokne5~;euah M mount am the ccmmls~lonerrr court
of the county where tho prisoner is confinrd may
detenelno to be Just and proper.
%. For reasonable funeral oxptursw3 in Oaee
of Qsath."
The oases or Dall.+aCounty va. Re~nolda, 199 S. Vi.9011,
aailiiarrisOountyVS. HamoM, 8021S. ii.%l, hold that the
to the ahorlffior the board antioar8 ot
par diem a.llowanco
prisoner8is for eaoh day the prisoner is in Jail, rrgardless
of whether he remins in Jail the whole of the bay and that
if the.prisoner 18 kept in Jell for any substantial.
portloh
or the 5ny, the stierifiis entitl& to the full per diem
allowanoe. ';requote fronthe oaae~of Dallas County VB. 30~0lU8,
199 5. 3, 703, at3 r0llowsr
"11;is contendedby amelimt tit&tCo oon-
&rue 6.'day'-&used in 6 statute to maan the
t&e rmm riMnight to ti&l&t would, in many eases,
work &A iAjU8tiO8. In reply it ti@t Justly be aaid
that in meny ways it might work en fnjuatioa to the
sherlft*toconstrUe the statits as oontended for by
appellant.
"It ~612~6thfiti~ the in6tluit Oaf30 the OcUnty
auditor required thplte nsoord be kept ol'the
rreotionalpart of t&e day, when only a part or a
Boa. A. h. Xlllsr, page b
day was oonsurnedin ke*ping a prisoner, in 8ome
lnstsnoesto the hour, allewlng the sheriff only
lB/B oants per hour. By thlr methdl It Eight
arioo that it a prisoner wan reoalved ln the
mornlq, say at 'Io’elook, and dlsoharged at 8
o'olook the aama day, arter two meals were ~Ivem,
sna all the troubls engendered for reoelrlng,
keeping, and blrahar&inghim, the eherltf would
only receive about 18 oents, whloh would inm
respeot begin to oompensatehim for hfs trouble
In keeping, supportiq, ma maintaining him.
r&en the contractwas made ror t&e pay of the
rherlft ror auoh serrices there wan nothing said
about a divlslon of a 4ayts time, ena our deoisi0~
holding tiiatwhen a day 18 so expreaeml It ir to be
oonstruad to mean the tlma llaprlw between mld-
dgbt ana midnight,we ~111 it0 00ntm-m it,
lspeolally so when the oounty oomclssionershad the
opportunity to llmlt it in tha oontraot with the
sheriir ana fall.4 to do 60.”
You 8t6te in yo+r letter that the a0f0ndsnf was arrorted
b&i not plaoecl ln jail. We asmme from your letter #at the
amd3d aa reloarad very 8000.after h$8 arrest, wa8 not
plaoea "ua4er guard" ror any aubstantlallength of tlau and
ww no tla-veb any meala by the tshulft.
TJnbr the fa8ts atated and assumad,lt is our opinion that
your que8tlon should be aaewsred ln the nsgatlve, and it 18
lo answered.
Very truly JOUM
ATTORW?&Y
QENEBAI OT ‘MCXAS
BY
W8T:B NIL J. mIlnln&
Asslutsnt
APPROVEDJm 23, lg41
ATTORNEYGENSRAL OF TEXAS