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OFFICE OFTHE ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS
Eon. Robert I?.Cherry
County Attorney
SLSque county
&31~isii%n,
Deer air:
.
Hon. Rotkmt P. Chmry, April 26, 1939, Page 2
b,
4. Is the oounty attorney entitl-
ed to any ree upon conviotlon or plea
of guilty to a misdemeanorin the coun-
ty oourt where the sentenoe imposed is
00dinb0d in jail for a period 0r
time without rine and where no tine or
costs are actually paid by the derend-
ant?
we rlll take thou up in th#clml&
,in
whiah they ore submittedand dlmoum thrn ory‘at
a timo,
*Whenever a dirtriot or a qounty
attornsyha8oolleot~ddn~iorthe
state OX'w OOlltltJ,
hs dhd.i%With%
thirty -8 artarreoM.vingthe same
pay it Into th8 itat4 or tha soun*to
IIon.Robert I?.Cherry, April 26; 15139,Page 3
v&ioh it belongs ai'terdeductingthere-
iran and retaining the oommissionsal-
lowed him thereon by law, auuh dlstriot
or county attorney shall be entitled to
tea per oent commissionan the rirst
thousand dollars oolleoted by him fn any
one ease for the state or county from
any inaividue4 or aaupany and l'lveper
OeoltWldL18lQ8OV~OIlOthOUsaad&l-
ler8, to bo retained out 0r tlm llaley
when ooUeoted, and he &all also bo
OlltitrSdtO~OtainthS SSBISOOlIUIiiSd~
on all oolleotionaniadefor the atatb
or any oounty."
Uader thl8 Poole, a oouutp attoraey
18 entitm to the oanmi881m thamin ~Speoified
r0r moneywlleotod byhimin a 8Utt again8t *ha
tax oolhator ra 8h6rtage ln his amount wit&
ths St&O. -~ilOt~&thi88ZtiO~~ OOnitlSsdrith
Artlole 950 of the Oode oi Criminal Probedure&~
It 18 our opinion that th8 oouaty attorney i#
entitL.dte the OQS&S81OM protided by Artidlr
s33~0rthe Retimed cltil Statutes whioh iokta&
pro4nltmanjr~tuQtoanQtualu~~oa6
thouSanddo~8ooll~~b.rirrgcrrOrultaep
au 8uamoIIIF oothou8anQ do-S.
I8 ixlmwerto quO8tlm x0. &,wOwOkll4
cry, thi%twhth it 18tI'UO that th8 0ti8aiOBXW8"
courthas thb.pwerto omployattornePBtoaadat
th0 00i&Utg attwwy fn th8 pTO843OUtiOll Of it8
Qlah8 and8U%t8
andtOp(v iOr 8Wh I)eTVtOM orrt
Or 00&Y fUw;‘thi8 ~3008n0t MXI that mdOJIW
miwioners' aourt has the power to dOpr1vO the
oounty attorney or his rightful authority, nolp
doss It mean,thatmsrelybeoausea WXJOn~t
whom a jU~ti is takan, a8 in a tax suit, 8808
tit to pay the money dlreo~~to the oounty freas-
urer, that the oaunty attcpmy is not entltlad
to his ~ommi.sslcm~.It18 OllrOpiniOXlthatths
Eon. Eobert P, Cherry, April 26, lQ39, Page 4
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Cozmiissloners*Court has tha right to order the
p:iymnt of such part of the funds ED are right-
fully due to the oounty attorney,to suoh oomty
attorney. In support or our opinion In regard
to this question, No. 2, we ofte you to Tex. Jur..
Vol. 11, p. 575.
In answer to your questfanNo. 3, sub-
mitted to ua, we a&n rder yourto Art&al0 935
of the .BevfsodOivll Statutes, a8 herolnbeforo
8et tarth~andUhiohyouhaV08o thoraughlJdi#-
ouared ia the brfai .whlohmu 8ubrpitted fo thlo
dS@dXWt ~!~long~&thyO~~ro~~~f~~Opin%iM~
It i8 not nue8uWy that t&8 8Ult be
riled la order for the oou~&y attommy to'be WF
titled to tho oommloolo~ pmvldod, and it io our
opinl~thatwhbnfhooormtyat~~~8 saaplhd
with Or xaet%ho roquimmonto Or AFtiUle 339 and
Art1010 333, uhlah ay bo don0 aithg by ii
sultorinstitutingouahothlrrg~ee~ 9
a8 1)
neoessary,and money~i8 ooXbot8d a8 rooult 0r
the OffOh nude by tho ooutktylttoxhq, tbrowh
th8 prooeediagoimtituteb by 8wi.oo~uty attor-
ney, that ho Lo eatit&d to thm @Omd.O8ii4llcl pEo-
ridad by fboos otattiso,and thio i8 bX10 ova
though the money is aotwUy pa54 to. tha otnanty
tma8ursr~or to the O~8Bf~ofo* tburt~ @OF
holding fa this ‘regard i8 8Upport.d w TWl’Ou
Y; Grqen, 31s.U. iIS& In uhiolitho court holdo
that whom3 t&o oouty attorney h68 tendered'hio
8trrPlOe8 a8 W$lirsd by Al’tiOr, 989, ho is Oil-
titled to his ~OSM3.88hlo eV.8 thW#l 8Wh 8-
V3.088 were refuud, and the Oounty i8 liabl0 1Fb-r
ymed to him or the oda~lons provided by
3%. See also l5 Tar. Jbr., p. 404.
Ih answer to your quest&an Ho, 4, we
will atate that this departmnt has repsatebly
held that the oounty attorney.;Lbnot ent,itlsdto
any ree upon oonvlotionor plI$:0r guilty to a
Hon. Robert F. Cherry, April 26, 1939, Page 5
misdemeanor in the county aourt where the sen-
tence imposed is confinement in jail ior a period
of time without fine and where no fine or cost
are actually paid by the defendant_.7JnderArticle
1061 of the Code ot Criminal Procedure of Texas
you will find that the fee provided for the dls-
trict and county attorney 18 to be taxed against
the defendant. ~~Yo)c, ~0 rind uo pro~idi0~ or
law In the statutes or elsewhom uhiah would en-
title the aounty attome to anf.fee for aonvlo-
tion In the county ooort where the sentence inposed
is punishmentby oonrinementin jail, 1t.i~;
thererore,our opinion, as heretofore held by
this department,that the oounty kt$arney is not
entitled to any ree upon oonviotlonor plea'of.
gt$lty to a mliedeqm?mor In the aounty aourt.whem
the sentenae impoe@d io oogifinement In jail for
a period of time~yl.thimt fine and where no fln~e!
:.~..:; pa&d by the,defellban$.
or costs are a.@iti~ll.y
In 4&&r to your question mr0.5, it
is our opinion that thera fsno BtatutorJ author%-
ty forthe commissioners*Court to tillorany 6uma
of money to its member8 Mr expenses. As stated
in your brief submitted to u(l;It md certainly
seem that the Commissioners* ,Courtdoes not have
the power to allow its members any amount of money
in~addltloato the salary presoribsd by law.
In answer to pur question Ho. 6,'ws
refer you to Artiale 5897, as emended, of~the .Be-
v$f;zp;l Statutes of Texas. This artio3.Freads
:
"lEaohdistrict, county end pre-
ainct offiaer, at the close of each
fiscal year (Deaember 31at)~ahall make
to the district court of the county In
which he resides a sro& StateIWnt, in
triplicate, (on forms designed +d ap-
proved by the state auditor) a COPY of
Ear; 1 i?obcrtP. C:ti:rry,,kprll
26, iQS9, l?qe 6
wLlc!inti;~cxmnt&hell be Pormrded to
the st :t? mdltor by the alerk of
...the
.
district comt of eald aoumyvntnm
t idrty days after the same has been fil-
ed ln his office, and one aopy to be
filed with the county auditor, If any;
othenvise sri;dcopy sf~I.1be filed with
the Cormissloners* Court. Said report
shall ahow the emountorallfM8,o~
missiona and oonpmnoatlaawhatever oarned
by said offioer d&g the fiwal 7eaq
and seoondly,shallehowthe amount of
fees, oommlssionsand oorapensation ool-
leoted by him during the flieodlpart
thirdly, said report shall oontaln en
itaraized statemat of all feea, eon&r
alow and compensatiaoeiumed during tha
fieoal year whloh were not oollwted,
together with the name of the party aridg
said fees, uommissIonrran6 oom~tlas,
Said report shall be filed not Xatar
then February lat follm3n.g the.elosa
OS the fisoal year.arrdfor saoh day
after said date that Baid report .rexnalna~’
not filed saidoffloorahaU.bellabl~
to a pen&y of twaxty-flvodoJJar8,
rhlahmaybereaomxwd bytheaoauctyin
a suit broughtrar Mach purpoaas,and
in aaditicm said offlt%aC &all be sub-
jeot to removal from offioo,W
In CKnlstruingthl8 artiOlB it 18 our
o&im that the aounty attorne7 Is required to
file sutt to reoovor the penalty provided by euah
article when ordered to do 80 by the Oommiaaion-
ems.'court.
Trusting that this mtisfaotorlly
answer8 your inquiry, we,are
.:'
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"Yours very truly
ATTORREY GWAL OF TlEU8
FCC tomb