Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

. _- -
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorabla Ii. A. Badges
county Auditor
Kllllamon cowq
Gwrgetrml, !rmam
Dear sirs
tbi8 depsrlzymt ham
oa a repra6emtatirsor offloer of tb
mat 111gseetl5ethat you m&Jr to
of t+ Departsmat CC Public &if&y.
Ax-Mole 44X5(1) 0reatutheDepartrtntob Publi0
safety or the state at Tuaa, and Artlclo 44la (S) rout4
th 6ontrolof the departpant inthwF\lbUo Bafety Corrrnieslaa.
Artiols Ml3 (4) reads in part ae f~llorrs:
I-bra.
H. rt.Hodgen, Puce e
"(1) The bamlsalon ah&U tormulate plans
and polloise for the enforoemmt of the crbninul
law6 und of the trafflo and aofety laws of the
state, the prevention of orlne, the deteotlon end
apprehennlonof violators of the lawa, end for the
eduoatlon otthe oitlzena of the state ln the pro-
motion of publlo safety and luw obmerranoe.
.Artlole44lS (I) read8 ae4r0mt
“The dlreator, under the 4lreotlon ,of the Corn-
HitWiOn, shall tiroe OCWmiSUiOZU3a8 law enfor~eamti
ottlcera to ill maabera oi the Texan mm-s, to all
?mmber8 of the mxaa wy PatTO&, and to suoh
other offlom o? the 4eparlsantan may be employed
by the siild4epartmmt.”
Artlola UlS (ll) ma49 la pert as follows:
*(iI Them ~aag0r r0rtm an4 its ~-0~31,
p r o p er ty, and reoords,
lq ulp ment no w a p a r t
o f th e
~jutatcwnml*a mpvfipentor theStat~of~ax.as,
are hereby transferredto and plaoed under the jurls-
blat1011OS the DOpartnSnt of Pub110 Saroty, and kk%
hereby des~tod as the Texas Rangers, and aa auoh,
eonatltutatha above mentIoned dlvlalon oi the de-
parwent + * +*
Artlclo uls (lo) ma4wM ro~owsr
'Ithedeparta#at #h&l k oaepotsedor three
4l~islons; 1.0. (a) The Texas Ru@en~ (bl The Taxaa
aistnaJ Patrol; and (0) The HOadqtrartekDlri8ion,
and such other divlaloru as the Comml88lon my deem
neoeamry.-
Art1010 4418 (18) reads ln part am tollever
cTbc state Iilghny notor Patrol of Texas aid Its
por6onne1, pro9erty, equipment an4 reoorda, now a
put or the Rl@my Dopartnmat OS lb0 State oi Terns,
are hmbf transform4 to and plaoed under jrrrlsdio-
tion of the Departmad of Pub110 Safety and are bareby
Hon. H. ii.Hodges, Page S
dooignateda6 the ‘pexaoHIghmy Patrol, and a8
auoh oonotitutothe abov6 mentioned dlvloion of
the departnmnt* L *-.
utlolo Uls iii It6 oubooothno iurtbor ~ro~laoo that
th eo fflo o r~-0OWl66~a6d
o, o t~lo ensa dldi8fed OWLo fth e
Toraol&huayPatrol6holl bo, mdth~pare~b~ oluthodwlth
oll the power and authority whloh thay 001 ha* and exoroloo
lo~noftho8kkHig~yrn~r~trolofTmo,~ their
dtltioo and funotlono ohall be tho oamo ao the' duties and fuuo-
tl0a.uthy ar6 LlorpUtordng. In addition they &all bo, and
ar6 horoby elothod with llltho -6 and authority whloh
:o
?a tbsaotorotbnnHby&wgl~foYPb~Oit``
Rangari~aPdt~tt&.rsruRansrnrab``~y
Patrolwaohall bo olothdxithall$he w otm- ottioen,
6d 6brY -d4 in the ``6titi0a 0r a0 2~6. shoy 6bu b0
authodty+omakmmrwt8, uldtoar6otlt6pm686motorlnln6l
oaoeo;aa4laoiTlluooowlmRspaolfloallydlrutodbyfho
ju4geoi~aooiutofrooor4$ond~lloaouobulk g-r-4 by
tlmlaw8regalatlnganbdUftaJrrPthep0uw0roddu uofshar-
lfro an4 ia.~fho dlo OimldlJmdutlu~uoopt alo~ohdl
haw the par and.2x bo..mtborlud rub urooto an4 to
ootaaty
to
dxeouto e&pro6666 or:orblnol uooo buy in the
Stats.;. All offlouo opuatw br rlrtw of thi8 sot ohall hnva
````ltyto.ra)rr arruta, aa 4lraWdby-tih and
warrant am&r the oon4ltlono
POI uathmloo4 by law,
and alsola aall oaoeo v4mn
a roilroad, and a rotormhialo,
oald for66ehallarrest
ionoo,they ahall~?octhGx
wh o r e
h o 60a ta n
o r flo o .hk
+, lng
thus lnournsd .shall br
"Ro aormorolu rotor whfal*, traok$raetor,
traileror owGtrolla 8h.U. b6 OpO?dOd Oflth6
publlo hl&myqW8i40 th6 ai* ,lidW of UI ia-
ourparatedalt~arWwn dth~loed~odlws*~
:````&ii?$~h~oi~?!i%t&-
hido, COIEUTS`` motor whiolo, traokwutor
trallrr or iad-trailor baring a $rukt -4
than lixhtmdred ( 6C?O
p)
o wdo p erlu.h widtho f
~p;~;gy anywhaol~aoaoentrate4 upon the mrfm*
oholl bo 09erat.d on the pi:@
ofho llmlto of aa lnao
olty or.town vovld@b h o wOTo r * th a t t7-Yl 9roTl610M
o fth isleo lo
t n ohall not beoops.~*ffOOtiVo.~tfitbo
lot day OS Janualy, ltX%.*
atlcle t327~,Section 33, of the Yenul Co&, prcs-
t:rlbesand eats forth the penslty for the violation of my of
the ~rovlslonsof the act.
krtlole 1005, Code of CrimlnnlFrooedure, provides
ceflzlte fees for the oherlff or other pea06 orflcer psrfom-
,136the servloeo ln mlodeneanor-oasesto be taxed aealnst.de-
fendant on oonvlotlonfor the aervloes enumerated therein.
We quote from Texas Jurlo. Vol. 34, p.50@, as tol-
lovm:
mStatutoo preoorlblnl:fees for publio.offloes
are strictly oanst.rued;~undhenoca rl@t to fees
may not rest ln lmplloatlon. Khere this right Is
left to oonatniotlon,tha language of the law must
bs oon~true4'lnfavor of the government. Where a
statute 1s oapable of two conotruotions,one of
which would give an offloor oompensatlonfor his
oervloe ln addition to a salary and the other not,
the latter oonstructlo~should be adopted. It 1s
no oonoeru of an offloer that the legislaturemay
have been toward othsr offloers more llberalth~
toward him ln the matter of compensationfor oer-
vloeS; nor does this fact justity the oourts in
upholding hls olalm for ooxpensatlonfor servloes
as against a fair and reasonable Interpretationof
the statutes. In applylnc fee statutes in esoer-
talnlng the fntent of the legislatureand the mean-
lng o? the statutes,the usual method and rulos'of
Interpretationare applloable."
Also see the oase of ZoCalla vs. City of Rookdale,
246 S,.W. 654; Blnford vs. Robioon, 244 9. W. 807; Eastlsnd
County vs. Hazel, 288 S. W. 310; Madben vs. Hardy, 50 9. X. 92G.
In Oplnlon~Wo. O-106 written January l8, 1939, by
Honorable Clau@ Boothman, Asd stunt Attorney General, address-
ed to Thorns A. Eeek, County :ittorney,Llberty County, this de-
partment held that the constable ls only entitled to fess for
servloes he perform as set out in Artiole 1065, Code of Cfixi-
nal Procedure. Fe quote from Opinion Co. O-695, written June 8,
1939, addressed to Eon. Homer Garrison, Jr., Direotor,Depart-
!nentof Public Safety, as follovmr
*A warrant of arrest la not neoosoary before
a party oan plead guilty to the offense of opead-
w after complaint has been filed in Justloe of
the Pesos court and the party 1s in custody of the
Highway Patrolman. .;roonstctbleIs not entitled to
. .
Hon. Ii.A. Hod&es, F‘nJy5
a fee of $2.00 (Artiole1065, Cods of Crlminnl
F'roOeUure)for reading a wnrrant of arrest to a
motorist for epeedlng when the motorist is in the
custody of and under arrest by a Highway Patrol-
An orrioer who disohargee or releases a
i%ndant from the foroe and srfeot or a judgment
reetralnlng him Is entitled to oolleot the ree or
$1.00 for 6 release (Artlole 1065, Code or Crlml-
ml Procedure); and this is the proper oharge to
be taxed aa ooata against defendant when a plea
of guilty Is entered and the Sine paid inmmdlataly
after the defendant Is notified of the amount ana
no oommltmentIs made.*
In view oi the foregoing authorltlos you are reepeot-
rully advitmd that it is the opinion of this department t&d
your questionsshouldbe amwered aa folJ.owst
1. When an agent, inapeotor or euuploysr oi the De-
partment of Fubllo Sarety wolgbs and finds en overloaded truok
or other oharaoter o$ vehlole, it Is hllrduty to file the mm-
plaint.
2. Ye4.
3. NO.
!Pruatingthat the foregoing answers your inquiry,we
rexiialn