Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1953 )

July lb, 1953
Hon. William li, Scott Opinion No. S-‘(0
Criminal District Attorney
Civil Courts Building Re: Authority of justices of
Houetan 2, Texas the peace in Harris
County to retain fees
collected as Notary PublJc,
as local registrar and
fees collected for the
:!erformance of marriage
Dear MJ?. Scott: ceremonies,
You have requested an opinion on the authority
of justices of.~ the peace in Harris County to ,retain fees
collected as Notary Public, as local registrar, and for
the performance of ma.rrlage ceremonies. Section 11 of
House Bill 671 of the 53rd Legislature provides that the
salary and other compensation contained in this Act ehall
be In lieu of all .other salaries a,nd compensation now
received by an jl$Wrlct, county or jrecjnct officer.
Subdivision (cy&. Sect?on 19 of Article 3912e, Vernon’s
Civil Statutes, provides that “In countles where the
Commissioners’ Court determine to place t.he Justices of
the Peace on a salary bnsls the Justice of t.he Peace
shall receive In zddition thereto all fees, commlssions,
or payments for gerformine: marriage ceremonies and for
acting a% Registrar for the Board of Vital Statl.at.ics
and when actlnC: as Ex-officio Notary Public,” House
Bill 671 of the 5jrd Legislature, beJ.ng a lxter Act of.
the Legislature repeals Section 19 of Article 3912e In-
sofar a8 it is in conflict, Therefore, the remainirx
question for determination is what fee8 constitute as-
oo.untable fees of office,
Az~-tI.clo.-``.:~O:~
p Vernon Fs Civil Statutes,, authoTTee9
justices of the.~p;kace to perform marriage ceremonies. No
fee Is provided for this service, Artl.cle 3891, Vernon”s
Civil Statutes, provides that marriage ceremony fees that
may be oollected by a justice of the peace are not accahnt-
able al a fee of office, ThereSore, such fees, i,f coll,8Cte,d
,
Hon,‘Wllllam Ii. Soott, pa& 2 (S-7;)
by a .justice of the eace, may be retained by him.
More v. ShepQard, 1g4 TM 537, 1 2 S.W.2d 559 (1946);
Att’y C)en. Ops. 6-14 (19473; O-323 II (X&2)*
Feea paid justloes of the peaoe aotlng as
local registrar of births atid deaths are aooountabli
as fees of offloe.,and therefore cannot be Fetalned by
him. Att’y Qen. 0~. V-1019 (1950).
Artlole 2376, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides
that each juatlce of the peace nhall be commissloned a8
Exdfficlo Notary Public of his county. We have been
unable to flnd any authority on the question whether the
statutory notary fees oonatitute a fee of office for
the justices of the Qeaoe and should be aooountable as
such*. However, we believe that slnoe It is not a manda-
tory duty placed on the jwrtioes of the peace to Qerforal
notary mrrioc?w ?or rhich rtatutory feer are provided
that ruoh fear o$m#titutefeewfor maonal sez@vloee
whioh racy$e mg%yked 'bathe &&foes OP the peace.&&
5-e OQDar 4 * .
SUMMARY
Fees collected by justices of the
peaoe compensated on a salary basic aa local
reglsttiar cannot be retained by him in addi-
tion to hia ealary provided in Houde Bl>l
671 of the 53rd Legislature. Moore v*
She ard 144 Tex, 537, 192 S.-g (1946);
&* y en* Ops. V-14,(1947); O-3234 (1942).
Fees collected for the performance of marriage
ceremonies and fees collected as Ex-officio
Notary Public may be retained by justices of
the peace in addition to his ealary provided
In House I3111 671 of the 53rd Legislature.
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
B* Duncan Davis JOHNBEN SHEPPERD
County AfPalrB D+vlsion Attorney General
Wlllls E. oresham
Reviewer
Burnell Waldrep John Reeves
.
Executive Assistant Assistant
John Beri5.Sheppei?t$
1”,
Attorney “General ”
JR:am c