Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1980 )

The Attorney General of Texas
August 20, 1980
Honorable Tim Curry . Opinion No. MW-222
Criminal District Attorney
Tarrant County Courthouse Re: Authority of a justice of the
Fort Worth, Texas ‘r6102 peace to collect restitution on dis-
honored checks
Dear Mr. Curry:
You have requested our opinion as to whether a justice of the peace is
authorized to collect restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored
check. You have not inquired about, and we do not address, the collection
by or on behalf of the office of district attorney pursuant to article 53.08 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 6252-24, V.T.C.S., formerly article
380a of the old Penal Code, provides, in pertinent part:
Any Justice of the Peace, sheriff, constable or
other peace officer in this State, who shall receive
for collection or undertake the collection of any
claim for debt for others except%nder and by virtue
of the processes of law prescribing-the duties df such
officers, or who shall receive compensation therefor
except as prescribed by law, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor. . . .
In Attorney General Opinion C-!90 (1963), this office said that a sheriff
was prohibited from collecting restitution on dishonored checks:
Article 380a not only prohibits the collection of
claims for debts for compensation but also the
collection of claims of debts for others except under
and by virtue of the processes of law prescribing the
duties of such officers. No bactment exists which
prescribes as one of the &ties of a sheriff, the
collecting of such claims for ~debts.
A violation occurs under article 6252-24 unless the justicr of the peace
is authorized by some other statute to act as a debt collector for private
indivuduals. As loi,g ago as 1914, a court held thut there is no statute:
which makes it the duty of a justice of the peace to
act as a private collector of claims.
Honorable Tim Curry - Page Two (Mw-222)
Bray-Robinson’Curry Woolen Mills v. W. F. Walker J( Son, 165 S.W. 107, 110(Tex. Civ.
App. - Texarkana 1914, no writ). See also Polk v. Peterson, 93 S.W. 504 (Tex. Civ.
App. 1906, writ dism’d ). ay which would bring a
justice’s efforts to collect restitution under the “processes of law” necessary to avoid
the prohibition of article 6252-24. We conclude therefore that a justice of the peace
is not authorized to collect restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored check.
See Code Grim. Proc. art. 53.08; Attorney General Opinion MW-188 (1980).
SUMMARY
A justice of the peace is not authorized to collect
restitution on behalf of the holder of a dishonored check.
lwv.z*
MARK WHITE
Attorney General of Texas
‘JOHN W. FAINTER. JR.
First Assistant Attorney General
Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMlTTEE
C. Robert Heath, Chairman
Jim Allison
Jon Bible
Walter Davis
Susan Garrison,
Rick Gllpin
Bruce Youngblood
P. 709