Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1946 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Eon. T. allbort Adam County Attorney Jasper County Jasper8 Ten8 Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-7093 Rot Tlnt06during may be aooegted Court, trma rhloh a Thlr noknowledge data, whioh reabs 8s r0ii0w “I would thank you to opllllon upon the rollowi vana Plea of the County Qourt whm a Jury has to enter hi8 had\durl~thetims aourt and that that Arti- n8titUtlio~le But ia,road- to Em, inolunire, it of Jasper County,.Toxa#, 0 texm or until the The la& above otly with the County ~ourf dadgnatlng the terms.iof asionors court of JaapOr the right to change the tsntm annually, Zion.T. allbert Adams, page 3 "on tha 11th day of April.,lose, tho Comloolonoro Oo ur to i Ja o lr Oo w an or4orrhl~h xaabo agofof louor %Y EEL4 by the aourt that the termo of tho Oo&a%y Oourti of Jawor Oount~,.Touo, shall bo an4 is horoby sot an4 deolgnated to oonvea, on tho following datu, towit: Ylrot Monday ln 3anuary, May, July an4 Ootober o? laoh year an4 uoh torr shall bo for a prrlod o? three weeko rn-mtho date of oonvening of tho Co&J Court.* This s&mm to limit the wording of the Statute abow quoted. W.noo I have bean oonlng a% County httomoy, an4 before, it has bun the praatlao of fb Wart to tab Ploao 0r~milt~ m all 4ofoa4aato de siring ta ontiertheir plea8 before the Court, at any tiom,r~gardluo of the foaroi the Ooart. Vi8 have 08mral Liquor Yiolatfonoan4 DriY2.w Whl3.e IntoxicatedYlolatlonoeaoh week. There haa never been 8 oontcrotodoaos 0r this kinp in this a0unty olnos I have been County Attommy 8~94on th@ 4ato oi the riolat%om-drtbt day after, tho plea is ee-.' '0 oepted by the Coart, the penalty aoouo~ and pal6 and the dstondantdlsoharged. Uo quootioa has over been xaiomdas to the validity af this aetlon on the part of the Court, Until today. *If ouch pme+luro. IO mid erdsr the present order of the Comloolonero (lourt aad oaa be oorrootd ~by a new other, I wopld.like to be ldvbe4 es to the pmpr roxding si tho ardor. If some other moan8 are arallable to make It valid to take the ploi at anytine. I vtoul4like to be advise4 oo tlmS the pmpor older oa5 be pasookl. Your imodiate.nply to this request ~111 be grutly oppreoiotmd.- We know 0S no datutory or aoaotitutlanal adb3rit~ a p o wedng a Co untyCourt to loeopt pleas of guilty la mio48naaor oases lt my tlzm other than la a term time of Sal8 Court. We am enolooiag a oopy of.our Opinion No. o-5090, uhleh 4ulo ulth thlo queatlon. Hon. T. Gilbert Ad-, PWJ 3 The 0cknloolonoro*Court of Jasper Oounty may set the tenan of thd Oounty Court wheaercr it 4eemo neaoooaryr, Art1010 1970-837.Y. A. 0. 3. Art1010 5, Sootlon 29, Toxao Conotltutlon,a lLiArtioae 1961 alhw ouoh setting of temo amually. We bglfere that tho woelng 04opte4 by the Jasper `` -``Cormt~-~ool~a'-``rt-lnl9gg me~fs-ths``~orpldl.requi``~--__.-~ meats for ouoh ordero. With reforenoo to your quootlon aoaeering a now order of the Coarmio~lomro*Court sottlng tenw of the County Court, we oite the oaae of hrrow v. Starr Xno. Go. of Amerloa, 2.739. W. 8318,wherein the Court statid: vhe CoIBPIoolonero* Court . . . , at a regular oeoalon, apopted an order, protiding, In effeot, thmt a tenr~.eitheCormty aorrrtahail k hold In oai.4 DountJ bogiImlng 06 thenrlrot Monday la 'themonths of Sonmxy, Pebm~, Xaroh, April, My, June, July, Augwt September, Ootober. ~November,an4 DOdmber, wbloh texmo ohall oontlnue ln seaoloa utll the on4 of 'theweek hot preoe4lly'the first Monday in the next mmth, fhuo~pmrl4lng for twelve term of tti -b couJstycourt.* Tha -roregolng order VIM lttaoke4 oa two MUKOlO1 one, that a statute (Artlole 1777. eaaotkd l.nlStX57 limited tha teao of oounty eoutto to,olx; two, that the Oomloolonoro* Oourt bs4 na lutharlty to n+ke ouoh an order. The Court hail4 Article lV77 wooxutltutlonal an4 upheld the aathorlty oi the aomoioolonoro~ Oourt to make the order. The a o ur ltal4: *The Leniatitmre 10.aot autborizeb t0 emate addltlonaiterms nor to limit tho number of texmo the Co~oolo~n2 0ourt lay Oreate, but only to provide for the feur tenno oruted by tho Oonotltu- tien IArtlele 5. Seotloa SIQ).on4 the Oomloolonero* tmwt. without int 1iaitatlGi. The Conmloolonem5t Ooufi had the rlgbt t0 liX tse nrzntbOr Of%em aMU- ally . . ., eubjeat only to the oxmtltutlonal pro- ~1010n that therm 8Iml.lbe ot least four texmo of said Court.* (Words in parentheooo and apphoolo added.) . Hon. T. Oilbert Abam#, pago 4 Wo olto fuxthertho aas@ of Brasoo Rite+ Gas 00. v. MoQarr, 115 9. H. (MI 645, rhereln an order of a Commloolonero~Coax-tprovided that the teru of the Ootmty Court ohoul4 bogln on the flout Xon4ay OS llternate moatho. lnalu(UngOatober, to patlnue *threiww&o or until the business 8hOuld hare been al#DOBti OS bUt mt BWWI tm aate of oommeaowent of tho next tern.- Tm. aa rt id that The or4or Was oufflolontlyde~lalte an4 upheld iald%ler. we o0nolu4~, th45, that th0 a00td00i05Or0* aoart may 80 ret the tOnnO of the County Ooart that tb, WfootrLIl bd that the ~14 Count Court may be in lo o o lo atrOa term to term, or until the bJ MOO 0r th0 COG 10 rini0hd. Wo tro&t that the fomgoiry: tally Or~o#m 'qoar qusstiono. Yours te'v truly, ATTO~O~OF'fQ;As Approred Jul s, 19Id Oarloa 0. Aohlay ?lrot Aoolotaat AttOrnW IXWml