Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1974 )

;. THE AITO~EY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUCITIN. Tmx~e 1SVll J.OEN L RSLL mrlv- QLnx.RIb June 19, 1974 The Honorable Joe Reswebsr Opinion No. H- 330 County Attorney Harris County Courthouse Re: Fees of appointed counsel Houston, Texas. 71002 representing both a criminal defendant and a juvenile in different courts on the same day. Sec. 51.10(i); Family Code, V. T. C. S. ; Art. 26.05, Dear Mr. Resweber: V. T. C. C. P. You have asked our opinion on the following question: Is a lawyer entitled to receive a $50.00 fee for representing a defendant 1n.a criminal proceeding in the District Court when such lawyer has already been paid $50.00 for representing, on appointment, a juvenile in the Juvenile Court on the same day? Compensation for appointed counsel in criminal cases is governed by Article 26.05 of. the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides in pertinent’ part: Sec. 1. A counsel appointed to defend a person accused of a felony or a misdemeanor punish- able by imprisonment, or to represent an in- digent in a habeas corpus hearing, shall be paid from the general fund of the county in which the prosecution was instituted or habeas corpus hearing held, according to the following scheduler (a) For each day or a fractional part thereof in court representing the accused, a reasonable fee to be set by the court brt in no event to be less than $50.00. . . . Sec. 4. An attorney may not re+ve more than one fee for each day in court, regardligas of the number ‘3. IL1530 ( _. .~Y : _- . *’ The Honorable Joe Resweber, page 2 (H-330) of cases in which he appears as appointed counsel on the same day. Section 4 of Art. 26.05 has been consistently interpreted by this office as limiting an attorney, to one fee per day even’though he represents one defendant on multiple indictments on the same’day [Attorney General Opinion No. H-298 (1974)], or represents several defendants on the same day [Attorney General Opinion No. C-639 (1966)]; or represents several difendants in several different courts on the same day [Attorney General Opinion No. C-713 (1966)]. Court appointments in juvenile matters are governed by Sec. 51.10 of the Tewa Family Code. Subsection (i) of Sec. 51.10 provides: (i) . . . [A]n attorney appointed under this section to represent the interests of a child shall be paid from the general fond of the county in which the proceedings tier8 instituted according to the. schedule in Article 26,05.df the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, 1965. . . . ’ , I The Family Code incorporates by reference “the rchedule in Article 26.05, I’ and we believe that this can only be read as incorporating the entire schedule. In our opinion, the’one fee per day limitation of Sec. 4 of Article 26.05 is an’integral part of the fee schedule. While these provisions limit an appointed attorney to a single fee per day, it should also be noted that the attorney is statutorily entitled to a “reacronable fee” and the reference to $50 only establishes a minimum and is not a .&&her limitation. .. ‘, ,~ Thus. in our opinion, where an appointed attorney represents both an indigent defendant in district court and a juvenile in juvenile court on the same day, he may only be compensated by a singte fee. ‘I p. 1531 The Honorable Joe Resweber, page 3 (H-330) SUMMARY An appointed attorney~who represents both an indigent criminal defendant in district court and a juvenile in juvenile court on the same day may not receive more than a single fee. Very truly yours, Attorney General of Texas AP ROVED: 3 DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman Opinion Committee p. 1532