Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1973 )

. .
March 23, 1973
Honorable Earle Caddel Opinion No. H-20
District Attorney
Uvalde. Medina. Zavala Re: Whether a person is qualified
and Real Counties to serve as a deputy sheriff when
Uvalde County Courthouse prior to his appointment as such
Uvalde, Texas 78801 he has been convicted of a felony
placed on probation and the pro-
bationary term has not expired?
Dear Mr. Caddcl:
The facts submitted in your request for our opinion are that the
Sheriff of Zavala County has appointed as deputy sheriff an individual who
was convicted of a felony three years ago. and is new on probation. The
Zavala County Commissioners Court.has refused to recognise the appoint-
ment and you have asked whether the person is qualified.
Prior to the codification of the Texas Statutes of 1925, Article 7125
of Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes of 1914 provided that “No person shall
be appointed a deputy sheriff who stands~convicted for a felony”. Article
7125 appears as Article 6869 in the 1925 codification of the statutes except
that the reference to persons convicted for a felony has been omitted. The
present statute provides:
“An indictment for a felony of any deputy
sheriff appointed shall operate a revocation of
his appointment as such deputy sheriff . . . .I’
Section 2 of Article 16 of the Constitution of Texas provides:
“Laws shall be made to exclude from office,
serving on juries, and from the right of suffrage,
those tiho may have been or shall hereafter be
convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other
high crimes . . . ”
p. 94
Honorable Earle Caddel, page 2 (H-20)
A deputy sheriff occupies a public office. Irwin v. State, 177 S.W.2d
970, .(Tex. Crim. 1944). The term “other high crimes’* includes any
offense of the same degree or grade as those specifically enumerated,
namely felonies. Attorney General Opinion No. O-2698 (1940).
Article 1.05 of the Texas Election Code provides in part:
“No person shall be eligible to be a candidate
for, or to be elected or appointed to, any public
office fn’this state unless he is a citieen of the
United States eligible to hold such office under
the Constitution and laws of this State, and is under
none of the disabilities for voting which are stated
in Article VI. Section 1 of the Constitution of Texas
on the date of his appointment or of the election at
which he is elected . . . ‘I
.The disabilities stated in Article 6, Section 1 are persons under 21
years of age, idiots and lunatics, paupers supported by any county, and
“all persons convicted of any felony, subject to such exemptions as the
Legislature may mkke”. The same language is carried forward into
Article 5.01 of the Texas Election Code.
It is our opinion, therefore, that a person who stands convicted of
a felony, whether or not sentence is probated, suffers from a disability
which disqualifies him from voting. Therefore, under Article 1.05
of the Election Code he is not eligible to be appointed to any public office,
including the office of deputy sheriff.
The.ans,wer to your question, therefore, is that the person described
is not at the present time, qualified to serve as deputy sheriff. We do
not pass on whatmay be his rights at some future time.
p. 95
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I
Honorable Earle Caddel. page 3(H-20)
SUMMARY
An individual who was convicted of a felony three
years ago, and is now on probation, is not qualified
to be appointed as a deputy sheriff.
Very truly yours,
*
u Attorney General of Texas
APPROVED:
DAVID M; KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p, 96