Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1967 )

THE A~TV~RNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUS.X.XN. I'exal~78711 November 27, 1967 Hon. Robert S. Calvert Opinion No. N-161 Comptroller of Public Accounts State Capitol Re: Whether there is pre- Austin, Texas existing law for the pay- ment of submitted claims for per diem, by a retired Justice of the Court of Civil Appeals, on an assign- ment for holding court in a District Court not cover- ing the county of his resi- Dear Mr. Calvert: dence. By recent letter to this office you have requested an opinion in regard to the abwe stated matter. We quote, in part, from your letter as follows: "This department has received two claims for $25.00 per day under the prwisions of Senate Bill 349, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Codified as Article 200a, R.C.S., Section 2a. Subsection (41, for a retired Justice of a Court of Civil Appeals, on an assignment by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Senate Bill 397, Acts of the 60th Legislature ,&o a District Court other t&an one including the county of his residenced "This question has arisen in this ae- partment; Is there a pre-existing law for the payment of these claims as the Judge is not a retired District Judge?" Article 2OOa, Vernon's Civil Statutes, also known as the Administrative Judicial Act, among other things, auth- orizes per diem expenditures for judges who are assigned to -754- Hon. Robert S, Calvert, page 2 (M-161) sit in other districts or counties. Subsection (4) of Section 2a of Article 2OOa, is quoted, in part, as follavs: " . . . judges who are required to hold court outside their own districts ana out of their awn counties under the provisions of this Act, shall receive a per diem of Twenty-five ($25.00) Dollars for each day, or fraction thereof, which they spend out- side their said districts and countiee in the performance of their duties; . . . .'I Article 2OOa, standing alone applies only to District Judges, and the Judge is a recent retired Court of Civil Ap- - peals Judge, Lsee Attorney General's Opinion No. M-151 (1967)/, having retired on September 1, 1967,~under the provisions of Article 622813,Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended by Senate Bill 397, Acts 60th Legislature, Regulal:8eBsion;,1967, chapter 346, page 820. The amendment was effective June 8, 1967. Section 7 of Senate Bill 397 is quoted. in part, as follows: ” . Anv oerson who has retired under . . the Drwisions of this Judicial Retirement Act &t. 6228b. V.C.S./ mav elect in writing addressed to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court within ninety (90) days after such re- tirement, or within ninety (90) claysafter the effective date of this amended Section, wbich- ever is the later date, to continue as a iudi- cial officer, in which instance thev shall, with their own consent to each assignment, be subject to assisnment bv the Chief Justice of the Surxeme Court to sit in anv court of this state of the same disnitv. or lesser, as that from which thev retired, and if in a District Court, under the same rules as provided bv the present Administrative Judicial Act, &t. ZOOa, V.C.SJ and while so assigned, shall have all the powers of judges thereof. . . .'I (Emphasis added.) -155. - , Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 3 (M-161) The underlined portion of Section 7 clearly au- thorizes retired judges of the appellate courts, such as the judge in question, to sit as a district judge under the pro- visions of Article 200a, V.C.S. Construing Articles 200a and 6228b. as amended, to- gether, we are of the opinion that there is pre-existing stat- utory authority to pay the per diem claims as set out in your opinion request. SUMMARY Article 6228b, V.C.S., as amended, which authorizes retired appellate judges to serve as district judges, under the authority of Article ZOOa, V.C.S., authorizes payment of tiieper diem claims of a retired appellate judge under the facts as submitted. truly yours, z-w= C. MARTIN ',Generalof ,Texas Prepared by James C. McCoy Assistant Attorney General APPRCVRD: OPINION COMMITTEE Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman Kerns Taylor, Co-Chairman W. V. Geppert Arthur Sandlin Malcolm Quick Charles Rose A. J. CARUBBI, JR. Staff Legal Assistant -I%-