Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1947 )

December 3, 1947 Hon. Charles R. Martin Opinion No. V-446 County Auditor Harrison county Re: Basis of pay of temporary Marshall, Texas shorthand court reporter obta~inedby reason of the illness of the regularly appointed official report- er. Dear Mr. Martin: Your request for an opinion of this Department as to the construction of Article 2326a~,V,C,S,, as It rela~testo the pay of a temporary court reporter is sub- stantially as follows: "On October 8th, 1947, the regular shorthand reporter became ill, necessi- tating the Judge of the District Court getting another shorthand reporter, and one was secured who resides out of the District, his residence being in Hender- son, Texas. "QUESTION: Would the shorthand re- porter who resides out of this District, be pa.idunder the first paragraph of Arti- cle 2326, Vernon's Civil Statutes, which provides hotel bills of $4.00 per dey a~nd mi.lea.ge,either by rail, bus, OP priva,te conveya,nce,a.lsoper diem, or should he be pa.idunder the last paragraph of this same a.rtlcle,which sta.testhat the shorthand reporter she.11receive and be paid all actual and necessa,ryexpenses in going to and returning from the place where he OP she msy be ca.lledon to report the proceed- ings of any Regu1a.rOP Specia,lTerms of Court? "QUESTION: If you conclude that he should be paid under the last paragraph of Article 23268, tha.tis, his a.ctua,l a~ndnec- . ” Hon. Charles R. Martin - Page 2 (v-446) essary expenses in going to and returning from the place where he or she may be oall- ed on to report the proceedings, then is he entitled to any per diem in addition to his necessary and actual expenses?" Subsequent to your request for an opinion, you Informed this qffice that the temporary court reporter for the 71st Judicial District is the official court re- porter for the 4th Judicial District: Article 2326a, V.C.S., provides in part as fol- lows: "All official shorthand reporters and deputy offlcisl shorthand reporters of the District Courts of the State of Texas com- posed of more than one county, When engaged in the diSCharg8 Of their Official duties in any county in this Stat8 other than the county of their residence shall, in addl- tion to the compensation now provided by law for their services, be allowed their actual and necessary expenses While aCtU- ally engaged in the discharge of such du- ties, not to exceed the SIJII! of Four Dollars per day for hotel bills, and not to eXC88d four cents a mile when traveling by rail- road or bus lines, and not to exceed ten cents a mile when traveling by private con- veyance in going to and returning from the place where such duties are discharged, traveling the nearest practical route. . . "Whenever a special term of any Dis- trict Court in this State is convened and the services of an additional official or deputy official shorthand reporter Is re- qtired, then thIsAct shall also apply to said shorthand reporter so employed by the Judge of said special term, and all expen- ses as herein provided shall be allowed and paid said shorthand reporter so employed for said special term by the county wherein said special term is convened and held, and shall be in addition to the expenses herein provided for the official or deputy official shorthand reporter of the district. Hon. Charles R. Martin - Page 3 (V-@&j; "Rhere,the official or deputy offi- cial~shorthand reporter does not resideln the Judioia,l District for which he or she is appointed, he or she shall only be entitled to traveling expenses from the time he or she reaches the County Line of any county in the Judicial District. Pro- vided, however, that whenever any official or deputy official shorthand reporter is called upon to report the Proceedings of called on to report the proceedingg of any Regular or S ecial terms of Court. (Em- phasis a,dded P In determining the question of whether the first portion of Article 2326s controls or whether the lest portion of sa~idArticle controls, it will be nec- essary to carefully analyze the provisions of this Article. The first paragraph of said Act provides for actual.and necessary expenses while actually engaged in the discharge of such duties, not to exceed the sum of $4.00 per day for hotel bills and not to exceed 46 per mile when traveling by railroad OP bus lines, and not to e~xceed106 per mile when traveling by private conveya~ncewhen going to and returning from the place where such duties are discharged. The last peragraph of said Act provides that if the court reporter does not reside in the judicial district for which he OI?she is appointed, he or she shall only be entitled to tra- veling expenses from the time he or she reaches the County Line, whereas if any official or deputy short- hand reporter is called upon to report the proceedlrgs of any special term of court on a~ccountof the sickness of any official shorthand reporter of any judicial dis- trict, then the shorthand reporter so employed shsll receive a~ndbe paid all actual and necessary expenses In going to and returning from the place where he or she may be called on to report the proceedings of any regular or special terms of court. The construction placed upon this last paragraph by this Department is Ron. Charles R. Martin - Page 4 (v-446) that the official court reporter from another county would be ~entitled to~actual and necessa.ryexpenaesin going to and returning from the place'where called~upoh to report such prOOe8dkgS. Therefore,'it is the Opin- ion of this Department in a~nswerto your first question, that such reporter should be paid al~lactual end necea- sary expenses, end in answer togyour second qUesttOn it Is the opinion of this Departm8nt that the substitute court reporter who Is the official court r.eporterfor th8 4th Judicial District would notbe ,entitledto any' per diem in addition to the actual and hseessary expen- ses. Ii8would, Of COuFSe, continue to draw~his regular salary from the county or counties in,which.he is regu- lerly 8SIplOy8d. SUMMARY A court reporter who resides out of the judlclel district, substituting for the officie.1court reporter In said distrl~ctby reeson of illnes:s,would be entitled to his or her actual.or .neoessaryexpenses in,golng to and returning.from the place~where he or she may be called upon to report such pro-. C8edingS pursuant to Article 2326e,, V.C.S. Yours very truly ATTORREX OERERAL OF TEXAS - .B&B-urn811Waldrep Assistant Bw: ajm:mw ATTORRWYGEHERAL