Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Char100 R. Martin
County Auditor
Harrl8OIl county
Marrhall, Texar
Dear Slrsr
You submit 0x an op
follcwiag questionI I
Ben. OonYloted and
.obt*:Qn the lb&a
ended by a Constgblo
oompen&atoq on a
arrestingoff10
County Aiditor be authorized
Comaiaaloaer6~ Court for
he Crimlaal Dietriot Attorney,
, all of who16 are oompenaatad
County, bl renting a rodm at
etting d t?&p to prerent the
th h felq +d thereby u
, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutsr,
mml~slonsrs oourt may provide . . . a reward
not to exceed tan dollars, to be paid out of the road aad
bridge fund, for the reoapture anE delivery of any esoapbd
oorcvict to be paid to any person other then the eoard or
person in charge of suck convict at the ti!xe ot h,:~. eecape.w
. .
Honorable bharlaa R. Martin, paga 2
8uSh atatutr la authority for ths payment of ‘a rew~H
iot ,to rxoeed $10.00 for the 8apturS of in aaoapod oonrlot aub-
jeot to the limitation that a0 lttoh~ reward ahall bo paid to tha
guard, aharlti or othSr pUsOn Ohu6ad with the alto kaOpin6
of auoh prlaon~r. Ao provlalon la laade for the payment of
expenaaa lnourred by the prraon making the urest and returning
the prlaonSr as auoh reward la for the wreoapture and dellreryr
of tha prlaculer.
The first paragraph ot aaotlon (bl or Article 3899,
Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, reads as hollows:
*(b) l&oh otfloar named In this Aot, where he reoslrea
a salary as oaripenaatlon ior hla lorvlaa, ahall be ampoworad
and partaittul to purohaae and hare oharged to his oolmty
all reasonable expsnsea neoessary In the proper and legal
oonduot of his offlam, prduma on offlolala~ bonds, premium
on fire, burglary, theft, robbery lnauranos protooting
PUbliO tuada’and inOlUdin@ the M a tOfluratr bonda ior his
Deputies, auoh qmnaea to be passed on, pra-determlned
and allowed in kind and mounts, as noarlg as possible,
br the Commlaaloneral Court on06 Saoh rcclth ior the ansuing
month, upon the applloatlon bf each ofiloar, stating the
kind, probable amount of lxponditure and the neeeaaity ror
the axpanaea of his Off188 tom auah ~SUlhg’mOnth, whfah
applloatlon shall, before pwaantation to said oourt, itrst
be ondoraad by the County Auditor, if any, otherwlae the
County Treasurer, only aa to whether funds are available
sor payment of .auoh ccpeh808. The OOmmiaaloner6’ Court
of the county of the SJxwriit~a residence may, upon the
wrlttm and aworn applloatlon OS-the Sheriff stating the
naaeaalty thareior~purahaae aq~pment for a bur'aan of .
orimlnal identlfloatlon, luoh as oamuaa, finger print
~aivli, inks, ohamlodia, tio?oaoopSa, radio ati laboratory
equipment, fll~.oarda, filing aablneta, tear gas and
other equipment in keeping with the system In uSe by the
Department of Public Saiety of this State, or the United
States Department of Justice and/or Bureau of Criminal
Identlrleatlon."
We held in opinion No. O-3571 that suoh statute was
aufilolently broad to anable the Commlaalonera~ Court to deter-
mine that the aherlff'a use of a commercial radio station for
broadcaatlng messages in an attempt to locate run-aw&y children,
miaslng persona, stolen property, eta. was a reasonable expense
in the oonduot of such office and to pay the costs thereof.
.
Hbnorahla dbarlea R. ldirtln,pa&w )
If wee held In the oaao of Croathwalta%. 6tat0,
138 S.W. (26) 1060,that a Dlatrlat Attornay la not a apoada
ofrlosP withinthe atatutaa and:t h@t thm``uaty.war
. wltwhorrt-
authority to allow him expense8 In oonaeOtlon with d~ayw•
of 'gamblingequipment prufoualj aelmd in a raidby the
Dlstrlot Attorney. Suoh holding was baaed upon the propoal-
tlon that the perrormauoe o? auoh aot ma not a duty ot the
Dlatrlot Attorney but rested upon peaaroffloua. .
The statutes Impose no duty upon a Dlkrlct Attorney
to .apprehend orlmlnala. In view o? the holding fn the Oroath-
walte oaae, aupra, we hold that the expenses meatloned in your
second question lnourred by the Crlmlnal D+atrlct Attorney are
not proper ohargeaand cannot be lawfully paid. Xolther oan
auoh expanses be allowed and approved It lnourrad by a olty
pollc~. Such expenses lnourredby the aherl?? IULJ be law-
rully incurred and paid provided the prooedure preeorlbad In
Artlole )8%(b), supra, la tollowed, arid auoh la allowad and
approved by the Ccmmlaslonua * Court as a roaaoaabla oxpmmo
neoeaauy in thr proper oondaft o? the off108 or Ukerlff,
Yours vary buly
ATroRxW Gl!amAL OF TKXAS
By (Blgnod) LLOYD ARMSTRORG
Aaalatant
APPROVEDFEB 9, 1942
(signed) cmoVm.sRLLERs
First Aealatant Attorney Conoral '
WIG0
AP?ROVEDOPIMOX CCIVEITTEE
By B.E.B. Chalrmn