Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GmAWc. MANN
A-” .*I-
nay ls, lOSO
Trealncft
offlosn ln XaxTlroncounty
a r eeo mp en8a t.d
o n l iea b a 8l8*lw8S
offloers tib a th e ira nnua l report8 for
alo .par 1937 ant¶it roIlId mean that 8OHm
of tam mm to lliatsay fee8 a8 having
Eon. CharlesB. Mcrtln,May 15, 1959, Page 2
boonoarnedasdnoteollectodfortba year
m. mlelrreportsUNld indloatsthat
non0 of then maruedlmd oousoteu¶the smd-
mum for the yearl937.
*In &eoklng overtblr asnualroporta
for theyear1938, Ifind that so- ofthem
oollected&ringe year1938 few that had
been aotuallyoarned'ln1997, but, as stated
above,theywers not listed inthoir asnual
reportfor the year1937 as ha* bosnoarned
and not oolleoted.,G of these Ql.+qUttnt
fsw .emmU in 1937 and oolloate6in 1938.
war0 esIsda& triizlross,where llull~ts
bad bosn returnetl
ona filea hlrlngem year
&gg.
-wtxsm`` tf0tilb
th880 pb0in0t 0m-
oers bo entitledtc ccllectasdrotaln thoso
Qsllnqusntf 808 whleh ha& not bsen roporteil
ad dsllnquentfor the ~aar 1937, some of
*hfch huvo alreadybeon paid to them Qurlse
tho year 1928, and u)p11)
of fho fees,arostl&l Quo
and unao~eb, or do theuefoes bol6ngfo ths
'oouutyby reasonof t&o offher* falluP to
roport fhom as ha- been oarnod and eoollocted
ior the y&r &gg1*
n ls lutsrest~ to.notsthat the filwJ of this ,
department have disclosed au opinion rendsroQ to
Ron. Moore
Qnu,StakAubitor, on January2S,lQ32,writtonbfHonor-
able Ev’emtt P. Johuson,Asslstaut Attorney C!emral, contra
to the riou held by B. Alsup in the above oplulonroforred
to, to the offeetthat the retontianof Qolinquontfoes
uudor art10105892 ln additionto other roqulroments therein
wntalued,ras oonditionedugonthoirbaing,rsparted.Arti-
ala 3897, Bob 1925, Forty-fourthrSgtilat!tro, 8e8ad Called
Session,Chaptsr 467, roads as f+.msa~
'Raoh Qlstrlot,county and preduct
offlosr,at the close of eeoh fiscalyear
(December Slst) shall make tp.tho Qirtrlst
.
Hon. CharlssR.&Wtln,May l$Ss,
1939, Page S
court of. the . ..m in whioh
. uouuty -_ . ht residesa
sworn statsmentm trlpuoate ton ronus
QesignedanQ approveday the &ate Auditor)
a 00py of *Iah stataznont shall be forwarded
to the State Auditorby the clerk of the
dtstrictoourt of said oomtyrithin thirty
(30) days after i&e same has been filed in
his offlae,and one bopy to be f&lstl with
the countyauditor,If any; otberwlsosaid
~&opyshall be fllsd tith,tbeCo~&ssionsrs~
ourt. Said report sU.1 show the anyant
or all fees, oonmiss~ ma oomp``~ons
whateverwarnedby said offioerQurf& the
flsml yearg and sooondly,shall show thm
amountof fees, eokmdssioas and otxupensatlons
solleotsdb him dtnlng t&o fisaal ymar;
thirdly,8 s dreport shslloontalnmltsml-
ted utatementof all fsos, oomlssions and
gompsssations eari~odduringth~firoaf.year
vhiohrerm
- .. not ?ollefted, ~g+h~rri.tb~th~
name or tae party ovmg seua tees, 8omauss~oas
ma 0ompMsations. Saldroportshallbeflle4
not later than Pebruarylst folhwing the 81086
of th e fiso ayl e aa ru6 for laahday.aftsrsa%Q
date t+atsaldreport awsainsnotfilsd, said
offioershall be liableto a psnaltyof Ts8nty
Five ($25.00)Dollars whloh nay be raooverad
by the aounty in a suit broughtfor suoh pur-
posos,and in additionsaid officershall bo
subjbotto removal from offloe.*
The above statutoroad8 the sam as the smsn6sd
AOtSof 1930,forty-first &&slature, fourth CdJ.@d SOS-
slon, ohapterEO, at #ioh sessionbr the Iagisfatureour
pnsont srtiole3892 was enaotsd,and *hioh reads ss follows!
'Any offlow mention06in this ohaptor
who does not coUsdt the msxinwasmountof
his fess for anyfisoal ysar and who rouorts
dellnqusntfees for that year, shall be en- -
titledto retain,uhsn eolleoted,such part
of such Qelinquantfatas as is suffiolsnt.to
aompletathe maxlmumoontpensatlon authorised
by artloles3683, S8S3-A,arid 25586 for fh0
Hoti.CharlesR. Martin,Yay l3, 1939, Page 4
y&r S.nLnIch Qoll.n@ent~csrsrecbrrged,
and also retain tho mcunt of lxocss fees
authorIzcdby law, and the rcmalnaorof
tho aellnqucntfees for that fIsoalyear
shall be paldas hcrcin pzvvidcdfarwhcn
collcctc~;prorided,the pr~r~lons of thls
art1018shall nOatapplyto any offiocraftor
cne year frcmthe date he ccascsto boldtho
offioeto whioh sny delloqnentfee ls due,
and In tha wtat the offlearearn&g the fses
that ~0 d8aquti hsrrnot 00ueea th8
samedtMatnlvmm3alaI#arterbcoaaesto
bold the OffbS, the ankNUt Of fee8 cOilOctb6
shall bs pnlQ Into tho aouutytreasury. Pro-
vlQcQ,lwwvsr, that aothlngla this Aat prc-
elud138 the p6p9f.eof'= 0frIcI0.fm in
~ocordanoowith TItlc 61 of t;heRevised Civil
statutesofTcxas, 1925,~ partofthcmsxl-
mtsneomp``tIon, Provldcd,that
ma0 in this +tti010by this Act 8iilxl%F
apply to fee8 heretoforeearne6.'
.``Stat&s providin~fccsfor publicoffIccrs
aro striotly.~nstruoa. Under fhe pro~IsSoiu~ of ths
dove statutes,the offloerls rsqulrcdto asakqa smrn
riport at the cl~sc of caoh flsoalyear and 8uah roport
+mng othsr thlrup, 8hell eont8In uL ih1Q2ti 8tatemrmt
of all fees, 8onmis~ionsauQ eanpensaf‘loaqoarneddurS8g
the flioal year whioh rsrc not oOlleOtcQ,tog&sir rith
,thcaaawOftho id fee43 bolllmi88ionsana
c0mpcnsatSims.r ibtyrZ3iSat founi Salfwtlole~j897
supra, scnt~hs the report rcqti.mQ to bc aWe by meh*
offioarsto &iohtha pr``M.~nimntalncQ In artI 3292
undoubtedlyrofcrs. We quote from the opiaion of ths
court of CIvIl Appealsrcndcrcdin BitterY. Bcxar County,
266 5.1. 224;
“‘sh4 oadymennsr provldodby .lefor
giving notlae to the properauthoritiesof
the cOllcctIonof,fees,and the purp~scfor
vhioh they w ore sollooted,is for the offli
cers collectfng6uchfecsto m&c swrn re-
ports thereof. Upon suoh reports,settle-
ments ars lmaa ulnua~rlth the sountyaad
r fmmsuchrcpOrtsthe mount,drrSthe OoMty~
as cxoessfees ls asoertaIneQ. It Was f0aQ
.
BOIL Charlee R, &Utfn, &y l.3, 1939, Pago 5
bytho trial courtthatthe appellant
-68 annualroportspurportingto cover .
all fees oollcoted and receivedby him
duringthe fIrcal. ycsx In questionthese
reportswere swoxn to as bcIng oomplste
and oomct, but none of the fees sued
for wore inoludcdin suoh ropcrts. Tho
failureto dfscldscin his rsports at
some periodof time before the &ration
of his term 0s offioe, thp'essentlal raotrr,
was a~plaInvlolatlonof the law; aad
whethsr Intentionalor othcxwlschd was
wIthholdIngmatcrlalintcrrmatlon from the
oounty;-6 It dots not lie In.appellant*o
mouth to ,saythe sot&y had oral not108 cr
had approvedhis contontlon.~
5%eLcglslaturc~bsing~authorIzedt.oflxand
~dct&m&c the fees allcwcdto publicoffloersspayimpose
noaessary -aiti0-, lS.mitatIons and restriotIa6 eon-
slnbnt with their oolleotlon and diisposltlon. Suoh
pr0visi0nm affordproteotionto the cotintyasmcll as
to the offlocrs thcmselvcsand provideBKHWS of readily
chcckingupandfollovdngthcsourocc oft&l fun@ bc-
long- ta the countyor to the officer r;lltirmately.Such
emnddng fees in question becams Lblcand payableaftsr.
lnaletamntof the Qefendar&fcr the offbasefor tioh he
was char@dInthe examInIngcourt, (soeartIclclO2O,
c. c. P., 1925, as amended). Suoh fees oome withinthe
prorislon~ of drtlales 5892 and 5897,. supra, and src py-
quiredto be report&Qby the offloor. It Is our rieu
that the reqtiremant that.swh fees bs IaoluQeQin tho
offioerssworn report,bclng mandatory,Ss a conditioner
preoedentto allowlaghim to retain suoh foes as allowed
by article5892 and fallingto do sol,such offlccrhas
not met the rtwiSrsmsat8of said statute; we q~errulc
the opinionof Bon. Jot J. Alsup, above rcferrcdto.
It lstitbcrefaro,tho opinionof this depart-
meat that the provisions of artiolc 5297, beln& manda-
tory,must k compliedwith bofors the Justiceof the
Peace oan demand or bc ontitledto retain uudar the
prooisIonsof,&Icle 9892, as a mattsr of right,such
aelinqud - trial fees payable,and qualify
underthe provisionsthereof.
./.’ .
Bon. CharlesR.lWti.n,Lgy15,1939,Page 6