Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

843
OFFICE OF l-HE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
iionorabk &well Cwbron
County AudItor
kiogcml County
Sulphur Spring, Texas
Dear 3lr:
to be
ut :a
part or such
OOSt.
Yourletter 0r June uest1ng the o&An-
ion OS’this department ated therein, reads
as follovs:
stlan, As
to the COUA-
of coat read
e prisoner has stayed on the COLUI-
ty farm until he ovea a balance of $11.00 he pays
the cc*a~t~ farm manager this amount and la releaa-
ed.
“Shoulcl the $11.00 be rieposited to the credit
of the oounty f8xm fund ml6 the oonsteble be p8id
his usual one half fee from the county faxttl fund,
844
Honorable X?s?Jell Caznbron, page 2
vhioh i.n this aase voilld be $4.754 Or vould tha
canstable have Sir& olalm on this money and be
paid $9.50 of’ the $11.00 \rhJ.ohvxUi be his full
Pee. Please give oooiplete information 8s to how
the above mentioned $11.00 should be distributed,
taking into conaideratlon that the prlaoner hes
worked out $8.50 Oi the $19.50 fZna. Alao akiould
the county farai manager give thfa money to the
J. P. for him to dlstrlbute?’
The Court of Crlmmal Appeals of Texas has deflnite-
ly reoognll;eQ that prlmnera should be given credit on their
f’inea andooata for service In jail or ln the vork houae or
other publfc vorlca. Ths court alao definitely reoogelred the
right of a oomldt to aewe part of hla time tn jai& and pay
the balanoe In oaah. (See the 0886 of Ex perte Xlll, 15 S.U.
(24) 141
The Court of Criminal A-la of Tsxaa slao reaog-
niaea a distinction between the cm-edit to be allowed for aerv-
ioe In jail under Artlole 793 and Artlale 920 ot the Code of
Cl?imillal Proaedurs. Article 793, applies to tha aati8fwti~
of judglienta and misdemeanor cases in courxa other than justice
COuPt38. Artlole 920 applies alone to oonvictiona before ua-
ticsa of the pamoe. Xx parte Fe-r, 57 S.W. (26) 574 ;
Ex parte Bk3lma@iLin, 5 0 S.Y. (26) 781 and Ex parts YouAg, 136
8.W. (26) 863)
In a letter 09ial.o~ writtan Augut 20, 1935, by
Honorable Leon Eloaea, Aaaiatant Attorney General, to Honor-
able D. 0. Wood, County Attorney, Wllllsa~on County (Volume
368 Letter Opinionsof the Attorney General of Texea, pege
C$6j Lt was.beld by this department that in a owe in juutlae
cotta where the fine and costa are leaa then 9f 30.00, the
proper and mawllrrble way to allow credit fop time apent Ln
jail would be ts d.Lvide the 8mwnt or the tiae aud oosts by
ten, which Is the minLmumnumber of day8 that the defendant
must serve before being released w&r Artlole 920, Coda of
Criminal Procedure.
In our Opinion Do. O-1015, it le utetedz
“&a gouP letter 3ou used an illuatratlon of
Q persm who vas comicted of 8 mi.adet&eaa&r(in
juetioe oourt) and his penalty effirsd at a f;tns
of $1.00 end caata of $13.00" lrmking D tots1 OS
845
Honorable mewell Cambran, page 3
$14.00, rtated the convict had served four days
.ln jail, wished to pay the balance of hlu fine
and costs Ln cash, and thereby obtain iramedlete
radlcr. In this specific lnetance ve are of the
opinion that defendant should be allowed. credit
;; ;.ig per day, vhioh at four days would amount
Substractlng the $5.60 es jail credit
from.&e’total amount of $14.00 would leave a bai-
ance of $8.40, vhlch should be paid in order to
obtain the rrleare of a defend&at from austody.”
Opinion No. O-1792 of this department holds:
* it is the opinion of this department
that &e;e’ohly a part of the flhe M oosts are
collected, that the money oollected should go first
to the payment of the oosts and the balanos, if
any, to the mount of the fine, awl that where
there 18 hot enough oolleoted to pay all the oosts,
the mohey oolleoted should be prorated between
the arresting offloef, the aountg attoraey and
the county. That no offlasr has priority over
ahother In such msttar. For example, if the fihe
and oosts amount to $23.00, as in your ease, the
fee of the oouhty attorney am0untr to 45.00; the
fee of the oonstable amounts to $13.00 ahd the
trial fee amounts to $4.001 if the defendant paid
$6.00 ln cash and the balance 18 worked out on
the county farm the arsestlng offloer would be
entitled to 43.55 of the cash payment, the ooun-
tp attorney vould be entitled to $1.36 of the aash
payment and the county (as its portion of the trial
See) vould be entitled to reoeive 41.09 of the cash
payment. The arresting officer and the oousty at-
torney would also .be entitled to receive payment
from the county under Article 1055, Code of Crlm-
inal Procedwe of Texas, one half of the balance of
their fees for the time the defendant worked out
the balance of his fine and costs. Under the
example quoted above the arr?rsstl.ng officer vould
be entitled to receive from the county the 8~81 of
$4.72; the county attorney would be entitled to
receive from the county the sum of $l&. The
total sum received by the arresting officer from
846
Hrmorable Xevell CaWro~, pa&e 4
both sources would be $8.271 the total sum re-
celved by the county attorney Srom both sources
would be $3.18.”
Under the fact8 stated In your letter the proper and
reasolaeble may to allow credit for time spent on the county
farm would be divide the amount of fine and cOSt8 by ten,
vhioh 18 the ml~.lmumAumber Of drjr8 that the defer&At mu8t
serve before being ralsaeed usder Article 920, Code of Calm-
inal Prooedure. TaklAgthe amount Of the fine and008t8
whioh is $19.50 and dlvldlng by ten would amount to $1.95
per day vhioh should be credited for the defendant for each
say he spent 05 t2m county farm.
The OOAStabh 18 entitled UZidezl&tic18 1055, Ver-
AOA'S &AOtated Code OS Cr1llLfJlal Prwedure, t0 have half cOSt8
on that part of the time the defendant worked on the county
farm the same to be properly prorated. Opinion Ro. O-1578 of
thl8 departBent hold8 that a oonmtabla 18 entitled W&r Arti-
cle 1055, Code of Criminal Procedure of Texas, to have half
COStS oh that part 0s the ts.me a defeAdaAt mmaina in jail
or Works for the County Vhen he so diScha.rgeS a part Of the
fine and costs and pays off a part aAd that the same 8hau be
properly prorated.
The preoinot OfflQerS 0s Hopklnr County are compen-
sated on a fee baais (md the county OfflCiidS of 8al.d aounty
are compensated on an annual salary baria.
That portlon of the money reoelved by the county at-
torney must be deposited in the Offlaers* Salary Fund IIS fe-
gulred by the Officers' Salary Lav.
It 18 noted that the bill! Of QOStS 8hOVS that the
constable has a charge aa an arre8tm fae Of $5.50. Article
1065 cf the Code of CrfixlnRl Brooedure, allows the sum of
$2.00 for each arrest. The bill, of costs does not reflect
any charge for mileage in the ease under eonslderation. Por
the purposes of this opinion Ye assume that the $3.50 vhioh
I is reflected a8 an arrestlAg fee OoAstltutes a char&e of $1.50
ior takrng and appxovlng the bmd, $1.00 for release, and
$1.00 fox commitmsnt. Ye further assume that all of there
services mere performed by the constable.
In the case under con8Sderation the SLne and costs
amount to $19.50, the See of the CouAtg attorney aBLOL&AtSto
Bonorabk IIeu411 Ombron, ~464 5
$5.00~ the fee of the comtable amounts to $9.50 and the trial
Pee amour&8 $0 $4.00. After dafendant paid $11.00 in cash
and the balance we18worked out on the county farm the con-
stable would be entitled to $5.65 of the carh payment, the,
county attorney would be entitled to $2.96 of the oath pay-
ment and the county (a8 it8 portion of the trial tea) would
be entitled to reoeive $2.39 OS the aash payment. A8 here-
tofore at&ted the amount received by the county attorney must
be depoeitsd in the Qfflaerr) 58lary Fund of the aounty. The
conetable vould alro be entitled to Feeeive payrunt from the
aounty under Article 1055, Code of Criminal boccdure, one-
half of the balance of hir fee for the time the d4f4Bdsnt
worked out the balanae of hle fLns and 4ort8. 'Phl8vould
amount to #1.93. The total WE reoelv4d by th4 constable
from both 80~088 would be $7.58. eb4 county Sarm manager
should par this money to the jurtiae o? the peaae.
We enclore herewith 0 trr of our iIplnion$Boo.
o-1792, o-3769, O-4924 and o-157 3 .
YOur8 very trulJ
ATTORIIEYOlCWtAL OF TBXX3
Aaal8tant
AU rdb
Encloaurer