Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

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626
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1 OFFICE OF THE All-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
b AUSTIN
Honorable J. M. nilllam~
aounty Auditor
Tarrant Oounty
Xort Worth, Texas
Dear Sir:
equeating the opinion
ttere reads a6 r0li0w8t
haa also been
de relative to
8 In other looal-
nt Oounty Juvenile
expanse be paid
get that we are nowfoperating
oats this expenbiture~ :?a real-
ather an odd request and that
y rerused to pa? these olaims,
on or ruling that you may give
e&ion will be greatly appreolated.”
Senate Bill No. 44, Aots or the 48th Leglslatuxe
ResuZar Session, 1943, 18 an aot athe purpose of whloh is b
ahange the method for handling delinquent ohlldren from the
Present orimlnal prooedure to guardianship in order to seoure
ror each ohlld ooming within the dot suoh oare, gUidanOe and
62’i -
Honorable J. M. WlLllame, Page 2
oontrol as ~111 serve the ohllb’s welfare and the best in-
terest of the state1 providing for a Juvenile Court ln each
oounty of the state in the County or District Courts elready
eatabllshed) defining oertaln terms) providf!?g for the pro-
aedure in oases or delinquent ohildrenl nunner or hearing1
dispositional power of Juvenile Courti seleotlon of ouatodlal
agenoyl protidIng ior support of ohlldren oommltted to ous-
&dial agenofj presorlblng that reoords shall be oonildentlal)
permitting physioal and mental examinations of ohlldren upon
order of the oourti presoribing plaoes of detention; oourt
aeseioni oo-operatloni oontemptl methods of appeal1 saving
Olause; re-enaotlng that partion or Artiole 2329, Revised
Citll Statutes, 1925, dealing with dependent and neglected
ohlldrea; repealing olauee; and deolarlng en emergency, and
effeOtlYe date to be sixty days atter enaotaent.*
Seotlon 3 of Senate Bill No,. 44, supra, provides
in partr
.
No . . The term ‘delinquent ohlld’ meana
any remale person over the age of ten (10) years
end under the age or eighteen (16) ears and any
male person over the age ot ten (10 3 years and
under the age of seventeen (17) yearel
“(a) who violates any penal law of this
etate or the grade or relonyt
‘(b) or who violates any penal law or this
state ot the grade of misdemeanor where the punlsh-
nent prosorlbed for suoh offense may be by oonfine-
malt in Jail;
“(0) or who habltually violates any penal
law or this state or the grade of misdemeanor where
the punishment presorlbed ror suoh offense is by
peouniary rine only1
“(a) or who habitually riolatea any penal
ordlnanoe or a political subdlvislon of this statei
“(e) or who habitually tlolates a oompulsory
eohool attendanoe law of this state;
628
Honorable CT.& Wllllama, Pago 3
“(i) or who habitually so deports hlmselr
as to injure or endanger the morals or health of
himself or othersi
“(g) or who habitually assoolates with vi-
olous and Immoral persona.“~
Seotlon 11 or said sot provides:
Whenever any orrloer takes a ohlld into oua-
todp, he may release said ohlld to a parent, guara-
Ian, or any other person upon reoelpt of a written
or oral promise or f3aia person to assume ocfnplete
responsibility ror said ohlld and to have him be-
fore the probation offioer or the oourt at any time
then, or subsequently, speolfled by said orfloer.
II’ not so released, suoh ohlld shall be placed In
the oustody of a probation otfloer or other person
designated by the oourt or be taken lmedlately to
the probation department, the oourt, or to the
plaor or detention designated by the oourt. The
oourt may make a general Order UeSlgnatIng suoh
plaoes of detention whioh may InOlUde private
foster or boarding homes fork ohlldren, or suoh
other plaoes of detention which to the oourt seem
desirable, The County Oodssionera Court may pay
for boarding or foster home oare for suoh ohildren
to be detained, or all ohlldren aoming within the
meanlag or this Aot whether prior to, or after the
ohlld has been adjudged a ‘delinquent ohfld~.”
Seotlon 24 0r aaid aot protldesr
*Artloles 1083, 1084, lOS$, 1086, 1088, 1089,
1090, 1091, 1092, 1093 0r the (lode 0r Criminal Pro-
oedure, and ArtIole 1087 of the Code ot Criminal
Pmoedwe as amended Aots 1927, 40th Legislature,
Chapter 163, Seotlon 1, are hereby repealed.
“Artlolee 2329 and 2338 or the ~p``~aclvll
Statutes or Texas, 1925, are hereby .
RAll laws and parts or laws In oonfllo t hsre-
with are also repealed.”
Honorable 5. 11. WIlllams, Page 4
Seotion 24-A or da aot reads as r0ii0w
“This Aot shall in no wise alter or aireat
existing laws with referenoe to dependent or ne-
gleoted ohlldren as that term is derlned by Arti-
ole 2330, Revised Clvll Statutea, 1925, and the
Dlstrlot Court only shall have original jU~lsdlO-
tion in all prooeedlngs wherein it la sought to
have a ohlla adjudged to be a dependent or ne-
gleoted ohlld, and its rlndlngs in suoh oases
Shall be entered in a book kept for that purpose
to be known as ‘Juvenile Reoord*.*
Detailed provision is made by statute (Title 43,
Yernon*s Annotated Olvil Statutes) ror prooeedlnga for the
adjuaioation ma dlsposltlon 0r dependent ana negleoted
children also adequate provision is made,ror the dleposl-
tlon,:~m&tenanoe and oustody of ohlldren who are found to
be dependent or negleoted. Your request, as we oonatrue it,
does not pertain to dependent or negleoted Ohlldren, There-
fo?e, this opinion la w be OonstrUed as applying to delin-
quent ahlldren only.
Tarrant Oounty has a population or 225,521 Inhabib-
!$anta aooordlng to the 1940 Federal Csnsus.
Artlole 5142b, Vernon’s Annotated Cl~ll Statutes,
moviaea in part;
“Seotlon 1. That the provisions or this Aot
shall apply to and arreot auoh oountles only in
the State of Texas as have, apoording to the last
preoeding Federal Oensus, a population of not more
than three hundred and twenty thousand (jZO,OOO)
inhabitants, and not less than two huudred and
twenty thousand (220,000) inhabitants, aooordlcg
to the last preosdlng or any future Federal Census.
"Qeo. 2. The Juvenile Board of suah oountlea
shall be oomposed of the Judges ot the several
Dlstriot and Criminal Dlstrlot Courts, thereof,
together with the Oouuty J&s thereof.
The members oonposlng said Juvenile
Board”f?&%*oounties on aooount or the additional
duties hereby imposed in them are eaoh hereby al-
lowed an aaaitional oompe*sat~on of Seventy-five
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flonorable 1. M. Williams, Page 5
($75.00) Dollars per month to be paid by the Oom-
mi~d~nerr* Court in such oounties, and the same
to be in addltloo to all other’oompensatioii now
allowed by law to suoh oitloersr
*. . . .”
It will be noted that the population of Tarrant
County is auoh, aooordfng to the 1940 Federal Census, as
comes within the provisions of the foregoing StatUte.
Section 11 of Senate Bill No. 44, supra, expressly
authorizes the Ckmlssioneraf Court to pay for boarding or
foster how oare for oertaln ohlldren to be detained, or all
children oomLng within the meaning of the act whethsr ?rlor
to, or a+3?r ~the ohfld has been adjudged a delinquent ohlld.
‘: In-answer to your first questlon, you are advised
that it 1s our opinion that the Commisslonersl’ Court r;lay
legally pay for boarding or fonter home oare’ for oertaln
children as are mentioned in the preoedins paragraph, out
of oounty funds, proolded, of course, suoh expenditure 1s
made in oompllanoe with the county budget.
We have failed to find any statute authorizing the
peyment of any expense to the members of the oounty Juvenile
bard relative to plaolng delinquent ohfldren in foster homes
! *ioh are situated In other localitlee of the state. There-
fore, it is our opinion that the expense inourred by the mem-
bers of the County Juvenile Board while making trips relative
tc Plaoing delinquent ohlldren in roster homes oannot be le-
gally Paid.
You state in effeot that the 1943 budget under whloh
the county la now operating did not allooate the expenditures
inWired about. Under the faots stated and in Viea of the
*oreeoing statutes, you.:.are advised that it 1s the opinion of
21s department that the Conmlssloners’ Court of the oounty
uaauthorlzed to make any expenditures of the funds of the
cou%, exoept in striot oomplianoe with the budget, except
a?Utrgsnop expenditures in oase of grave publio neoesslty to
-et unusual and unforeseen oondltlons which oould not, iy
rraSO~ble diligenoe thought and attention, have been in-
tipdsd in the origin& budget. Suoh emergenoy expenditures
1’
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Honorable J, Id. ~llllams, Page 6
must bs made in oompllanoe with the proper amendmentto the
budget by the Comlseloner8~ Court. Whether or not the pay-
ment for boarding or foster hone oare for delfnqlant ohlldren
is a eltuatlon as oan be olasslfled as a grave pub110 neoesslty
requiring emergenoy expenditures under the budget law so as
to permit the Commlsslonera 1 Court to amend the budget, is a
question of faot primarily to be passed upon by the Commiseion-
era* a0w.
~Yoors very truly