Case Information
*1 R-600 AUWTIN 11. - PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERAL
July 25, 1947 Opinion NO. v-312 Hon. Looneg E. Lindsey County Attorney
Upshur County Re: Obligation of a -.- - Gllmer, Texas Juatlce of the
Peace to accept or collect and to account for f he3 and costa in his court. Dear Sir: this De-
‘You have requested an opinion from partment concerning the following questions:
“1. Are justices of the peace E- qulred to collect finea, Costa), etc., In their oourts and if so, what is their
compensation?
“2. Are justices of the peace authorized to colleat fines, coats, etc.
assessed in their COWtS, and if so,
what is their coiapensation?
“3. Does the record keeping and accounting for monies collected aa costs and finea by justlaes of the peace under Article 1619, v.A.c.s. 1925, constitute
a part of the official duties of their
offices and If 80, what Is their oompen- B.StiOll?
‘!4. Are justices of’ the peace rie- %MdE:; :?;!A ;~si
proper oases o,n pleas of guilty and tend- ered to ,such justices either by the defend- ant or liy an officer collecting 3ame if the justice remands the defendant to the officer for the satisfaction of same?"
We quote the following pertinent statutOry provisiona:
Hon. Looney E. Lindsey - Page 2, V-312
Art. 944, V.C.C.P.
"All officers charged by law with col- lecting money in the name or for the use of the S,tate shall report in writing under oath to the respective district oourts of their aeveral counties, on the first day of each term, the amounts of money that have come to their hands since the last ter8 of their respective courts aforesaid.’
Art. 945, V.C.C.P.
“Such repart &all at&e: “1. me amount oolleoted.
:2. Uhon aa from rlhom,aollmted. “3. By virtue OS vhat p~ooorr, ool- 1ectrd.
“4. The dirporition that haa boon made of the wnq. IS no'money has been .collecteU,
“5. the repoh shall so atate.' Art. 946, V.C.C.P. 'suck aa Is required by the
'A report, tvo pr0a.d~ articles, llhal.1 al.80 bo rd.
of all money8 oolleotod for the count vbich P ora ef ahallbe rd. to eaah mgular ropart court for each oouaty." the comlasioners Al?*& 947, V.C.C.P.
"llir ofSlaers.charged by law with the collection of money; within the meaning of and who are re- the three preceding artiolea, quired to make the reports thereln mentioned, apex District and county attorneys, clerk8 of the district and oountJ OOWts, she#lSSr, ~constables, ,+nd $.mtlaes of the peaoo.
Art. 950, V.C.C.P.
"The distiict or county at30rn*y ah&i *3 Hon. Looney E. Lindsey - Page 3, V--312
be entitled to ten per oent of all fines, forfelturea’or moneys collected for the State or county, upon judgments recovered by him; and the clerk of the court in which said judgments are rendered shall be entitled to five per cent of the 8..
mount of said judgments, to be paid out of the amount when oollected.”
Art. 951, V.C.O.P, “The ~sheriff or other officer, except a justice of the peace or his clerk, who colleata money for the State or county, except jury fees, under any provision of this Code, shall be entitled to retal:
five per cent thereof when oollected.
(Emphasis ours)
Art. 1619, V.C.9.
“Finea iapoaed and judgments rendered by justices of the peace shall be charged ;glzIethe justice imposing or rendering
He may discharge .aald lndebted- neaa by filing with the county clerk the treasurer’s recei t for the Smount thereof, or by showing to #i he aatlafaction of the’ conuniasionera court that he has used due diligence to collect the same without avail, or that the same have been aatlafled by im- prisonment or labor. ”
!She Court held in the case of !4cLennan County v. Boggeaa, 104 Tex. 311, 137 S.W. 346, that Article 1143, V.C.C.P. (1911) (now Article 950, V.O.O.P.) vaa Inapplicable to a justice of the peace. lie quote the : . following from said case:
'With regard to the OOlleCtion of ,finea, Sorroiturea, or nioney due the state or county, vhile article Code of Criminal Procedure, 1013, (now 947)
charges jus- tioes of the peaoe with the duty of ool- lectlng money, within the meaning of
article8 1010, 1011, and 1012 (now 944, 945, 946) of the Oode T; Criminal Pro- *4 Hon. Looney E. Lindsey - Page 4, V- 312
cedure, which relate to the collection of money in the name of the state, and the report thereof to the reapeative
district Courts of their ae~veral coun- ties, and of money collected for the
county to the commissioners’ court for
each county, and prescribing the nature of such report, it I.3 clear that the ex- ercise of such duty of collection means only their authority to receive the
money from the person adjudged to pay,
or from the officer by whom it IS in fact collected, and pay over to the pro- per source. It la Umaterlal whether or not the justice, aa such officer, should in the exercise of his duty bd required
to perform some services without compen- sation having been provided therefor by law.’ Such is held to be incident to the office, ‘upon the acceptance of whidh the obligation to perform is impoadd. -The mere fact that the nature of his office
and the duties Imposed require him to cer-
perform, in addition to judicial, tain ministerial services, Is not auffi- cient to warrant the implication that,
because 5 per cent of the judgment col- lected in which such judgment la recovered, is awarded the clerk of the court therefore it was the intent and purpose of the lawmaker to include ,in the tery
‘clerk’ that of justice of the peace.
(Perentheais ours)
In view of the foregoing, it la the manda- tory duty of the justice diligence of the peeae~to exercise due
to coll~ot $inea.baieaaed 3.n his Court; to accept such sines and,aoatp tqmdsred to him by t@e defendant or by an:‘oSSicar vho~~h~p’qolleated the same; to keep a record df-allL~,qon$@b Pskeived~by~hlm lbpay- rent of sines; an4 trJ:siaka,~~~popt~‘thp~eoS 19d to a~- count for acme et this tiqa a+ in thQ qurSner ‘pre--~ scribed by the statutes.
The Conatitutlpn firer the’ oo~enaatlon that nay be paid oertaln offlsera and $uthori@6b the tigia- lature to fix the &mpenabtion of.:qthqy.,gSSicera. The rule in Taxra relative’to compenaatioh of public offi- cials la that “M~orficer may not cldipl or receive mg *5 Eon. Looney E. Lindsey - Page 5/V-312
mdney without a'law authorieing him to do so, and
clearly fixing the amount to whioh he la entitled."
RcLsnnan County v. Boggess, aupra. 'Binford v.
Robinson, 244 S.W. 807;. Crosby County Cattle Com-
pany v. McDermett, 281~S.W. 293; Duclos v. Rarrls
County, 291 S.W. 611, affirmed 298 S.W. 417.
This office has repeatedly ruled that a
justice of the.peace Is not entitled to retain com-
missions on Sines collected. Attorney General's
Opinions Hos.'O-1162, O-4091, O-5108 and 0-5180. it is our Surther opinion that
Therefore, the justioes of the peace are not entitled to compen- sation for collecting fines and aosta assessed in
their courts or for keeping a reoord and aooounting
for asme..
SUMMARY
It is the mandatory duty of a jus-
tice of,the peace to exercise due dill-
genae to colleot Sines assessed in his
Court; to accept such Sines and coats
when tendered to him by the defendant
or by an officer who has collected
same; to keep a record of all moneys
received by him in,psyment of fines; to
make reports thereof and amount for
Same at the times and in the manner
ptieticribed by the stattites. Such du-
ties are’an.Lncld6nt to the office bf
justiioe -of the peace for which no ape-
cial compensation has been provided by
the Legislature. McLennan county v.
104 Tex. 311, 137 S.W.,346;
;f;B;44, 945, 946, 947, 950, 951,
. . . .; Art. 1619, V.C.S.
Very truly yours ATTORREYGE&RALOFTEXAS JR:djm
%7fZSiv+
Assistant