*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

AUSTIN

GERALD C. MANN ATTORNEY GENERAL

Honorable Ten Queen County Auditor Molenman County Waco, Texas

Dear Sir:

Opinion No. 04405 Re: District Clerk—Fees for continuances—Article 3927, V.A.O.S.

Your request for opinion has been received and carefully considered by this department. We quote from your request as follows:

"Article #3925 of the Revised Civil Statutes provides that a charge of twelve cents be made for each continuance in a case."

"I shall thank you to advise me whether or not, in your opinion, the clerk of a court is required, as a matter of law, to assess the twelve cent court cost for each such continuances."

Article 3925, V.A.O.S., does not deal with your question and we presume that you intended to refer to Article 3927, which provides a twelve cent fee for continuances to District Clerks. Article 3920 provides a ten cent fee for county clerks for entering each continuance, except in estates.

Article 3927, V.A.O.S., reads in part as follows:

"The Clerks of the District Courts shall receive the following fees in civil cases for their services:

"Each continuance . . . . . . . . . 12

". . . ."

*2

Honorable Tom Craven, page 2

Article 3926a, V.A.C.S., reads as follows:

"In those counties where the District Clerk is compensated on a fee basis, the Clerk shall receive such fees and account for such as fees of office; and in those counties where the District Clerk is compensated on a salary basis, such fees shall be collected and paid into the officer's salary fund as now or hereafter provided by law."

Section 5 of Article 3912e, V.A.C.S., reads as follows: "Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of all officers to charge and collect in the manner authorized by law all fees and commissionswhich are permitted by law to be assessed and collected for all official service performed by them. As and when such fees are collected they shall be deposited in the officers' salary Fund, or funds provided in this Act. In event the Commissioners' Court finds that the failure to collect any fee or commission was due to neglect on the part of the officer charged with the responsibility of collecting same, the amount of such fee or commission shall be deducted from the salary of such officer. Before any such deduction is made, the Commissioners' Court shall furnish such officer with an itemized statement of the uncollected fees with which his account is to be charged, and shall notify such officer of the time and place for a hearing on same, to determine whether such officer was guilty of negligence, which time for hearing shall be at least ten days subsequent to the date of notice. Unless an officer is charged by law with the responsibility of collecting fees, thehCommissioners' Court shall not in any event make any deductions from the authorized salary of such officer."

Molennan County, Texas, has a population in excess of 20,000 inhabitants according to the 1940 Federal Census and its county officers are compensated on a salary basis.

*3 Honevable Tom Craven, page 3