Case Information

*1 VI-I-lc;tz vt ------ -- THE,ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

&J me-- Rmmrable Charles @t&JJal Dlstrlot

swlz1lu, !rems

Dear Sir:

559

lnmoneyaIlannualsallqlntuel~(lz)equal lnstal&nents ornotie~than the total ma8 earned aa caapensation by Mm in hia offida

capacity for the flsaal yeerr 1935, and not more than the raoxlnRml8lwmnt tIllwed suoh offmtr Under laws e.x.lStw on Atqtrs’t 24, lQZ.5: . . .

"(b) The oompeasation of a or& &is- Jmsthf3yemo?19S3beartothetotal?ees eolleeted by suah o??lclal dmIng suoh year."

s6OiiOA (b) Of miOb3 3899, Bedsed Cim 8fattm8 lW8dSl.IbpartM?OllO-t

. z of offfce, make an ItepDizeil and mmrn report of c.lla?proved cxpenms inourred byhlmand chEir6;ed to hia county, aaooinponying suah re- port with invoices aovarlq such purahasea and issued by him ln support of suah requisitions resort. If such expenses be inaurred in aon- neatlon with any partiaulm case, such report shall namc such casa. Such report, lmolaes and rowlsltlons shall be eubjeat to the audit of the' County mditor, if any, othemlso by the Co~~Mssloners* Court, and if it appears that any lttm was not lnourrecl by such offloor, or that such ltma #OS not a neaessary or legal et- ponse of suoh of?lce,or tlpon proper ihsee rowlsition, such items 1 E be byeaid County ,'iudftor or court reJected, in w2dch eat% the payment of suah item nray be adjudleated in any aourt of conpotent jur&Uletlon. LI.3. suoh ap- provcd claims and aoaotmt.e.shall be paid ?ro?a the Mfloers* Salary Fund tmleea otherwIse pro- vided hsrelu. . ..*

Uu%er xrtlolo 199, Revised Cltil Statutes, FalJ8 County is the only county aompoelngtha S&d jtidlalal~dlu- trlct .

Se awlnforscd by the Comptroller*e Oftloethet Falls County bad a population of 38,771 acaorain& to the last Federal uoneus.

Artlale 3260,, Rovfsed Civil Stetutacl, reads in part a8 follows:

"In tbotie aountlo6 of this state having a populritlon of not less than thirty-three thousan~flve humlrml (33,500) andmt~ro than seventy-five thoumuM (75,000) inhabit- ants and not aontaf a ~oltyo? more than end o.aah suaaeedfag Federal aensus there&r, and in whiab oountlea there are one or.mcm jucliclal distrlats and in whlohthe aounty or- form3 the duty of aotmty attorney awl distr P ot attorney aad in whlah there 1s not sow a Uls- trlat atiorney, the o??Iae of arimiaal dirrtriot attorney Is hereby amated, axl shall adst from and after Thor paESta@ Of this 8Ot. %&J offlae shall be known ae CrZmlnal Dletrlat At- torney of euah caunty. em.

Hon. CharUs E. Re5#35n, Fqe 4 The CrInimil DiatrIct Attorney

?I shall ~e*a&owd to retain out of the fees

earned and colleotod by hImtbo mm of Five Thousand Five Hundred ($5,500) Dollars psr

annum, as his compensation. titer dsduotlng the Five !l'housaxd Fire Hundred (@5,800) DO~- lam the remIn& mount is to be apglled

rirst to the pqmmt OS salaries of his assist- ant or assistants 19 those comtles whemo sala assistant or assistants are now hem paid frim the feed of t&o o?PIoe of oounty attorney,'and second, the aotual and noaessary oxpeuse Inaurmd by him end his assIstant In the conduat of hU said office as authorized by Artlab 5899 of t&e Revised X3iIlStatutes of 1925, as anaend8d, and auyotherexpo118eallomdbylaw. . . .

'The Criminal Mstrlot Attorney shall at the aloso of each plonth of the tenure of said 'o??lce ndm the report Pequlred of Oounty O??l- 08x% bgArtIo10 3899 of the RwI8ed CIvll Sta- tutes OrlQes, as am?aded,and shall f&80, at the c&Se or eaOh fiscal year raalco the annual report required 02 acrtanty offioer8 by lcrtlole 3897 of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1925, as amended.

*Xii is not the intention of this act t0 areateeny offloe of DistrIat MAorney nor auy otbsr oonatitutional o??ioa and the office a?

CrW Mstrlet~ Attorney is hereby declared tc be a separate distinct atfloe from the aonstl- tut&&ial o??ioe of distriot attorzley and IL0 Orlzal- aal d5StrlOt attorney shall draw or be peX%%tted to any salary whatsoever from the State of TeUr6.

*lkls aot la not Intended andshalln~t be con5i&ireil or c0ustrued as repealin& any la.w now on the &statute book5 except those in couf%IOt horeaith, which shall be aumlatlve therso?** Seation (0) of isrtlol8 3899, supa, 8 Eigs cdrainal dietriOt attOrneys In %lr pro-d&m that in thisstate comingwIthin a crertain popuX.atIon*aetit shall be ved end petitted to inaur reasonable and necesssryoxpeumeo? Immst5gatfaSorfmeandacouBmrlatfns evldanae InariMnaloasers; aad~hal.lbeallowetlChretrQ~ta (sp) a ml10 for each mile travelled bjr hira In autmdl.le *5 Hon. Charles'& Regan, Page 5

furnished by him In the dlsoharge 0r 0fri0id busFnsss whloh sumshall oovarall expanses of malntenenoe, depre- __- L.. olatlon, end operation of suoh amomobila. aon expenses shall be reported to the C~mmlssloners* Court of each oounty affeoted by this aot as othsr expanses reported and 8hall be paid by said Commlselonersl Court as suoh other exp@neerr are paid.

Seotlon 18 of Art1010 3918e, supra, prorldee‘ln OrrOOt that saoh Crlmlnal Dlstrlot Attorney In this state Se-kg a dlstriot oomprislngtwo or more oouutlse the popu- lation of whloh dlstrlot exoeeds 150,000 Inhabitants aooord- ing to the last praoedlng Fedoral oensus shall be allowsd a llum not to exoeed $500.00 per annum 'iOr th6 neoessary expnns Or 8UOh OirlOS, eaid 8\rmtO be paid Only Upon the It&?&d sworn statamant or. such 0rri00 showing the nsoeseitythersior and approved by the State Auditor.

It 1s obvious that the Loglslature did not intend to allow any expanee In investigating orima and aooumulatlng ~~idsn~e in orblnal oases by the general pro~islom of Art- 1010 9899, supra, boaausa in Seotlon 5, of thl8 Artlole, the Crirminal Dietriot Attorney In all oountlee In this state oom- ing wlthln ,a oertaln population bracket are eqowered and pe&tted to lnour reasonable and naoasaary expansso in in- Yestigating orlma and aooumulatlng evldanoe in oriminal oasa8, and aa ?alln County does not oame rithln the population brqo- ket authorising suoh expenses this proritdon or tha ntatute doea not apply to ~a3.U county.

You are respeotfully advired that it Ia the opinion Of this department that the Crlmlnal Dfstrlot Attorney of Tall6 County oannot lnaur reasonable and neaessary expense in inres- tigatlng orlme and aooumulatlng oridonoa in criminal oasaa.

TrufMng that ths roreg.oing answsrs your inquiry, we remain

Yourn very truly ATTORHEC OEWHRAL OF TEXAS