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7 1 OFFICE OF THE All-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS b AUSTIN

Honorable J. M. nilllam~ aounty Auditor Tarrant Oount

y Xort Worth, Texas Dear Sir:

equeating the opinion ttere reads a6

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haa also been de relative to 8 In other looalnt OountyJuvenile expanse be paid
get that weare nowf operating oats this expenbiture~ :?a realather anodd request and that y rerused to pa? these olaims, on or ruling that you maygive 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 ahangethe 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

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Honorable J. M.WlLllame, Page 2

oontrol as ~111 serve the ohllb’s welfare and the best interest 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 proaedure in oases or delinquent ohildrenl nunner or hearing1 dispositional power of Juvenile Courti seleotlon of ouatodlal agenoyl protidIng ior support of ohlldren oommlttedto 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 andneglected ohlldrea; repealing olauee; and deolarlng en emergency, and effeOtlYe date to be sixty days atter enaotaent.*

in partr Seotlon 3 of Senate Bill No,. 44, supra, provides

. No

. . Theterm ‘delinquent ohlld’ meana any remale person over the age of ten (10) years end under the age or eighteen (16) male person over the age ot ten (103ears andany years and under the age of seventeen (17) yearel

“(a) whoviolates any penal law of this etate or the grade or relonyt

‘(b) or whoviolates any penal law or this state ot the grade of misdemeanorwhere the punlshnent prosorlbed for suoh offense maybe by oonfinemalt in Jail;

“(0) or whohabltually violates anypenal law or this state or the grade of misdemeanorwhere the punishment presorlbed ror suoh offense is by peouniary rine only1

“(a) or whohabitually riolatea anypenal ordlnanoe or a political subdlvislon of this statei

“(e) or whohabitually tlolates a oompulsory eohool attendanoe law of this state;

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Honorable CT.

& Wllllama, Pago 3

“(i) or whohabitually so deports hlmselr as to injure or endanger the morals or health of himself or othersi

“(g) or whohabitually assoolates with violous andImmoral persona.“~ Seotlon 11 

### or said sot provides: Whenever any orrloer takes a ohlld into ouatodp, he mayrelease said ohlld to a parent, guaraIan, or any other person upon reoelpt of a written or oral promise 

### or f3aiaperson to assumeocfnplete responsibility ror said ohlld and to have himbefore 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 maymakea general 

### Order UeSlgnatIng suoh plaoes of detention whioh mayInOlUdeprivate foster or boarding homes forkohlldren, or suoh other plaoes of detention which to the oourt seem desirable, The County Oodssionera Court may pay for boarding or foster homeoare for suoh ohildren to be detained, or all ohlldren aomingwithin the meanlagor 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 Prooedure, andArtIole 1087 of the Codeot Criminal Pmoedwe as amendedAots 1927, 40th Legislature, Chapter 163, Seotlon 1, are hereby repealed.

“Artlolee 2329and 2338 or the Statutes or Texas, 1925, are hereby RAll laws andparts or laws In with are also repealed.” ~p~~~aclvll

. oonfllo t hsre-Honorable 5. 11.WIlllams, Page 4

Seotion 24-A 

### or da aot reads as 

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“This Aot shall in nowise alter or aireat existing laws with referenoe to dependent or negleoted ohlldren as that term is derlned by Artiole 2330, Revised Clvll Statutea, 1925, and the Dlstrlot Court only shall have original jU~lsdlOtion in all prooeedlngs wherein it la sought to have a ohlla adjudged to be a dependent or negleoted ohlld, and its rlndlngs in suoh oases Shall be entered in a book kept for that purpose to be knownas ‘Juvenile Reoord*.* Detailed provision is madeby 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 dleposltlon,:~m&tenanoe and oustody of ohlldren whoare found to be dependent or negleoted. Your request, as we oonatrue it, does not pertain to dependent or negleoted Ohlldren, Therefo?e, this opinion la w be OonstrUedas applying to delinquent ahlldren only.

Tarrant Oountyhas a population or 225,521 Inhabib- !$anta aooordlng to the 1940Federal Csnsus.

Artlole 5142b, Vernon’s Annotated Cl~ll Statutes, moviaea in part;

“Seotlon 1. That the provisions or this Aot shall apply to andarreot auoh oountles only in the State of Texas as have, apoording to the last preoeding Federal Oensus, a population of not more than three hundredandtwenty thousand (jZO,OOO) inhabitants, andnot less than two huudred and twenty thousand (220,000) inhabitants, aooordlcg to the last preosdlng or anyfuture Federal Census. "Qeo. 2. TheJuvenile Board of suah oountlea shall be oomposedof the Judges ot the several Dlstriot and Criminal Dlstrlot Courts, thereof, together with the Oouuty J&s thereof.

Themembersoonposlng said Juvenile Board”f?&%*oounties on aooount or the additional duties hereby imposed in them are eaoh hereby allowed an aaaitional oompe*sat~onof Seventy-five

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flonorable 1. M. Williams, Page 5
($75.00) Dollars per monthto be paid by the Oommi~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 1940Federal Census, as comeswithin the provisions of the foregoing 

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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 oomLngwithin the meaningof the act whethsr 

### ?rlor to, or a+3?r ~theohfld 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 payfor boarding or fonter homeoare’ for oertaln children as are mentioned in the preoedins paragraph, out of oounty funds, proolded, of course, suoh expenditure 1s madein oompllanoe with the county budget.

We

### have failed to find anystatute authorizing the peymentof any expense to the membersof the oounty Juvenile bard relative to plaolng delinquent ohfldren in foster homes ! *ioh are situated In other localitlee of the state. Therefore, it is our opinion that the expense inourred by the members of the County Juvenile Boardwhile makingtrips relative tc Plaoing delinquent ohlldren in roster homesoannot be legally Paid.

Youstate in effeot that the 1943 budget under whloh the county la nowoperating did not allooate the expenditures inWired about. Under the faots stated and in Viea of the *oreeoing statutes, you.:.areadvised that it 1s the opinion of 21s department that the Conmlssloners’ Court of the oounty uaauthorlzed to makeany expenditures of the funds of the cou%, exoept in striot oomplianoe with the budget, except a?Utrgsnop expenditures in oase of grave publio neoesslty -et unusual and unforeseen oondltlons which oould not, iyto rraSO~ble diligenoe tipdsd in the origin& thought and attention, havebeen inbudget. Suoh emergenoyexpenditures

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Honorable J, Id.~llllams, Page 6

must bs madein oompllanoe with the proper amendmentto the budget by the Comlseloner8~ Court. Whetheror 

### not the payment for boarding or foster hone oare for delfnqlant ohlldren is a eltuatlon as oanbe olasslfled as a grave pub110neoesslty requiring emergenoy expenditures under the budget law so as to permit the Commlsslonera1 Court to amendthe budget, is a question of faot primarily to be passed upon by the Commiseionera* 

### a0w. ~Yoorsvery truly