### April 9, 1952

Hon. Sati.W. Davis, OpinionNo. 

### V-1433 District-,Attorney Houston,Texas Re: Liability OP the COUntY from which a criminal I- cause is removed on -, change of venue for the expenses of a special venlre In the county to which the case was Dear Sir: transferred.

Your request for an opinion of thla office reads in part a8 followa:

"A person chargedwith murder In Harris County was tried in Tom Oreen County on a change of venue. Upon cORIPletlon of the trial Tom Oreen County, 1 through Its DistrictClerk, under date of February 29th, 1952, billed Harris County not ~only

for the cost of the regular jury selected to try the Defendant,but aleo for the ,cost of the SgeclalVenlres,which Bill of Cost reads in part as follows: "'November

### 26, 1951, Specialvanire;.
. ,.. $ 

### 56.00 February 21, 1952)' SneclalVenlre.:.
. . . 422.00 February 29, 195& 

### fp.ijN;;,Juw,

. . . : . 528.00

, . . . . . . . , . . "It Is admitted that Harris County is liable In the sum of $528.00,being the expenses of the regular jury, but Is Harris County liable for the expenses of the SpecialVenlre on November 26th, 1951, In the sum of $56.00, and the SpecialVenlre on February 21st, 19 2 In the sum of $422.00,a total of $376.007"i

‘,

, .z.;, f.3 Hon. Sam W. Davis, page 2 (V-1433) e Articles 560 to 563, V.C.C.P., provide f for a change of venue under certain circumstances. r i i
_- Article 587, V.C.C.P., provides:

"A 'specialvenlre' Is a writ Issued In a capital case by order of the district 1 ,court,commandingthe sheriff to summon i such a nutiber

of persons,not less than [ thirty-six,as the court may order, to .appear before the court on a day named i ln,'the writ; from whom the jury for the

.., trla,l of such case Is to be selected."
:Articles 1050 and 1051, V.C.C.P., provide: i "In all causeswhere Indictmentshave been presentedagainst persons In one county and such causes have'beenremoved by change of venue .toanother 'county, and tried therein; the county from which such cause Is removed shall.be liable for all expenses Incurredfor pay'for jurors In trying such causes."' "The county commlsslonersof each county at each regularmeeting shall ascertainwhether, since the last regular meeting, any person has been tried for crime upon'a change of venue from any; .other county. If they find such to be the case they shall make out an account against such county from which such cause was removed showing the~numberof days the jury in such case was employed therein, and settini forth.theamount paid for such jury service; such account shall then be certifiedto as correctby the county judge of such county,under his hand and seal, and be; by him, forwarded to the county judge of the county from which the said cause was removed;which account shall be paid In the same manner as accounts for the safe keeping of prisoners."

, Article ,1056, V.C.C.P.,reads In part as follows: "Each juror In the district or clmlnal district court, county court or county ,. ,

Hon. Sam W. Davis; page 3 (V-1433)

court at law, except specialve<lremenand talesmen challengedon their volr dire whose pay Is now fixed by law, shall receive Four Dollars ($4) for each day and for each fractionof a day he attends court as such juror, to be paid out of the jury fund of the county. . . .'I It Is our opinion that the word "jurors" as used In Article 1050 does not have the narrow meaningof personswho are actually accepted on the jury,but ln&udes all personswho attend court In response ,to

a summons for jury service in connectionwlth that particularCase. The purpose of Article 1050 was to place the jury expense In these cases on the county In which the case originated. The pay of specialvenlremen is necessarilya part of~the jury expense In cases where special~venlres are required. Articles 602 to 625, V.C.C.P., relatlngto the formationof a jury In capital cases,, refer to those personswho are summoned as ('jurors even though they are not selectedto serve as members of the jury for the trial of the case. .Llkewise,Article 1056 in providingthat "each juror

. . . except specialvenlremen
. . . challenged on theirvolr dire" shall receive a certain pay for attendlngcourt Includes specialvenlremenwithin the general term of ."juror."We believe that the term 'Ijurors"

as used In Article 1050;when considered with these other statutoryprovisions,Includesmembers of specialvenlres.

In vi&w of the foregoing, 'itIs our oplnIon that Harris County Is liable for the expense of both bf the specialvenlres called In the case which was tried In Tom Green County on a change of venue fromHarris County.

SUMMARY

A county,lnwhich a case originated 16 liable for the expense of special

-. ,~~ ,... ._. -,Hon. Sam W. Davis, page 4 (V-1433)

venlreswhere the case Is tried In another county on a change of venue. Yours very truly, APPROVED: PRICE DANIEL Attorney General J. C. Davis, Jr. County Affairs DlVlslon A / .MaryX. Wall ReviewingAssistant CharlesD. Mathews First Asslstatit 

# By&l& Assistant

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