E NE 

EXAS 

AUSTIN. 

April 27, 1967 

Hon. Joe Resweber 

County Attorney 

Harris County 

Houston, Texaa 

Opinion No. M- 65 

Re: Whether Harris County can 

accept the payment of a fine 

in a felony case that was 

transferred from Harris 

County to Brazes County on 

Dear Sir: 

a change of venue, under the 

stated facts. 

You have requested an opinion of this office on the following 

question: 

"Can Harris County accept the payment of a fine in 

a,felony case that was transferred from Harris 

County to Brazos County on a change of venue?" 

'Your letter states that the defendant in questian was Indicted 

in Harris County for a felony but the case was subsequently'traneferred to Brazos County on a change of venue. Upon' the trial of 

the case the defendant'was found guilty and a fine was Imposed. 

Dater upon arrest in Harris County the defendant paid the fine and 

it was turned over to the District Clerk of Harris County. The 

Harris County District Clerk sent the money to the Dlatrict Clerk 

of Brazos County, who then sent Trust Fund Warrant for $2,500.00 

back to the Harrla County District Clerk. 

As noted by you, in the memorandum brief accompanying your 

opinion request, no statutory or case law is found that Is directly 

in point on the above question. However, there are applicable 

Constitutional and statutory provisions which, in the ,opinion of 

this office, control. 

The Texas Constitution, Article 16, Section 24, provides 

follows: 

as 

' The Legislature shall-make provision for laying out 

and working public roads, for the building of brldgea, 

ahd for utilizing fines, forfeitures and convict 

labor to all those purposes.n 

Article 949 of the 1925 Code of Criminal Procedure, now numbered 

by Vernon's as Article 1006, provides: 

- 302 - 
Hon. Joe Resweber, page 2 (M-65 ) 

’ Money collected by an officer upon recoghlzances, 

bail bonds and other obligations recovered upon 

in the name of the State under any provision of 

this code, and all fines, forfeitures, judgments 

and jury fees, collected under any provision of 

this code, shall forthwith be paid over by the 

officers collecting the same to the county treasurer 

of the proper county, after first deducting therefrom the legal fees and commissions for collecting the 

same. ” 

Article 1622, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides: 

v When any officer collects money belonging to,~ and 

for the use of, any county, he shall, except where 

otherwise provided in this title, forthwith report 

the same to the proper county clerk stating fully 

from whom collected, the amount collectEd, the 

time when collected, and by virtue of what authority 

of process collected. On making such report, such 

amount shall be charged to such officer, and he 

may discharge himeelf therefrom by producing the 

receipt of the proper county treasurer therefor.” 

What the treasurer then does with the money is controlled 

by Article 1628, Vernon’s Civil Statute, which provides, in part, 

as follows: 

v The funds received by the county treasurer shall be 

classified as follows, and shall be appropriated, 

respectively, to the payment of all claims registered 

in the first, second and third classes: 

II 

. . . 

It 2.‘All money received under any of the’provisions of the 

road ahd bridge law, including the penalties recovered from 

railroads for falling to repair crossings, and all fines 

and forfeitures.” 

Although Article 42.15, Vernon’s Code of Criminal Procedure, 

provides, in part, “When the defendant is only fined the judgment 

shall be that the State of Texas recover of the defendant the amount 

of such fine and all costs of the prosecution”, it is the opinion 

of this office that such fines, although assessed in the name of 

the State of Texas, are payable to the proper officials of the county 

where the case was tried and the judgment rendered. Thus, when the 

county treasurer of the county in which the judgment was rendered 

receives such fine he is directed by Article 1628 as to where to 

place the sum received. 

- 303 - 
. - 

Hon. Joe Resweber, page 3 (M-65 ) 

There are statutes applicable to other situations which make 

exception to Articles 1006, 1622, and 1628. One such provision is 

Article 45.11, Vernon's Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides 

for payment to the municipal treasury of fines imposed on appeals 

to the county court from the corporation court. Another such exception is Article 6731d, Section 144, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

which makes a partial exception in providing that fines collected 

for violation of any highway law as set forth in the Uniform Act 

Regulating Traffic on Highways shall be used,by the municipality 

or the county In which the same are assessed, and to which the 

same are payable In the construction and maintenance of roads, 

bridges, and culverts therein, and for the enforcement of the 

traffic laws regulating the use of the public highways, and to 

help defray the expense of county traffic officers. Article 912, 

Vernon's Penal Code, provides that fine s imposed for the violation 

of the laws pertaining to the protection and conservation of wildlife be remitted to the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission, now the 

Parks and Wildlife Department. 

There are other specific exceptions, but transfer of fine 

money from the county where the cause was tried and judgment rendered 

to the originating county in change of venue felony cases is not among 

them. The absence of such specific authority to transfer such funds 

from Brazos County to Harri8 County, in this situation, require8 the 

fine money, less commissions,if any, to be delivered to t~he county 

treasurer of Brazos County and by him deposited in accordance with 

the law applicable to felony fine., Q collected as a result of offenses 

committed, causes tried, and judgment rendered in that county. 

It, therefore, follows that thie office is of the opinion that 

Harris County may not accept such funds. 

SUMMARY 

Prepared by Harold 0. Kennedy 

Assistant Attorney General 

HGK:km 

- 304 - 
- . 

Hon. Joe Resweber, page 4 (M-65 ) 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman 

W.V. Geppert, Co-Chairman 

Robert Owen 

Sam Kelley 

W.O. Shultz 

Howard Fender 

STAFF LEGAL ASSISTANT 

A.J. Carubbi, Jr. 

- 305 -