**OFFICE OF**  **THE ATTORNEY**  **GENERAL OF**  **TEXAS** AUSTIN
February 9, 1939

**Hon. c.**  C. Fillmore AssistantDistrictAttorney Klohita County Wiohlta Falls, Texas
Dear Sir:



# tllons I ” --

Pan81 Code Of ths State ol 'Pan8
durfng it8 tom, or Judge thornof or the filing of o&plaint ageinrt tura of iablatiImat ai nay pemoa of rife, or of ohlld, or of.rife end on ahall upon appl.ioetion of the oomplioation noth to the defendant of 8uoh apandmy upon hearing thereof enter swh temporary 

### ordersas may 800~ just, providing for the 8upport of cle8srtsd riv88 end ohlldrsn or both, psndente llt6, and may reheal to obey suoh oIg uaf8h ?or the rlohtlon or: 6r ad for **OQntsmpt. AOt8:i**  1919,pa 1eSi **dot8** 1931, 4&&d bi#g., p. 58, oh. 58, para. 1."Hon. C. C. Fillmore, February 9, 1939,Page 2

Artiale 602 of the Penal Code of the State of Texas makes the offense ofwlie and child desertion a felony.

Seation a Of Arti 5 0r .theConstltutlonprovide8 that the District Court shallhave jurisdictionover dlroroe suits and over leloniee. Said artlole ?urther.providesthat :L the Distrlot Court shallhave general orlglnal jurl8dlotlon over all oauses of aationwhatever for wbloh a remedy or 

### jurisdiotion is not providedby law or the Constitution.

In the case o? Ex Parte YoWhorter, 45 SW (2nd) 977, cited by you in your brie?, the appellant,

### HoWhortor, and his w$fe were divoro8d,md upon her 

### l pplloetlonend reI pre8enteUon to ths ,ociurt hat the appellantru eble+odled mad hed earning oapaoity, th8 Dirtriot Court o? Johnrroa 1 Ooaatp (inwhfoh the **orlmlnal indiotment**  wa8 I180 pending)

mede an order requiring the eppsllant to pay into oourt a oertaln ma per month ?or the 8upport of hi8 ohlldnn.. Opti j refu8al of 

### a psllant B to ooaplyrltb the order, the appollaat

1~ (afterdue o tation and 

### lnqulry) wes held.in 4oatcRpt 4f : oo~rt and the fine aaaes8ed egaln8t him. 'On epplioat* ?or e writ o? %beas Oorpu8 to the Dietriot Judge o? fOhn8on Oounty, the a plioatlon ?or dlsohargawas **denied.** :The G 4 **&urt o?**  **arim**% il App4al8 a??irrsd **the judgment** **of** the Dlstrlot Court. !: /..

_’

Iu en8wer to yorv'?lrst qua8tioaiend l&&.0? the euthoritlo8 olted above, you er8 **ro8p4ottplly,edria4&** thet it is the opinion o? thin Doperbent that the Dlrtrlot Oourt hai 9XOlu8lve orlgirriljuri8dlotlonof en epplloatlOI3 by oomplalnant, 8OekfXige hekrlng before the oOwt c@ Jadg8, ?or an 

### orderrequiring the hu8band to oontrlbute to th8 8upport O? hia ri?e and Ohlld,under Artl0l0 604 OS the Penir ::. **aode 0r**  **wt18.**

In regard to your 8aoond qtI98tfOn, we deem the IWAmlng authorities applloeblsr

Art1014 zs 0r the cods or OrlmlnalPr044dum provld44 as follow4: REaohdlstrlot attorney shall repre4ent the Stats in all orlminal base8 in the dlatrlot eOWt8 of hia district, exaspt in ocises where he ha8 been, before hi8 eleotlon, **4inploy46** adtsr8ely. **When any**  oriminal proasbding 18 **he&** before an~@kmlnlng oourt in hi8 dlatrlot or before a judgeupon habee oorpus, eat!

he is nOtif o? the **84414, and**  **18** at the tltae

wlthln the oouxity where 8uoh proobsdlng ia had, he 8hall repre8ent the State therein,unla88 prevented by other otfiolalduties.*Hon. C. Fillmore,February 9, 1939, Pace 3 Gregoryvs. S&ate, 47 SW (2nd) 898. This oase Is cited by you in yourbrief. In this case, appellantwas under inaiotment for child desertion. Pending theproseoution for child desertion,appellant'swife, in behalf of their child, asked that an order be made against appellant directinghim to pay a certain sum eaoh week for the support of the child. After proper notioe to the appellant, the oourt entered an order, ordering appellant to pay a oertaln summonthly for the support of said ohlld. Itwas from this order that the appellant attempted to appeal to the Court of CriminalAppeals. The Court of CriminalAppeals held that v&i18 t!xeorder fromwhich the appellant sought to appeal was anoillary to a OriminalprOSeoutiOn, the order itself oouldnot be held to be a 

### orbainalone8 under the prOVisiOn o? the Constitution,oiting the on84 of Ru8apll vs. -8tete,36 SW 1070, and di8mi88ed ths epprel
.~. for leok 0s jurl8dlotlon. In it4 opinion, the oOurt 8tet46 that if the appellantha4 reiu8ed to oomplywith the 00urt~r ,:order and had been held ln oontempt thsreior,and omaitlml to jell for puul8hment., appellant 00~14 hare,soughtr4114? i..~,..by-~&bee8

Corpusprooqdlng and, ii den144 the rell4?, the i ~,. --+Akmrt oi.CriminelAp$@&38wmld ,havs,juri4dlotlon to,i-.~riw the not of the l~mti'o~iirt ln the oontenrpt

pr0044dl oplnloa. .*, w?-:~+:. "OM- ,,~ lng Xx Part@ NoWhorter,hexwlnebovereferrsd to in:@

: It would appear ?rom the ebov4 auth6riti48thet ",,: the flllng O? the applioatlon of the oomplainantto oomp81 the hu8band to 8upport, although anoillary to~~the orimL%Ml pro8eoutlon, 18 o? a 01~11nature.

We are unable to find &y authoriti48whlohwould r4qulre the DistrlotAttorney to file suoh 8x1 applioetion ror oomplalnantunder Artlole 604 of the Penal Oode of Texar. ThersfOre, in answer to the ssoond qu48tlon,you ere respeatfully advised that 18 is the opinion o? thir Department that It Is not themandatory duty of the Di8triot Attorney to file the applioatlon in behalf of the oaapleimint for the purpose therein set forth. Very truly yOiU'8 **ATTORWRY**

GRWERAL OF TSXAB
BY
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xJ!ToRRm OwlwBL