OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

we.- 

-- 

Eonoratle A. J. Luckett 

couty Xttoroep 

corn1 cozntg 

Your letter ot A 

gopa or this department 00 

"1. In a orim 

an8 dooketed , 

ported fees as 

of during term 

re fees *earnlark oolleat 

ssent District Clerk colleat all 

e tried or settled and final judgrine tern of present District Clerk? 

3801 (Rev. Clv. Stat.) apply to fees 

'amYnOd', 8s wall,~tis feee ~Uue~ and fees ~accruedf, 

amI tim'said fess psyable to i&&riot Clerk who 

has *earr,ed' 3ame?n 

yeas to district olerks for reoor&ing sherif'fts 

accounts shall be p&ld:at the end of the tam of court in 

v;;hich the service -as ren&raU; fess payable for mking 

tzansc?ipts on change of venue and on appeal shall be paid 

88 soon ~3 the service la perform&; and su4h fees mentioned, 
irO~OXibl.6 -- A. J. L,uCkett', zeg;o 2 

iac;l&iq the fess for entcrinz judrj*,ent in habeas corjxs 

cases are not con*iiti +*--ent upon shoq:;ing the case Is finally 

Bici~iOSZcl 0.f. Articles 10X, 570 nud 1034, Jernon's hnnotatnd Code of Criminal procedure; !.:cComlck v. Fhepynrd 

(OOr,. k;p.) 223 s. ?!. (26).213. In the obove lnstacces, 

stick fees would 55 considered T&me&" v;hen the oervlces 

wer"s pcrforsed. 

Artlcle 1026, Vernoc’s Cods of Crinlnal Trocedure, 

T1.tI.e 13, authorizes the district clerk to receive eight or 

ten dollcrs according to the nwaber of precedlne presidential 

totes 2:: <,';‘ ln the county, whether three thousand or over or 

less than thzee thousand, ior each felony ease, murder sxcepted, flhslly disposed of without trial or dlsnlsssd, or 

triad by jury, whether the defendant be aoqultted or conviotad. 

Ylth reference to the above fee un@sr Article 

10’6) ouga, this statute was oonstrued in an opinion renCereQ Jamzry 21, 1913, found in Voluice 27, page 171, of 

apqoved opinions of this depart&x&, viilttsn by the late 

.Chlef Justice C. X. Cureton, who was then ylrst Office 

:,salstact to the Attorney General, ln.vhlch it was held 

that such fee was ln the nature of a trial See and Is payable to the clerk in ortic? at the time the 0888 Is tried. 

?hla construction of the statute hes been oonslsti3tly follc.?~d a;la such fee is not consiUered nearnedn until the 

ease is finally disposed of, 

such fees not considered earned until the case 

Is finally dlspoocd of, the district clerk lri office at 

the ti:~e the case 1s disposed of n;akss the collection and 

reports sme in his fiscel report as earned fess rathsr 

thauhis predecessor. 

Article 1027, Vernonfs AMOtatea Code of Crlmlnal 

iroce&ure, provides: 

"In all cases whore a dofendaat is indlcted for a felony but under the indictment he lcay 

bo couvicted of a'nlsderjeacor or a felony, and 

tho auziish~~r;snt which xmy be assessed is a fine, 

jail‘sentenco or both such flno and icxprisonrsn.t in jeil,,t.he StRtG shall pay no feeS t0 an:- 

of:-itX%T, except v&we tha defendant 1s indicted 

for tha offszno of norCer, uSi the oase has 

been fisnlly disposed of in the trial court. 

I)rovided the provisioas of this Article shall 

sot. ba construed as affecting in any sray the provisions of krtlcle 1019, Code of Cri2inel ProCw?UT~, 'Et.3 u~xd~ed by Chapter 205, C-cnaral Laws, 
Xx=.srable A. J. Luckett; Fage 5 

nte3 

Ee~u1e.v Session, Forty-seaon Legislature; providob this shall not apply to axoxining trial 

_et?sa to County Attorneys acd/or Crizi?al Xstrict 3ttorI;cyii." 

Iirticle 3.992 of Vernon*s knnotat.ed Civil Statproviees: 

"Any oiticar t;entioned in this Chaj!tcr who 

Goes sot collect the msizuz mount of his fees 

ror any fiscal year ana v:ho ra;orts delinquent 

fees for that year, shall bo entitled to retain, 

when collected, such part ol such Celinqcont 

foes es is rjufriaient to coz9lete the maxiz~3 

cor9ensstlon authorize& by Articles 3953, 3263-A, 

end 396ti for the year in which delinquent fees 

w&e charged, and also retain ths asAomt of excess feea authorized by law, and the reminder 

of the Celinquent fees for that fiscal year shall 

ha pai0 as herein provided for ahen collected; 

~rovlCw!l, the provisions of this Article shall 

hot apply to any officer after one yeer from the 

Ectc he ceases to ho14 the office to which acy 

Balinquent fee is due, and in the event the officer earning tho tees thst are delioqiient has 

t collected the same within twelve Eonths after 

2 ceases to hold ths oifice tha amount of fees 

collected shall be paia into'tho county troasurg. 

ProviSed, honevez, that nothing i?l this Act precludes tha .;aysient of ex-oPl"icio fee.3 iu accor8- 

acce with Title El of the i?eviso13 Civil Statutes 

of Texas, 1925, as part of the nariaux compensation. Provic',ed, that any change z&e in this 

Article by this Act shall not apply to fees heretofore earsed.* 

Article B91, Verson~s Annotated Civil Statutes, 

in part, provic?es: 

n. . . All fess 8ue and sot collected, as 

sbczn in the report required b.y Article 3897, 

ch;all '0s collzoted by the officer to whose officn, %ho f&s accrued an5 shall be &iaposoE ot 

',. my ;o:id ol"l"icer in accor0ahce with the provis;cY&cJ , of t?.is Act. . . ." 

rc&ir::q 

33: the plclin provisions of Article 1027, supra, 

iaclu&s 

"the st,ite shall pay no fees.to shy officer", thia 

t~he' district olerk. Cizilnr language is to be 
. - 

Honorable A. J. Lock&t, Page 4 

founi' in Article 1019 , Acts 1931; Forty-second 

Chal;ter~ 5. 

Legiolsture, 

Lmxxzrin,; your questions In ttie ardor .~Tos~ted, 

it. is the opiuion of thia Qepartceni: 

1:In crizinal cases, the fees of the district 

Clark are considers6 earned when the service for ~~hich sme 

are authorize8 to be charged, is parfozed. Tk? eight or 

ten c?ollar fee proscribed in Artiale 102C, Vernon's Cede of 

Crimlna$ froceaurs, hoxever, IE not cc~;ic;s~~~ azsed until 

the case is finally %ispossd of. 

2. Ths provisions of Article 1027, Vernon's Annotated Code of Crirnihal Procedure, apply to the district 

cierk. 

3. In civil cases filed Wring the terse of P past 

district clerk, it is possible for both the inaurzbent and 

the past distriot,oleric to have *earned* fees taxed therein 

as costs. Uticle 3C91; Vernon's C'zvil Stetutas, applies 

as to those fees earned and collected as tvell us to all ides 

due and unoollected. All fees chargec? in civil cases due 

and u?lcollectc~ shall be collected by the incumbent of the 

offiqc x-ether than his predecessor with Article 3892, ver- 

&on's Civil Statutes, ap$icable to the delinquent fees of 

his pre&ecesror in'ofrice. 

Yonrs vary truly 

ATTOREY GZiZZ.AL OF TEXAS