The Attorney General of Texas 

December 27, 1979 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

Honorable Joe Resweber 

County Attorney 

1001 Preston, Suite 634 

PIousto& Texas 77002 

Dear Mr. Resweber: 

Opinion No. MW-117 

Re: Fee for service of a precept 

by law officer. 

You have requested our opinion concerning the fee to be charged for 

the service of precepts in the county and district courts. You have furnished 

us with the precept’forms used in the courts of Harris County. 

Article 39334 V.T.C.S., amended by the last session of the legislature, 

Acts 1979, 66th Leg., ch. 519, at 1103, provides for the fees to be received by 

the sheriffs and constables. 

Section l. 

(a) Sheriffs and Constsbles shall receive’ the 

following fees: 

For each person, corporation or legal entity, on 

whom service of citation, subpoena, summons, E 

process not otherwise provided for, is performed or 

attempted and return made, including mileage, if any, 

a fee of. . . $10.00 

For executing or attempting to execute each writ 

of garnishment, injunction writ, distress warrant, writ 

of attachnent, writ of sequestration, writ of 

execution. order of sale. writ of execution and order 

of sale, br writ not otherwise provided for, and 

making retvn thereon mcludmg mileage, tf any, a fee 

of. . . $12.00 

(Emphasis added. 

A precept is nowhere defined in Texas law although reference to the 

same is made in the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 16 provides: 

Every officer shall endorse on all process and 

precepts coming to his hand the day and hour on 

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Honorable Joe Resweber - Page Two (Mw-117) 

which he received them the manner in which he executed them, ,. 

and the time and-place the process was served as well as the 

distance actually travelled in serving such process, and shall sign 

the returns officially. 

(Emphasis added. The fifth edition of Black’s Law Dictionary defines a precept as an 

order, writ, warrant, or process. An order or direction, emanating 

from authority, to an officer or body of officers, commanding him 

or them to do some act within the scope of their powers An order 

in writing, sent out by a justice of the peace or other like officer, 

for the bringing of a person or record before htm. Precept is not to 

be confined to civil proceedings, and is not of a more restricted 

meaning than ‘process’. . . 

Id. at 1059. See also Ackermann v. Berriman, 114 N.Y.S. 937 (City Ct. of N.Y. 1909); 72 

E3.S. at 477. 

We believe that the fee to be chalged for the service or execution of a precept 

depends on the purpose and function of the order as reflected in then body of the document. 

We therefore turn to the forms used in Harris County. One form, a “precept to serve,” 

commands any constable or sheriff to serve a motion for contempt and directs the person 

served to appear before court to show catue. Another form commands the peace officer 

to serve the party “with accompanyhq certified copy of .” A third form requires 

service of a certified copy of a petition under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of 

Support Act and directs that party to appear and show cause in accordance with a 

certifiid ccpy of the court order attached thereto. A similar form commands service of 

Plaintiff’s Original Petition, tcgether with the &dge’s order thereon, and that the party 

appear and show cause. 

It is our opinion that precept forms are “process not otherwise provided for” and the 

fee to be received is ten dollars. They merely call for the service of a document on a 

person and require no more effort than the service of a citation, summons, or subpoena 

unlike the execution of the writs for which a twelve dollar fee is allowed. The execution 

of all of the writs specified in article 3933a are governed by the rules relating to ancillary 

proceebngs. Tex R. Civ. Proc 592 - 736. The execution of these writs requires greater 

effort than the mere service of process. They generally call for prompt action by the 

constable or sheriff requiring the seizure of property. The rules provide that the plaintiff 

mist file a surety bond and they allow the defendant to replevy the property by likewise 

posting a bond Sale by public auction may be conducted by the sheriff or constable when 

so ordered. Therefore, it is our opinion that under the doctrine of “ejusdem generis” the 

precepts described in this opinion lie in the category of “process not otherwise provided 

fop and require a fee of ten ddlars 

SUMMARY 

The fee for service of a precept, as described, in county and 

district court is ten dollars. 

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Honorable Joe Resweber - Page Three (m-117) 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

TED L. HARTLEY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by David B. Brooks 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

C. Robert Heath, Chairman 

David B. Brooks 

Walter Davis 

Bob Gammage 

Susan Garrison 

Rick Gilpin 

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