The Attorney General of Texas 

November.30, 1981 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

Supreme Court Building 

P. 0. Box 12546 

Austin. TX. 76711 

5121475-2501 

Telex 9101674-1367 

Telecopier 512/475-0266 

1607 Main St.. Suite 1400 

Dallas. TX. 75201 

21417428944 

4624 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 

El Paso, TX. 79905 

915/5x3464 

1220 Dallas Ave., Suite 202 

Houston. TX. 77002 

713,650.0666 

806 Broadway, Suite 312 

Lubbock, TX. 79401 

6061747-5236 

4309 N. Tenth. Suite 6 

McAllen, TX. 76501 

5121662.4547 

200 Main Plaza, Suite 400 

San Antonio, TX. 76205 

512/225-4191 

An Equal OpportunityI 

Aftirlnative Action Employer 

Reed Quilliam, Executive Director 

State Bar of Texas 

14th Street and Colorado 

Austin, Texas 78711 

Opinion No. Mh'-400 

Ret Construction of amendments to article 3923, V.T.C.S.. 

enacted by Sixty-seventh 

Legislature 

Dear Mr. Hanna: 

You request our opinion as to the effect on article 3923, 

V.T.C.S., of two amendments enacted by the Sixty-seventh Legislature. 

You specifically ask whether Senate Bill No. 265 and Senate Bill No. 

1165 may be reconciled so that full effect may be given to both. 

Senate Bill No. 1165, enacted by the legislature on May 29, 1981, 

amended article 3923, V.T.C.S., by raising the fees, costs, and 

deposits to be received by the clerk of the supreme court. senate 

Bill No. 265, enacted on June 2, 1981, amended numerous statutes to 

implement the constitutional amendment granting criminal appellate 

jurisdiction to the former courts of civil appeals. See Tex. Const. 

art. V, 66. The majority of the amendments enacted by Senate Bill No. 

265, including the amendment to article 3923, merely struck the word 

"civil" from references to the court of civil appeals. This amendment 

to article 3923, V.T.C.S., reads in pertinent part: 

(A) The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall 

receive the following fees and costs: 

1. For the filing of records, applications, 

motions, briefs, and other necessary and proper 

papers; for the docketing and docket and minute 

book entries; for issuing notices, citations, 

processes, mandates; and for the performance of 

other proper and necessary clerical duties in 

cases before the court, he shall receive the fee 

set out opposite each class of the following 

cases: 

(a) Application for writ of error.....$lO.OO 

. . . 

p. 1358 
Reed Quilliam - Page 2 (MW-400) 

(e) Certified questions from the Court of 

Appeals to the Supreme Court................ 25.00 

Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 291, 958, at 787. The provisions setting 

fees, costs, and deposits for the clerk of the supreme court were left 

unchanged from the law as it existed prior to amendment by Senate Bill 

NO. 1165. Your question, then, is whether the enactment of Senate 

Bill No. 265 effectively leaves the article 3923 fees as they were, 

notwithstanding the enactment of Senate Bill No. 1165. 

Amendments to the same statute, and in particular amendments 

enacted at the same session of the legislature, will be construed in 

harmony if at all possible. Wright v. Broeter, 196 S.W.2d 82 (Tex. 

1946). In construinp, any statute, the courts will seek to effectuate 

the intent of the iagislature and not to defeat it. Brazes River 

Conservation and Reclamation District v. Costello, 143 S.W.Zd 577 

(Tex. 1940). The controlling intent expressed in Senate Bill No. 1165 

was to increase the fees, costs, and deposits to be received by the 

clerk of the supreme court, while the legislative intent underlying 

Senate Bill No. 265 was to change the designation of the courts of 

civil appeals to ltcourt of appeals." In amending article 3923, the 

legislature was required by article III, section 36 of the Texas 

Constitution to reenact and publish at length the section amended. 

See State Highway Department v. Gorham, 162 S.W.Zd 934 (Tex. 1942). 

We believe the legislature republished the prior fee schedule in order 

to satisfy the requirements of article III, section 36, and not to 

nullify its enactment of Senate Bill No. 1165. The two amendments to 

article 3923, V.T.C.S., can be harmonized and given effect when the 

purpose of each is understood. In our opinion, the fees, deposits and 

costs established by Senate Bill No. 1165 are now in effect. 

SUMMARY 

The costs and deposits set out in Senate Bill 

NO. 1165 amending article 3923, V.T.C.S., are in 

effect and were not impliedly repealed by Senate 

Bill No. 265. 

Very truly yours, f3 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

RICHARD E. GRAY III 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

p. 1359 
Reed Quilliam - Page 3 (m-400) 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Susan L. Garrison, Chairman 

Jon Bible 

Rick Gilpin 

Jim Moellinger 

Bruce Youngblood 

p. 1360