Hon. George, 9. Avery County Attorney Fannin,County Bonham; Texas

Dear Sir: 'Opinion RO.~ v-1059 Re: The sala??y of the oourt reporter of the 6th Judicial Mstriet comprised of Fannln and Lamar Counties. Your request for'aa opinion reads in part as follovs: "I have received a requert for an opinian from Hri,Farris Plrtle, Auditor of FinnIn County, ~whichrequest is herewith attabhed, in effect venting to knowif the 'Court Reporter for the Sixth Judicial Distrlot, yhioh is oomposed of Fannin.and Lamar Cotitiea, should be paid under the provisions.of Article 2326h or Artiole 2327a-1 of Vernon's Civil Statutes of the,Sttite of Texas, vith reference to'arriving at the proportion of auah dalary'eaoh county should pay. Lamar County alao is in the 62nd Judicial Dlatriot, which la composed of Lamar, Hunt, Delta ati.FTanklin Counties.. "Therefore, I request an opinion upon the follovlug queation:~ 'In apportioning the salary of the officla$ shorthand Feporter for the C&H, of the 6th Judicial Diatriot, between' Lamar and Fannln Counties, should we ba governed by the,provlsions of Article 2326h, and let each county pay that portion of the expenses and salaries which the population of the county, 

### aaoorddiug to the, last preceding Federal Census, bears to the total population of both oountiea, or, should 'erabe governed by;? provisions bf Artiole 2327a-1, and

only one half of LamarCounty's populatiob in arriving at that County's proportionate,ah,are of aucrhsalary?"Hon. George T. Avery, page 2 (V-1059)

Article 232611,V.C.S., provides :

“In eaoh Judiolal District in this State in which the terms of Court do not operate on a oontinuous term basis end Lawhioh there Is more than one County, the salaries and expenses of the official Court reporter shall 2 ;zg,y the respeotlve aountles es’provld-

. lEaohof the oountles vithin such Diatriot shall pay that portion of the expenses and salaries of the off1oiel Court reporter which the population of the oounty, according to the last preoeding Federal Census, bears ~tothe total population of the counties acmprlaing the Judloial District. rr Artiole 2327a-1, V.C.S., provides :~ Slhere any Judiolal DistrLot in this State .is composed of more than one ~county, and the Dlstriot Court thereof has swoessive terma ln,,elther of suoh oountles throughout the year, without more than tvo (2) .days intervening betveen any of suoh terms, the aalarg of the offlolal shorthand reporter of ,suoh Distrlot shall ‘be paid by the several counties of the District, the same to be spportioned amongsuch oountles In proportion to their population aocording to the latest United Wates deoennial oensus * provided that where swh oounty is in two (2 different Juaioial Districts, either one, of vhioh '3.aooaposed of more than one county, In oaloulating suoh county’s proportion of liability f th salary of the offioial shorthand reDort?r in' any auoh District containing more than one oounty, such county’s **1)ODU ‘** **IetiOU** shall be aounted at one-half of its aotual 

### pomdation as shown by the last Drecediw’ United States decennial oenaus
.” (Emphasis added) It ia’apparent from reading the above **8tatUteS** that Artiole 2326h 1s appllcabl?-to aoupties Ilf Judioial

. . Dlstrlcts vhlch do not have oontlnuous tezw or oourt, while Artiole 23278-l applZea to oounties in Judicial Districts which have continuous terms in either county. Since Lamar County is located in two Judioial DistrMts it is necessary that we determine vhether either oounty in the 6th Judicial District has oontlnuous terms of oourt..

.’
Hon. Qeorge T. Avery, page 

### 3 (V-1059)
..'*. .Prior to 1947, s’ubdivialoh. ‘6:&f Ai%lole 199, V. C.S., provided ln~pert;

yii: ‘~ - Fannici bnd Lamar’

.

. . ,:

‘%6gtPon 1. T&ma’ of Oo& in’ and for the 

### 6th‘Judioiil ~Diattiiat shaL1 ba hereefter held therein each year as fol1 ova:

“k $he County ‘of
~‘Banninon the9eeoond Monday in January of eaoh year and mayeon- ”
~’ tinw in session for QlWJetl weeks;

., ,. ., !‘In the County of Lamar on ~t&eeleventh Monday.after, the se&t.@. Aonday: in January of esoh year and mayoontinue in aessfon for ten weeks;

“In the County of Fannin on the tventyflrst.Ronday efter 

### theae6ondMonday inJaquary bf ,eaoh’year and mayoontinw in a,ession for eight weeks;

“In the County ‘qf Lamapoh $h? Ififth Hou

### day after the qeoond Monday in August in eaoh, year and mayoontinue ,ln sesalop six vee.ks;
“In the Countp of iann& ‘oh the eleventh :’ Honday~after the second Monday 

### inAugustof each year and maycontinue In session six weeks;

“In the County of La’mclron tbs aetintsenth Monday efter the seoond Mondsy in, August of eaah year ,and mayoontinue in session until the aeoon$ yonday ,in Jqnuery, the following year.

. . .Hove&; in House Bill 

### 737, Aats 50th,Leg., R.S. 1947, oh.112, p.175, effeotlve April r21, 

### 1947,the above statute was amendedby adding thereto the following;

“Eaoh term of Court in each of such oountleti~.may oontinue until the date herein fixed for 

### thebeginningof the next suooeediag team therein.’ It la thus seen that the Le ed oontlkous terms of court for the tlti,lature authortoth Judicial Dlstriat.Hon. Geopge T. Avery, page 4 (V-1059)

Weare further supported In this oonolwion by the emergenoy clause of Howe Bill 737, vhtoh provides:

%*a 

### .5. The fact that the dookets in the above-named oounties are orowded, and the further faot that no relief can be had for this condition until oontinuow terms of Court are authorized, create an emetigenoy
. . .n It la stated in Texarkana 8 Ft. 9. ton Qas &Fuel Co., 121 Term, 51 S.W.2d

“In oonstruing statutes enaoted directly by the Legislature it Is the duty of the oourt to look to the entire a&, inoluding the osption, the body of the sot, and even the emergency clause, to determine the legislative intent. Whenthe legislative intent is once determined it la the law.” You state in your letter also that the 6th Judiolal District has been operating under oontinuow terms of its aourts.

Since Fannln andLamar CountLes nowhave oontinuow terms of aourt, it is our opinion that in apportlonlng the salary of the official shorthand court reporter for the 6th Judiaial Distfiot between suah counties you are governed by the underlined provisions of Article 23278-l.

The 6th Judloial Dist’riot aomprlsed of Fannln and Lamar Counties has aontinuow tems of court. H.B: 

### 737,dots 50th Leg., R.S.1947, oh.112, p.175. Texarkana &FC.S.Ry.v.Bowton Gas &Fuel CO., ‘121 T

. 4 51 S.W.2d 284

. Therefore th?oourt’reporter of such dlstriot ahould be paid aooordlng to the provisiow of Artlole 2327s-1, V.C.S. Yours very truly, J. C. DE&S, Jr. County Affairs Divialon Charles D. Hathevs Rxeoutlve Assistant Joe 8. Greenhill First Assistant BA:mw ” PRICEDARIRL Attorney General

Bg d&S

Assistant