The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler 

Bosque County Attorney 

Post Office Box 215 

Meridian, Texas 76665 

Dear Ms. Koehler: 

KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

February 16, 2016 

Opinion No. KP-0067 

Re: County responsibilities regarding interstate 

extradition (RQ-0050-KP) 

You ask which entity, as between a city police department and a county sheriffs office, 

"bear[ s] responsibility for extradition across state lines" in connection with the transportation: of a 

person located outside the State back to Texas pursuant to an arrest warrant. 1 You also ask whether 

the county, if it is determined to bear this responsibility, may "be reimbursed by the agency who 

requested the warrant." Request Letter at 1. Based on the limited background information 

provided, we confine our discussion to (1) the general duty created by an arrest warrant with 

respect to a person arrested outside the State; and (2) the costs associated with interstate 

extradition, and we express no opinion regarding the specific circumstances in your case. See 

Request Letter at 1; Email at 1. 

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 15.06 provides as follows: 

A warrant of arrest, issued by any county or district clerk, or by any 

magistrate ... shall extend to any part of the State; and any peace 

officer to whom said warrant is directed, or into whose hands the 

same has been transferred, shall be authorized to execute the same 

in any county in this State. 

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 15.06. If a· person is arrested in a different county from the one in 

which the warrant was issued and the person does not post bail as provided in article 15 .18 of the 

Code of Criminal Procedure, the sheriff, after receiving notice, is obligated to "go or send for the 

arrested person and have the arrested person brought before the proper court or magistrate." Id. 

art. 15.20; see also id. arts. 15.18 (procedural requirements for out-of-county arrests), 15.19 

(notification to sheriff); Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. L0-92-67, at 2 (construing article 15.20 to 

obligate the sheriff to transport an arrested person back from a distant county even when the 

1

Letter from Honorable Natalie C. Koehler, Bosque Cty. Att'y, to Honorable Ken Paxton, Tex. Att'y Gen. 

at I (Sept. 9, 2015), https://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs ("Request Letter"); see 

also Email from Honorable Natalie C. Koehler, Bosque Cty. Att'y, at I (Oct. 14, 2015) (on file with the Op. Comm.) 

("Email"). 
The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler - Page 2 (KP-0067) 

warrant is obtained by a city police department). The authority to execute an arrest warrant 

pursuant to article 15.06, however, is applicable only "in this State." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 

15.06; see generally Street v. Cherba, 662 F.2d 1037, 1039 (4th Cir. 1981) ("[g]enerally, an arrest 

warrant issued in one state may not be lawfully executed in another"). Thus, an arrest warrant, by 

itself, does not impose a duty on a sheriff or any other peace officer of this State to travel out of 

state to take custody of the person named in the warrant. Instead, the duty, if any, to take custody 

in another State is governed by state and federal extradition law. 

The interstate extradition of fugitives is controlled by the United States Constitution, 

federal law, and state law. The Extradition Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that 

[a] person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other 

Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, 

shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which 

he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 

Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

U.S. CONST. art. IV, § 2, cl. 2. Congress has implemented this constitutional provision in federal 

law, providing that 

[ w ]henever the executive authority of any State ... demands any 

person as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any 

State . ." . to which such person has fled, and produces a copy of an 

indictment found or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any 

State ... , charging the person demanded with having committed 

treason, felony, or other crime, certified as authentic by the governor 

or chief magistrate of the State . . . from whence the person so 

charged has fled, the executive authority of the State ... to which 

such person has fled shall cause him to be arrested and secured, and 

notify the executive authority making such demand, or the agent of 

such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and shall cause the 

fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. If no 

such agent appears within thirty days from the time of the arrest, the 

prisoner may be discharged. 

18 U.S.C. § 3182. With respect to costs, Congress has provided that "[a]ll costs or expenses 

incurred in any extradition proceeding in apprehending, securing, and transmitting a fugitive shall 

be paid by the demanding authority." Id. § 3195. 

The State of Texas has further implemented the Extradition Clause through general 

extradition provisions as well as through the adoption of the Uniform Criminal Extr~dition Act 

("UCEA"), both located in chapter 51 (Fugitives from Justice) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 

See generally TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. arts. 51.01-.14. Pursuant to chapter 51, the Governor may 

make a demand for the return of a fugitive from another State and assign a person to transport the 

individual back to Texas, who may then be compensated for his services. For example, under the 

general provisions, 
The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler - Page 3 (KP-0067) 

[ w ]hen the Governor deems it proper to demand a person who has 

committed an offense in this State and has fled to another State, he 

may commission any suitable person to take such requisition. The 

accused, if brought back to the State, shall be delivered up to the 

sheriff of the county in which it is alleged he has committed the 

offense. 

Id. art. 51.09. The general provisions contemplate two alternate sources for compensation: 

Sec. 1. The officer or person so commissioned shall receive as 

compensation the actual and necessary traveling expenses upon 

requisition of the Governor to be allowed by such Governor and to 

be paid out of the State Treasury upon a certificate of the Governor 

reciting the services rendered and the allowance therefor. 

Sec. 2. The commissioners court of the county where an offense is 

committed may in its discretion, on the request of the sheriff and the 

recommendation of the district attorney, pay the actual and 

necessary traveling expenses of the officer or person so 

commissioned out of any fund or funds not otherwise pledged. 

Id. art. 51.10; see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. V-587 (1948) at 3-4 (construing identical 

language from the predecessor to article 51.10 and explaining that payment under section 1 is "an 

obligation of the State" butthat "should the State refuse ... then the Commissioners Court may in 

its discretion pay ... in accordance with Section 2"); V-525 (1948) at 4 (construing the same and 

noting that the discretion of the commissioners court to pay travel expenses is conditional on the 

agent having been appointed by the Governor pursuant to statute). Similarly, under the UCEA: 

Whenever the Governor of this State shall demand a person charged 

with crime ... in this State, from the Executive Authority of any 

other State ... he shall issue a warrant under the state seal, to some 

agent, commanding him to receive the person so charged if 

delivered to him and convey him to the proper officer of the county 

in this State in which the offense was committed, or in which the 

prosecution for such offense is then pending. 

In all cases of extradition, the commissioners court of the county 

where an offense is alleged to have been committed, or in which the 

prosecution is then pending may in its discretion, on request of the 

sheriff and the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney, pay the 

actual and necessary expenses of the officer or person 

commissioned to receive the person charged, out of any county fund 

or funds not otherwise pledged. 
The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler - Page 4 (KP-0067) 

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 51.13 §§ 22, 24. Neither the general provisions nor the UCEA 

provisions establish any particular eligibility requirements, other than, in the case of article 51.09, 

that the person be "suitable," to be appointed as the Governor's agent to receive and return a 

fugitive from another State. Id. art. 51.09. 

With regard to your specific question about the duty to transport an arrestee in this case, 

you provide no further information regarding who was named as the Governor's agent or the 

manner in which the extradition was carried out. Thus, we can advise only generally that the 

person with the responsibility to transport an out-of-state arrestee back to the county in which the 

offense was allegedly committed is the person so commissioned by the Governor in the extradition 

requisition. With regard to the reimbursement of expenses, the designation of the Governor's 

agent must necessarily precede a determination of who is responsible for reimbursement of that 

agent's travel expenses. Thus, under the limited facts presented, we cannot advise about any 

reimbursement of expenses beyond what is provided under articles 51.10 and 51.13, section 24, of 

the Code of Criminal Procedure. 
The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler - Page 5 (KP-0067) 

SUMMARY 

Pursuant to articles 51.09 and 51.13 of the Code of Criminal 

Procedure, a person commissioned by the Governor in an extradition 

requisition to receive and return an out-of-state arrestee back to the 

county in which an offense was allegedly committed has the duty to 

carry out that responsibility. The actual and necessary expenses of 

a person so commissioned may be paid pursuant to article 51.10 or 

article 51.13, section 24, of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 

CHARLES E. ROY 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Very truly yours, 

~?~ KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

BECKY P. CASARES 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee