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
OpinionNo. 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 withthe transportation: ofa personlocated outsidethe Statebackto Texaspursuantto anarrestwarrant. 1 Youalso askwhether the county, ifit 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 ofCriminal Procedure article 15.06 provides as follows: A warrant ofarrest, issuedby any county ordistrict clerk, orby any magistrate
... shall extend to any part ofthe 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. Ifa·person is arrested in a different county from the one in which the warrant was issued and the person does notpostbail as provided in article 15.18 ofthe Code ofCriminal 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

1Letter 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 HonorableNatalie 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 pursuantto article 15.06, however, is applicable only "inthis State." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 15.06; see generallyStreetv. 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 sheriffor any other peace officer ofthis State to travel out of state to take custody ofthe person named in the warrant. Instead, the duty, ifany, 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 ofthe U.S. Constitutionprovides 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 onDemand ofthe executive Authority ofthe State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction ofthe 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 ofany State
... demands any person as a fugitive fromjustice, ofthe executive authority ofany State
. ."
. to which such person has fled, and produces a copy ofan indictment found or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any State
... , charging the person demanded with having committed treason, felony, orothercrime, certified as authenticbythe governor or chief magistrate of the State
. . . from whence the person so charged has fled, the executive authority ofthe State
... to which suchpersonhas fled shall cause himto 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. Ifno such agent appears withinthirty days from the time ofthe 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 extraditionproceedingin 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 ofthe Uniform Criminal**Extr~dition** Act ("UCEA"), bothlocated in chapter 51 (Fugitives from Justice) ofthe Code ofCriminal Procedure. See generally TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. arts. 51.01-.14. Pursuant to chapter 51, the Governor may make a demand for the return ofa fugitive from another State and assign a person to transport the individual backto Texas, who may then be compensated for his services. For example, under the general provisions,The HonorableNatalie 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, ifbrought backto the State, shall be delivered up to the sheriff ofthe 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 ofthe Governor to be allowed by such Governor and to be paid out ofthe State Treasury upon a certificate ofthe Governor reciting the services rendered and the allowance therefor. Sec. 2. The commissioners court ofthe county where an offense is committedmay inits discretion, ontherequest ofthe sheriffandthe recommendation of the district attorney, pay the actual and necessary traveling expenses of the officer or person so commissioned out ofany 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 predecessorto article 51.10 and explaining that paymentunder section 1is "an obligation ofthe State"butthat "shouldthe Staterefuse
...thenthe Commissioners Courtmay in its discretion pay ... in accordance with Section 2"); V-525 (1948) at 4 (construing the same and noting that the discretion ofthe commissioners court to pay travel expenses is conditional on the agent having been appointed by the Governor pursuant to statute). Similarly, underthe UCEA: Wheneverthe Governor ofthis State shall demand apersoncharged with crime
... in this State, from the Executive Authority ofany 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 ofthe county in this State in which the offense was committed, or in which the prosecutionfor such offense is then pending.

In all cases of extradition, the commissioners court ofthe county where an offense is allegedto have beencommitted, orinwhichthe prosecution is then pending may in its discretion, on request ofthe sheriffandthe recommendation oftheprosecuting attorney, paythe actual and necessary expenses of the officer or person commissionedto receive the personcharged, outofany countyfund 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 eligibilityrequirements, otherthan, in the case ofarticle 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 allegedlycommittedis theperson so commissionedbythe Governorinthe extradition requisition. With regard to the reimbursement of expenses, the designation ofthe Governor's agent must necessarily precede a determination ofwho is responsible for reimbursement ofthat agent's travel expenses. Thus, under the limited facts presented, we cannot advise about any reimbursement ofexpensesbeyond what is provided under articles 51.10 and 51.13, section 24, of the Code ofCriminal Procedure.The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler

- Page 5 (KP-0067)

SUMMARY Pursuantto articles 51.09 and 51.13 ofthe Code ofCriminal Procedure, apersoncommissionedbythe Governorin an extradition requisition to receive and return an out-of-state arrestee back to the county in which an offense was allegedly committedhas 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, ofthe Code ofCriminal Procedure.

CHARLES E. ROY First Assistant Attorney General BRANTLEY STARR Very truly yours,

# ~?~ KEN PAXTON Attorney General ofTexas

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER Chair, Opinion Committee BECKY P. CASARES Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee