C 

### THEATJYORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS

AUSTIN. **TEXAS**

ootober 10, 1949

Hon. Elton ffilllland op1niw 

### Ho. v-927 C?tupty Attorrhey 

### Iknierd county Be: Several qmstlanr oonBig spying,Texer oemi8q the or anlzation OS thQ'~ll

8 ~~ th Beer Hr. billiland: Ju?iol~~l M&riot.
Tow request zwlatlag to Home Bill Ho. 379, A&a of the 51st Legislature,1949, whloh protide for the orsatim of tha 118th Juddioial District aourt of Texas oomposed of Howard, Ilartin,and fflassoook

Counties, presents the followbg questlotmr
1. When does the 118th JudlolalDistrlot oommenoe to tllnatlon?
2. WhOa will the Offi0~~ O? the 118th Jttdlolal Dlstrlot oopenoe to fmiotion'l 

### 3.~ How muoh oan the Distrlet Judge pay hlr Court Ra~portter? sulx4cquent1y ou ask:
4. ISa7

an lndiotmentpresented'inthe 70th Judioial Distriotbe made the subjeot of a trial In the 118th Judioial Blatriot?
5. Vi11 the appointire Dlrtriot Judge hawe to be "reappointed"

berom he oan take ofrloe? iouae Bill Ho. 379 prowidea ia part: "$00. 6. The 118th JmdiolalM&riot of Texas is hemby orei+d and ahall be oomposed of the Counties of @ward, fflesscook ard Hartin. Said Dlstlllot Cotart shall be known au the 118th JudiolalDistrict.



### "SQQ. 7. The tesms of said 118th J&loial Court shall be a8 follow~~r

"In the County of HowamY on the fourth londay of August, the fourthMonday in Ootobez, and fourth-r

.

-.

Eon. Elton %illlland,page 2 (V--927)

Wondey in Janaaq, and the fourthMonday In June.

"In the County of (tlasaoook ou the firatMonday in September and on the flrat &or&lay in February.
"In the Couuty of lartln on the firstMonday in Oatober and the first #Ionday In January and the first londay in Juue.

%aoh ten of Court in eaoh of suah Couutlea may oontlnueuatil the date herelu fired for the beginning of the next auooeeddlng ten thereIn.
'sea. 8. Immediatelyupon the effeotivadate of thia Aot the Qommuor shall appoint a suitableperaon having the qualifioatl.ous providedby the Constitution and laws of Texas for DlatFiot Judge, aa Judge of the 118th Judlolal Court. lie ahall hold office aa suoh Judge until the next general ale&Ion.

. . .

*sea. ga Immadiatelyupon the passage of thlr law the (ioremor shall appoint a suitableparsonhaving 817 the qualifioetiona providedby the Constitutionand lava o? Texas for Distriot Attorney aa DistrletAttorney of the 118th matriot court.

. .

%e. 12. As soon aa the Judge of the 118th JudioialDlstrlat is appointedaad quallfl8dhe ah811 proooed to aaleot a Court Reporter o? the 118th Judlo1al Dlatrlotwho shall be paid the aama salary aa tha Court Reportm of the 70th JudiolalDiatrlot is now paid aud ah811 be paid out of the proper fund8 in keepiugwith the exlatlag lawa.

"See. 13. A11 prooeaaes issued or servedbefore this Aot take8 effeot, fualudlngre6oguizanoeaend bonds returnableto the blatriot Court of any of the Countlaa of the 70th JudicialDlstrlot, shall be oonsldered aa returnableto said Couth in aooordauoe with the terns as pmsoribed in this Aot, and all such prooesses are hereby legalized and all Qrand and Petit Juries drawn and aeleoteduuder exlatiag laws in say of the Countlea of aaid diatriot shall l$ eonrideredlawfullydrawn and selected for the uext term of the Blatrlot Court of their respeotireCounties, aftqr this Aot takes sffeot,potid-, lng that If auy Court la any County of said distriot shall be in aaaalon at the tlma that thla Aot takes effect, aueh Court or Courts affeotedhereby shall oontinua In reaslon until the tow thereofhas expired uuder the Prorlslons -..

Hon. Inton %lll~lma, pagR3 (v-927)

of the exiatlng laws, but theraafterthe Court la amh ~~~~o~mCountlsrr shall oopform to the requmenta of

. SOotiOn 39 of Artlole III, Constitutionof Texes provides:

'If0 law p8ded by t@e Leglal8ture

. . ., aball teke effeot or go into fore0 uutll ntuety days after the adjourrmentof th@ aesslon at which l,t was eaaated,nn$ ~losa In oaae of an ammgenay, whlah emrgmmy rust be expresaqd In a preamble or lh the body of the aat, the Legislature shell by a vote of two thirds of all the mb&ama eleoted to aaoh House, otherwise dimt; meld vote to be taken by yeea sad naSs and entered uppan fh$ journela."
Howe Bill no.379 paaaed the House on lay 5, 1949, by 133 oate on Ilay

2% , a;$$ ~:~~;,;t~a5xmaaa~ %;h;z;-
Vas appmmd by the &emor on Juue 17, 1949. The 51at LeglalatureadjournedJuly 6, 199. It beoam bffeotl~ai Octobsr 5, 1949, ninety Qya dter the edjourmwnt of the ,Leglalature,

hevlng failed to reaelvea favorablevote of two-thirdsof all th& meqbqra elected (31) to the Se- 'oud and Llro Stook ii Abhiirado6

Relative to your querrtlon go. 2 it la our Oplnlorm that the ofrloem of the 118th JudicialDlatriat court will omaietm~ to innotion imaedlately upon Ootober 5, 1949, The Co&, whloh was @restedby Rouse Bill 379 and whloh oame Into existence 'on Ootober 5$h, till prooeed with the bualneaa of the 70th JudlolalDlatrlct as ~heaaamerelates to Howard, lartln, aud GlasaoookCounHowever, aeotion 13 of House Bill 379 provides that'lf any oourt ahall be in meaalon at the time this Act takes effect, awh Court shall continua ':in session until the term thereofhas expired. The conatruatlon placed upon this languageby this office la that tf any term of Court is In session in the Dlstrfot la an of the three oountlea*erred to upOa Octtiber 5, 19 9, 1 It shall oontlnue In session until the expirationof the tens pursuant to APtfOb 199-70,V.C.S. Article 199-70Hon. Blton Glllllaud,page 4 (V-97)

provides for a term of court to begin in Howard County on September5, 1949; In GlaasoookCount 1949; and in Martin County on July 4, 9 on July 18, 19 9, such tema of ooort to oontlnue in sesalon until the Saturday night IePnedlately

preoedlngthe Wondey for oonoenlngthe next regular terms of court in the reapeotlveootW,les. This being true, when the 118th JudicialDlatrlotcameInto exlstenoe on October 5th, awh term of oourt shall oontime until they have expired at the tlmea provided for in Artlole 199-70. It would be incumbentupon the uewly appointedDiatrlot Judge of the 118th JudloialDistrict to sit in the courts in rreaslon In the counties of Howard, Martin aud Glesscoek after October 5th until the explratlon of the term8 thereof.

You have raised no question as to the oonstltutlonalityof the statuteson aourt terms In question, aad we express no opinionthereon.

Passing to your question Ho. 3 It la our oplnion that the Court Reporter for the 118th JudicialDlatrlot must be pald the aame a,alary 88 the Court Reporter meelves In the 70th JudlolalDistrict upon the effective date of House Bill 379.

You state that it is your belief that the Co-t Reporter shouldbe paid la aooordeuce wltb the general statute relating to Court Rcipsrtera*Generally speaking thts is true. But In this inatanoethe atanderd Seth for the salary of the Coo& RepoPter is inoluded in a specialbill oremtlng a Dlatrlot Colurt.The courts have held that a Court Reporter'saalery way be set by a special law within the meaning of ArtioleV, Section 1 of the Texas Conatitutfon. Tolp 195 S.W.2d 845, (Tex.Clv.App.194b).

QuestionHo. 4 is answeredby the opinion of the ooplrt

rendered in the ease of Peddy v. State, 49 S.W. 28 745 (Tex.Cplm.1932), wherein the court stated:
"It Is suggestedthat no order of transfer of this 0888 fraa the fourth to the 123rd District is shown. Ho such transferwas neaeasery. The iudiotment was returnedby a Grand Jury of Shelby County end to the DlatriotCourt of that Col.ultg

. It still remained In that Court when tried. The Aot of the Legisleture.-

-, Hon. Blton Glllllaud,page 5 (V-927)

ohaagad the numbar of the JudicialDlatrlat and the tlmea of holding aourt, but In no way dlaturbedthe lodgmamt of the oaae in the DlatrlotCourt of Shelby county.' Also, see Lemons T. 8tate, 128 S.W.416 (Tex.Crlm.1910).

The nwlg appolutedDlatrlot Judge of the 118th JudlolmlDlatrlot may try a defendantupon an lndlotnant whloh wee presented la ~the70th JudlolmlDlatrlot la the partloularoountlaa affeatedwhile aueh aountlaawara a. part of meld Dlatrlot.,

Your queatloalo. 5 relates to thm aaoeaalty Of mappolmtlug the DistrictJudge for We 119th Judlala1 Diitriot after the affactlredata of House Bill 379. It la,our bplnion that Cha wwly appointadDlatriatJudge for the 118th JudlolalDlatrlat does nst need another appointment from the Governor or anotheroonflmatioa by the Sam&a. /~

Iu the ease of State ex ral. Bberle v. Clark, 89 At1.172 (Conu.Sup.1913), the oourt raid:
"It was suggestedupon ths argwaant that at the time the relator was appolnted tha raapondaat'sten had not explrad and so no vacancy existed in the offloa. vhile the appolntnent wma dmted tha 24th of June, it recites that the eppoimtmant la to fill a raoanoy to oaour on tha 1st of July by th6 axplratlonon thst day of tha tarm of offloe of the respondent, Clark. The appolntwnt entloipatea &ho avant but is not to become effeotlre until the moemy mours. The appolQtlnd authoritywms not bound to wait until the raoanay aatuallyexisted before dsalgnatlng his appelntee. Rxpedlsn6y and aonvenieneerequiredthat thei appointment should ba a@ rode thrt whan tha raapondent's tello,ended

t+e sueaeaaormight be qualiflad and prapemd .totake the offloe and et$ep upon its duties at OMB. Whll9 it is 'well

settled that an officer or appointingbody olothadwith authorityto appoint to a public offloe cannot, ln the

.HOEI. Elton Gilliland,paqe 6 (V-W/)

absence of express authority, make a valid \ appointmentthereto for a term whioh is not to begin eutil after the explratianof the ten of auoh appointingoffloer or bodr .' (ditlngoases) it io equallywell eatabliahad that such officer OP appointing body may make a prospeotlvsappointmentto fill a vacancyvhloh is suFe to ocou~ in a pub110 officewithin the time duPlug whioh the appointingofficer or body, aa.thenoonatitutbd,will have authorityto 

### fill the vaoancy . . . As the vaoancy in questionwas 8111~) to OCCUF dllring

the Qoverno~'stern of 

### office, he might, in the santwP which he adopted,properlymake the appointment,in antioipation

### of the event.*

66 N.w.264 Iu the aase of State ox ml..Child v. O'Leary,

(mw.aup.18%), the 6ourt -Stated: I

. . . It la the general rule that a proapeotlv*appointrantto fill a vfmamy star0 to OOO~UP

in a public offioe,made by an offloeti,

vho, or a body vhlch, aa then constituted,is eepowemd to fl1l.a vapancY When it aPlaea, Is, in the abseuco of a 1BW forbiddingit, a valid appolotment,and vests title to the offioe in the appointee.*

The 118th JndlolalM&riot of Texas onated by House Bill No.379, Aata 51at Leglslattme,1949, oame into existmoe om October 5, 1949, having failed to seaum the neceasaPytwo-thildsvote of all the mmnbem elected to the Senate. 

### The terms or OOuPtpFevlouslyeonmencod while Hovard, Martin, and Glessoock Countieswere a part of the 70th Judicial Districtwill be continueduntil the axpiration of their tenas. The newly appointedDistriot Judge of the 118th Judlala1 Districtmay sit in all oases heard duPlng these oontlnuonstePma. The Court Retporte~ for the 118th Judicial Distriotwill receive the same rateBon. Elton Gllliland,page 7 (V-927)

Or pay as the,

Reporter 0r the 70th Judl0101 qistrictrsOeiv6d OLI the err~0tiv0 date of the Aot. AlthoughHouse Bill 379 did not go into brre0t a8 an emergenaywaaura and the DistrictJudge for the 118th Judloial Districtvan appointedand a~nfirmadbar0m the erreOtm4 data 0r the dot, there4 is no neoemsit~for a reappointmentin order fop raid Judge to qualify roF.Orri0e e
Yours verg truly, ATTORIES@3RiBRALOFTEXAS

BW:bhnmw BY BurnallWaldnp &YJ AssIstant

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