ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT

TheHonorable LucindaA. Vickers Atascosa CountyAttorney #1 Courthouse Circle Drive#3-B Jourdanton, Texas 78026

DearMs. Vickers: January 27, 2014

OpinionNo. GA-l039 Re: The proper expenditure ofpretrial intervention program funds accumulated in accordance with Code ofCriminal Procedure article 102.0121 (RQ-1141-GA)

You ask whether pretrial intervention program funds collected pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure article 102.0121 may be used "to refurbish a courtroom, to train new county court at law staff, to purchase office supplies for the county court at law staff, and/orto purchase office supplies for the county attorney's office." 1 Article 102.0121 authorizes a district attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney to collect a fee "from any defendant who participates in a pretrial intervention program administered in any part by the attorney's office." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 102.012l(b) (West Supp. 2013). The express purpose ofthe fee, which may not exceed $500, is "to reimburse a county for expenses, including expenses of the district attorney's, criminal district attorney's, or county attorney's office, related to a defendant's participation in a pretrial intervention program offered in that county." Id art. 102.0121(a). Once collected, the fees must be deposited into a special fund in the county treasury, "to be used solelyto administer the pretrial interventionprogram." Id art. 102.012l(c). Lastly, "[a]nexpenditure from the fund maybe made onlyin accordance with abudget approved by the commissioners court." Id Pursuant to subsection (a), a fee maybe used for aparticularpurpose only ifthatpurpose constitutes an expense ofthecounty orone ofthelisted attorney's offices, and only ifitrelates to a defendant's participation in apretrial interventionprogram. Id art. 102.012l(a). Furthermore, after a fee has been collected and deposited inthe special fund ofthe countytreasury as required by subsection (c), any subsequentuse ofthe fund mustbe in accordance with abudget approved

1Letter from Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers, Atascosa Cnty. Att'y, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 1(July23, 2013), http://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opin ("RequestLetter").The Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers

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by the commissioners court. !d. art. 102.012l(c); see generally TEX. Loc. Gov'T CODE ANN. §§ 111.001-.014 (West 2008 & Supp. 2013) (providing that the commissioners court shall prepare an annual budget and establishing the procedures for doing so). The commissioners court is limited by subsection (c) to expend pretrial intervention program funds only to administer the county's pretrial intervention program. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 102.0121(c) (West Supp. 2013). Article 102.0121 does not permit any other use. Therefore, pretrial intervention program funds may be used for refurbishing courthouse facilities, training staff, and purchasing office supplies onlyto the extentthat such expendituresreimburse a county for expenses related to a defendant's participation in apretrial interventionprogram and are used for the administration ofthe program. !d. art. 102.0121(a), (c). That determination is for the commissioners court to make in the first instance, subject tojudicial review. !d.; see Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0118 (2003) at 7 (whether a particular expenditure may be funded by certain fees is a fact question beyond the scope ofan attorney general opinion); Comm 'rs Ct. ofTitus Cnty. v. Agan, 940 S.W.2d 77, 80 (Tex. 1997) (holding that a commissioners court abuses its discretionby acting "illegally,unreasonably, or arbitrarily").The Honorable LucindaA. Vickers

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SUMMARY Under Code of Criminal Procedure article 102.0121, pretrial intervention program funds may be used to refurbish courthouse facilities, train staff, and purchase office supplies only to the extent that such expenditures reimburse a county for expenses related to a defendant's participation in a pretrial intervention program and are used for the administration of the program.

DANIEL T. HODGE FirstAssistant Attorney General JAMES D. BLACKLOCK Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER Chair, OpinionCommittee Stephen L. Tatum, Jr. Attorney General ofTexas

AssistantAttorney General, Opinion Committee