ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

The Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers 

Atascosa County Attorney 

#1 Courthouse Circle Drive #3-B 

Jourdanton, Texas 78026 

Dear Ms. Vickers: 

January 27, 2014 

Opinion No. GA-l 039 

Re: The proper expenditure of pretrial intervention 

program funds accumulated in accordance with 

Code of Criminal 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/or to 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 of the 

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 solely to administer the pretrial intervention program." Id art. 102.012l(c). 

Lastly, "[a]n expenditure from the fund may be made only in accordance with a budget approved 

by the commissioners court." Id 

Pursuant to subsection (a), a fee may be used for a particular purpose only if that purpose 

constitutes an expense ofthe county or one ofthe listed attorney's offices, and only if it relates to 

a defendant's participation in a pretrial intervention program. Id art. 102.012l(a). Furthermore, 

after a fee has been collected and deposited in the special fund of the county treasury as required 

by subsection (c), any subsequent use of the fund must be in accordance with a budget approved 

1

Letter from Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers, Atascosa Cnty. Att'y, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y 

Gen. at 1 (July 23, 2013), http://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers - Page 2 (GA-l 039) 

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 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. !d. art. 102.0121(a), (c). That determination is for the 

commissioners court to make in the first instance, subject to judicial 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 of an attorney general opinion); Comm 'rs Ct. of Titus 

Cnty. v. Agan, 940 S.W.2d 77, 80 (Tex. 1997) (holding that a commissioners court abuses its 

discretion by acting "illegally, unreasonably, or arbitrarily"). 
The Honorable Lucinda A. Vickers - Page 3 (GA-l 039) 

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 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Stephen L. Tatum, Jr. 

Attorney General ofTexas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee