OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Eonorablo tiorgr ii. Shrppard 

Coaptrollrr or F’ubllo Xaoountl 

hurtin, Taxa 

Dear Eirr Oplnioa No. O-1622 

Thir ~111 aokno 

atkily! our opinion as to 

my other zambber cr cap1 

Ii0 ?4f4tJr 16 4UthOriZtd 

Trahenslon of an 

Ycrn2nta Annotat 

deat the deaitn 

artmmt 0r rubreward for tha apth tb Board’6 

quoted article is frcm Title 108 of 

tdtutea Of Texas, 1925, ea Em4ad6d 

LCtb Leglrrlaturr, 1927, Ch. 212, p. 

the Tax46 bison Sy4t43. The rtstuts 

orizsr the mensgrr of thr Prison Sysrdr -for the eparthrnsion of orininalr 

eaoaplng rrom the penltratlsry, the rnounta to be drtrrsined b7 the managrr with thr approval of the board, 

an6 %a be paid 66 dlrsotd by the Imnagrr.” 
Eonorsbla Ceorgr %. Shsppard, par4 2 

Obtl0~81~ the statute teats a wide latitude 

of 6iSOrStiOn with the manager of the Texas Frbon pyatam, the LafcIalatura l ridentl~ raco~nlzIn~ the need 

tharafor because or the opportunity of that offioIa1 

to know tba fact6 ooncarnl~ each Individual. prisoner, 

the l ericurncea of the offrnaa for whloh oonrioted, 

tbe oon4uot and behavior of the conrlot and the poa6ib18 

dIffloultlaa llkely to be faced in 6frectlng u raoapturs. 

We are of the opinion the Leglslatura bad full authority 

to grant such prarogetlvr to the prison manager. 

xa hate e p4Wity Of authority in TSX36 upon 

thr aubjeot we are now conaldsrlng. X8 hevc bean un6ble 

to find any rrcant T4xea decisions applying the law 

on the rleht of public orflcers to recaIva raw4rd6, but 

ws think the folloWinp uotatlsn from Texas Jurlaprudanoa (36 Tax. Jur. 9&9p to be apt: 

"Aa a ganaral rule, any person Who 

has ooapliad with the tars8 cl the offsr 

may raoovar the reward. Cn the othsr band, 

it I8 settled that a public ofrlcar in not 

entltlad to a retard beyond his legal rssa 

for eerrlcaa whloh It was his offlciel duty 

to perron. Thu8, u paece orflcer Who erraetad a criminal while aotlng WIthin the 

line or his offlclal duty cannot recover a 

rawerd ofrarad for the arrest of ruch otrender. This rule ha6 been deolared to be 

a sound on4, and it I6 ba6ed upon prinoiplea 

or pub110 policy; but it does not apply 

where the arrest was made by thr ofiloar 

as 6 pritate citizen and not within the 

line or h16 official duty.* 

The t6Xt Oite8 the early C6688 Or Kasllng P. 

Morris, 71 Tax. 58&, 9 S. ‘Z. 739, 10 Aa. St. Rap. 797; 

SCUthW86tarn Telegraph k Talaphona Co. Y. Priest, 31 

cit. APR. 345, 72 s. K. 241; ~111s Y. stone, 4 Clv. 

App. 157, 165, 23 s. H. 405. Al60 see 38 Tax. Juria. 

539. 

In the KaalIng oars, aupra, the store or defendant blorrir was burglarI6a4; Morris orrerrd $1,000 

rarard ror the arrsat and oonrlotlon of the guilty per4on or pareons. The pleintirr Kaallng Wea oonatebla 

or tba precinot where ths crlma oocurrad. Morris ra- 
Honorrbla Oeorga H. Sheppard, psga 3 

fused to pey the raward ait8r Ka6ling arractad .tba tblaf 

and war lnatrumMt~ In obtaining a oonrlotlon. The dlatriot oourt &era Jud&mant for the dafsndent, but the Supreme Court rrreraad and remanded tha oaaa ror trial, holdlng under tha atetutaa sakiog It tho duty or paaoe officera 

to prerarra tba paeoa and axaouto a11 proorsa dlreota& to 

them, that aearohl~ for unknown crlmlnals wa6 not a part 

of t&air offioial duty, and tbet a oon6tabla may raoovar a 

rrward for tba l rrsot and oonvictlon or a orlalnal In hla 

om praolnot, the offer having Induced tha oonatabla to 

makr the raaroh. 

The o6ao of Lllla v. Stone, supra, held e county 

surveyor to be entltlad to fees graatar than allowed by 

atetutr for locstiag and euneyln& land outalda hi6 ccunty. 

In the case of Southv~aetern Telegraph k Talaphona 

Co31pany Y. Prlcst, aupra, it appears that tbs telephone 

oompenp ofrsrad a rav:ard ror convlotlon of any person eullty 

of outtlag its wlrsa in violation of a apcolfic article or 

the panel coda. The oourt bald that a constable v&o arr4sta a parson for a miadama6nor, in the discbarge of his 

duties as en ofrloar, is not entitled to e rsward. 

In 611 or ths above Texas oaa4a the Off6r4r yra6 

6 private ind~ridU61 or corporation. Thsr8 16 a dIatlnctlon be&wean the right of en offloar to teka 4 rawsrd ~I%XI 

a private lndItiduel for the pertormanor of his Official 

duty and his right to auoh e reward when orfared by atatutory authority. See 5& C. J. 788; United Stat46 v. etthaw6, 

at al, 173 U. S. 361, 19 S. Ct. kl3, 43 L. Ed. 738; Barry 

Y. Crolo, 8 Pa. Dint. & Co, 54; Com%onweelth v. O’Brien, 

22 Pa. Diet. 1045, i.1 Pa. Co, 255, and other oaaaa cltad 

in Corpus Jurla; 2) R. C. L. 112e. 

The United States Supraze Court ca68 of U. S. 

v. Mettbam, at al, rupra, seams analogous to our situation. 

'ha plaintlrra ~4~4, ona a r4gular and the othar a specially appointed U. s. deputy marshal. Thsy olalnad five hundred dollars, tbo sum of l reward offered by tha Attorney 

Gtnard ror the arrsst and conviction of on4 haa MOWail, 

who we6 aoouaed of having bean conoarnad In ths killing of 

one or more ravanua ofrIoar6. Tha OrriOar6 arrs8tad Uc- 

~411, and ha tram tried and oonrlotad. Suit wee brought 

in oon6aquanoe of a rafuaal to pay the reward. Th6 Court 
Honorable Caorga 8. ShSPFard, paea L 

or Clalaa gave judgment for the plalntirra an4 the unitad 

State6 appralrd. 

In a n l blr opinion by Suatloa li’hlta, a majority 

of the Oourt held’ tha ofrloara antltlad to mootar, afridag tha court 0r Clalnu, The oourt held that a reward 

l xpraaaly offered by oomprtrnt le&alatIra and rxaoutira 

authority for the arraat of a crlnln&l by a pub110 orfleer, 

even though it would be thr duty of the officer to arrest 

said Orlmlnal, IS not oontrary to public pOllOy; that tha 

statute gave the Attorney Oenaral diaoration t0 whim to 

offer the reward and that a general ortar of a raward l.~- 

oludrd dSPUtf mmrsbalr wh0 bad the right to take the otrared 

reward for tbs Srr46t; and that when the reward we8 sangtionrd by an appropriation act end was within tha Offar of 

the Attorney Ceaarsl, it wee raaoarad rrom the provislom 

Of other statutas danyinq, extra oompan6ation to OffiSara. 

The court further held that the Attornry Oaneral 

could bare reatrIotad tbr offer 60 as to oxoluda officers, 

an6 such raatrIctIon nmld huva bean binding upon thaa, 

but not bavlng ssda such r’C8arf3tlon, the owrt bed no 

power to Inscrt it. 

We quota from Juaticr V!hlta~a opinion in part: 

“It la undoubted thrt both in England and 

in this oountry It has been held that It la 

contrary to pub110 polloy to rntoroa in a oourt 

or law, in ravor ar a pub110 orfloSr, whose duty 

by rlrtua or his amploymnt raquIrad the doing 

or a partloular sot, any agrremnt or oontract 

aadr by thr ofrioar with a private lndlvIdu81, 

stipulating that the offloar l houl4 r4081v8 6a 

extra oompanaetion or reward tor the dolry~ of 

auoh sot. in agrramant or this oharaotar was 

cocaidarad at ooaaon law to be a apaci4a of 

quarI axtortlon, and partaking of the ohamctar or a brlba. l + + (citing oaa4a.) Thr 

broad differsnor between tie right of an Officer 

to take rrom a prlteta lndlvldual a raward or 

ooappuraation for t&r perromanoo of hir official 

duty, and the capaolty 0r auoh orriosr to raSai+a a reward l xpra6al~ authorized by oomPOt*nt 

1agialatira authority and aanotlonad by the 

lagielatira offloar to whom tho laeial*t~~* 
. ’ 

Nonorahlr Georee 8. Cbrppard, pare 5 

power ha8 drlrgatrd amplo dlrarrtlon to orrer 

the reward, Is too obvious to rsqulrb anything 

but rtatrment.w 

Vpon Inrprotlon of thr drpartmmtal ap9roprlation bill (8. E. 427, Aotr 46th LegialatUra), we ilBd th. 

sum of 4375,OOO.OO appropriated ror aaoh rear or the 

bIennIUm iOr Wonoral Support and MalntexLanoa; l l#o Inoludee~ tramportation, r8ca turr oontiagrnt expense8 and 

liablllty lnsurenoo prem +--hi urns. e would 8eem to inoludr thr rewardr authorized by Artlola 616bz-3. 

It Is our o9lnIori that If the prison znnna.gor*a 

orfsr to pay reward8 for the recapture of rsoaprd oomlcta 

ae wthorlzed by Article 61662-3, Vernon’8 Annotated Civil 

statutes, la a general on*, there la no prohIbitIon in our 

law againat the aocaptsncr of such reward, if rarnrd by a 

highway patrolman or other b~9loper of the Department ot 

pub110 Saf rty. 

Trusting the alxwr 

inquiry, we ara, 

ratiaraotorily amwere your 

Yours vrry truly