VI-I-lc;tz ------ vt -- THE,ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

R mmr a b le Ch a r les 

@ t& JJa l Dlstr lo t 

swlz1lu, !rems 

Dear Sir: 

AUSTIN 

&J 

me-- 
559 

lnmoneyaIlannualsallqlntuel~(lz)equal 

lnstal&nents ornotie~than the total ma8 

earned aa caapensation by Mm in hia offida 

capacity for the flsaal yeerr 1935, and not more 

than the raoxlnRml8lwmnt tIllwed suoh offmtr 

Under laws e.x.lStw on Atqtrs’t 24, lQZ.5: . . . 

"(b) The oompeasation of a or& &isJmsthf3yemo?19S3beartothetotal?ees 

eolleeted by suah o??lclal dmIng suoh year." 

s6OiiOA (b) Of miOb3 3899, Bedsed Cim 8fattm8 

lW8dSl.IbpartM?OllO-t 
. 

z 

of offfce, make an ItepDizeil and mmrn report 

of c.lla?proved cxpenms inourred byhlmand 

chEir6;ed to hia county, aaooinponying suah report with invoices aovarlq such purahasea and 

requisitions issued by him ln support of suah 

resort. If such expenses be inaurred in aonneatlon with any partiaulm case, such report 

shall namc such casa. Such report, lmolaes 

and rowlsltlons shall be eubjeat to the audit 

of the' County mditor, if any, othemlso by the 

Co~~Mssloners* Court, and if it appears that 

any lttm was not lnourrecl by such offloor, or 

that such ltma #OS not a neaessary or legal etponse of suoh of?lce,or 

E 

ihsee 

rowlsition, such items 1 

tlpon proper 

be byeaid County 

,'iudftor or court reJected, in w2dch eat% the 

payment of suah item nray be adjudleated in any 

aourt of conpotent jur&Uletlon. LI.3. suoh approvcd claims and aoaotmt.e.shall bepaid ?ro?a 

the Mfloers* Salary Fund tmleea otherwIse provided hsrelu. . ..* 

Uu%er xrtlolo 199, Revised Cltil Statutes, FalJ8 

County is the only county aompoelngtha S&d jtidlalal~dlutrlct . 

Se awlnforscd by the Comptroller*e Oftloethet 

Falls County bad a population of 38,771 acaorain& to the 

last Federal uoneus. 

Artlale 3260,, Rovfsed Civil Stetutacl, reads in 

part a8 follows: 

"In tbotie aountlo6 of this state having 

a populritlon of not less than thirty-three 

thousan~flve humlrml (33,500) andmt~ro 

than seventy-five thoumuM (75,000) inhabitants and not aontaf a ~oltyo? more than 

end o.aah suaaeedfag Federal aensus there&r, 

and in whiab oountlea there are one or.mcm 

jucliclal distrlats and in whlohthe aounty orform3 the duty of aotmty attorney awl distr P ot 

attorney aad in whlah there 1s not sow a Ulstrlat atiorney, the o??Iae of arimiaal dirrtriot 

attorney Is hereby amated, axl shall adst 

from and after Thor paESta@ Of this 8Ot. %&J 

offlae shall be known ae CrZmlnal Dletrlat Attorney of euah caunty. em. 
Hon. CharUs E. Re5#35n, Fqe 4 

?I The CrInimil DiatrIct Attorney 

shall ~e*a&owd to retain out of the fees 

earned and colleotod by hImtbo mm of Five 

Thousand Five Hundred ($5,500) Dollars psr 

annum, as his compensation. titer dsduotlng 

the Five !l'housaxd Fire Hundred (@5,800) DO~- 

lam the remIn& mount is to be apglled 

rirst to the pqmmt OS salaries of his assistant or assistants 19 those comtles whemo sala 

assistant or assistants are now hem paid frim 

the feed of t&o o?PIoe of oounty attorney,'and 

second, the aotual and noaessary oxpeuse Inaurmd 

by him end his assIstant In the conduat of hU 

said office as authorized by Artlab 5899 of t&e 

Revised X3iIlStatutes of 1925, as anaend8d, and 

auyotherexpo118eallomdbylaw. . . . 

'The Criminal Mstrlot Attorney shall at 

the aloso of each plonth of the tenure of said 

'o??lce ndm the report Pequlred of Oounty O??l08x% bgArtIo10 3899 of the RwI8ed CIvll Statutes OrlQes, as am?aded,and shall f&80, at 

the c&Se or eaOh fiscal year raalco the annual 

report required 02 acrtanty offioer8 by lcrtlole 

3897 of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1925, as 

amended. 

*Xii is not the intention of this act t0 

areateeny offloe of DistrIat MAorney nor auy 

otbsr oonatitutional o??ioa and the office a? 

CrW Mstrlet~ Attorney is hereby declared 

tc be a separate distinct atfloe from the aonstltut&&ial o??ioe of distriot attorzley and IL0 Orlzalaal d5StrlOt attorney shall draw or be peX%%tted 

to any salary whatsoever from the State of TeUr6. 

*lkls aot la not Intended andshalln~t be 

con5i&ireil or c0ustrued as repealin& any la.w now 

on the &statute book5 except those in couf%IOt 

horeaith, which shall be aumlatlve therso?** 

Seation (0) of isrtlol8 3899, supa, 8 

pro-d&m that cdrainal dietriOt attOrneys In %lr 

Eigs 

in thisstate comingwIthin a crertain popuX.atIon*aetit 

shall be ved end petitted to inaur reasonable and 

necesssryoxpeumeo? Immst5gatfaSorfmeandacouBmrlatfns 

evldanae InariMnaloasers; aad~hal.lbeallowetlChretrQ~ta 

(sp) a ml10 for each mile travelled bjr hira In autmdl.le 
Hon. Charles'& Regan, Page 5 

furnished by him In the dlsoharge 

whloh sumshall oovarall expanses 

0r 0fri0id busFnsss 

of malntenenoe, depre- __- L.. olatlon, end operation of suoh amomobila. aon expenses 

shall be reported to the C~mmlssloners* Court of each 

oounty affeoted by this aot as othsr expanses reported and 

8hall be paid by said Commlselonersl Court as suoh other 

exp@neerr are paid. 

Seotlon 18 of Art1010 3918e, supra, prorldee‘ln 

OrrOOt that saoh Crlmlnal Dlstrlot Attorney In this state 

Se-kg a dlstriot oomprislngtwo or more oouutlse the population of whloh dlstrlot exoeeds 150,000 Inhabitants aooording to the last praoedlng Fedoral oensus shall be allowsd a 

llum not to exoeed $500.00 per annum 'iOr th6 neoessary expnns 

Or 8UOh OirlOS, eaid 8\rmtO be paid Only Upon the It&?&d 

sworn statamant or. such 0rri00 showing the nsoeseitythersior 

and approved by the State Auditor. 

It 1s obvious that the Loglslature did not intend 

to allow any expanee In investigating orima and aooumulatlng 

~~idsn~e in orblnal oases by the general pro~islom of Art1010 9899, supra, boaausa in Seotlon 5, of thl8 Artlole, the 

Crirminal Dietriot Attorney In all oountlee In this state ooming wlthln ,a oertaln population bracket are eqowered and 

pe&tted to lnour reasonable and naoasaary expansso in inYestigating orlma and aooumulatlng evldanoe in oriminal oasa8, 

and aa ?alln County does not oame rithln the population brqoket authorising suoh expenses this proritdon or tha ntatute 

doea not apply to ~a3.U county. 

You are respeotfully advired that it Ia the opinion 

Of this department that the Crlmlnal Dfstrlot Attorney of Tall6 

County oannot lnaur reasonable and neaessary expense in inrestigatlng orlme and aooumulatlng oridonoa in criminal oasaa. 

remain 

TrufMng that ths roreg.oing answsrs your inquiry, we 

Yourn very truly 

ATTORHEC OEWHRAL OF TEXAS