THEA'ITORNEYGENERAI. 

OF TEXAS 

Honorable Tom Blackwell 

County Attorney 

Travis County 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Mr. Blackwell: 

Opinion No. WW-1166 

Re: Whether the sheriff's office 

is allowed a fee of $1.00 on 

each and every defendant 

named in the petition and 

served with a citation 

under Sec. 5a, of Article 

2460a, V.C.S., and related 

questions. 

You have requested an opinion on the following two 

questions: 

(1) "Under Sec. 5a, Article 2460a of the 

Vernon's Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, 

is the office, by'the officer serving the citation, allowed a fee of $1.00 on each and every 

party named In the petition and served. 

(2) "Under Sec. 5, Article 246oa of the 

Vernon's Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, 

is the court in which the Small Claims suit 

filed limited to charge only $1.00 for the 

citation fee even though more than one party 

is served In the same county or in different 

counties." 

With reference to these questions, Section 5a of 

Article 246oa, Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads as follows: 

"Sec. 5a. A fee of One Dollar ($1) shall 

be charged for the service of citation provided 

for in Section 5 and shall be accountable as a 

fee of office by the officer serving citation." 

Section 5 of Article 2460a reads In part as follows: 

"Sec. 5. . . . The Two Dollar ($2) filing 

fee, provided for in this Section, the Three 

Dollar ($3) jury fee provided for in Section 11 

of this Act and the One Dollar ($1) citation 

fee provided for in Section 5a shall constitute 
Honorable Tom Blackwell, page 2 (NW-1166) 

the only fees or costs authorized to be charged 

in the Small Claims Court; . . ." 

Article 246oa creates new courts in this state and 

prescribes their jurisdiction and venue, and in addition, the 

fees which may be charged. Originally, Section 5 provided 

for only the Three Dollar ($3) jury fee and the Two Dollar 

($2) filing fee. In 1955, Section 5a was added and Section 

5 amended to include the One Dollar ($1) citation fee. Acts, 

1955, 54th Leg., p. 571, ch. 187, sec. 2. (See Attorney GeneraPs Opinion MS-80 (1953).) 

In Attorney General's C,inion s-83 (1953), a question 

arose‘cencerning the jury fee and filing fee, then the only 

two fees authorized by the statute. The opinion held that the 

only fees authorized by the statute were the jury and filing 

fees, and no fee was authorized to be charged as a citation 

fee, and none could be charged. 

Your attention is called to the present wording of 

the statute. It states that the only fees authorized are 

those listed, and in Section 5a states that a fee of One Dollar ($1) shall be charged for service of citation. In Attorney 

-- 

General's Opinion s-83, supra, reference was made to the case 

of McCalla v. City of Rockdale, 112 Tex. 209, ,246 S.N. 654 

(1922), which held that unless a fee is provided by law for 

an official service required to be performed and the amount 

of the fee fixed by la?] none can be lawfully char ed. (See 

also Nueces County v. Currington, 139 Tex. 297, 1 g 2 S.U.2d 

687 (I-942).) F'LI th an officer may be required by law 

to perform speci~ic"~~~%es for which no compensation is 

provided. MC Calla v. City of Rockdale, supr~a. 

i:e are of the opinion that your first question 

should be answered negatively, and the second answered in the 

affirmative. Attorney General's Opinion s-83, supra, pointed 

out the reasoning here, which in part reads: 

"The emergency clause of House Eill 495, 

53rd Legislature, states that because many 

citizens are denied justice because of the 

present expenses and delay of litigation creates 

an emergency. Therefore, one of the main purposes iin creating the Small Claims Courts was 

to reduce the cost of litigation." 

If the Legislature had intended that the full citation 

fee would be allowed for every party served, we believe they 

would have spelled it out in the statute. However, they did 

not, but provided for only 'a fee of One Dollar.' 
Honorable Tom Blackwell, page 3 (WW-1166) 

Consequently, you are informed that it is our 

opinion that under Sec. 5a of Article 2460a, V.C.S., the 

office and officer serving the citation are allowed only a_ 

sin le One Dollar ($1) fee, 

& 

regardless of the number of 

es named In the petition and served. Further, under 

Sec. 5 of Article 246oa, V.C.S., the Small Claims Court Is 

authorized to charge only One Dollar ($1) for the citation 

fee, regardless of the number or location of the parties 

served. 

SUMMARY 

Under Sections 5 and 5a of Article 246Oa, 

V.C.S., only a single One Dollar ($1) citation 

fee may be charged, regardless of the number and 

location of the parties served. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

EBS:dhs 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Winston Crowder 

Pat Bailey 

Elmer McVey 

Grady Chandler 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.