DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

QBffice of tiy !Zittornep @enera 

&ate of fEeme 

February 6.1992 

Honorable James Warren Smith, Jr. 

Frio County Attorney 

P. 0. Box v 

Pearsall, Texas 78061-1138 

Opinion No. DM-87 

Re: Responsibility for transporting juveniles between juvenile court and the 

county’s juvenile detention center, and 

related questions (RQ-35) 

Dear Mr. smith: 

You have requested our opinion as to the responsibility for transporting 

juveniles between the Frio County Juvenile Court and the county’s juvenile 

detention center. Frio County has a juvenile board consisting of the Frio County 

judge and the two district judges whose districts encompass Frio County. See Hum. 

Res. Code 5 152.9881. The juvenile court of Frio County sits in the town of Pearsall, 

but the county’s juvenile detention center is located in Jourdanton, Atascosa 

County, about 40 miles distant. You state that a juvenile who is scheduled to appear 

in court must be transported from the detention facility by a peace officer, and in 

the case of a juvenile female, an adult female must accompany the party. You 

indicate that one constable has for many years assumed this burden, and that he is 

now requesting the commissioners court to require the other constables to share 

such duties. You first ask who is responsible for the transportation of defendants to 

and from juvenile court. 

No statute fixes any mandatory responsibility on any person or entity for the 

transportation of juvenile defendants. A proceeding against a child alleged to have 

engaged in delinquent conduct or in conduct indicating a need for supervision must 

be initiated in juvenile court by a prosecuting attorney. Family Code 0 53.04(a). 

The court is required to direct issuance of summons to, inter alia, “the child named 

in the petition.” Id. 853.06(a). Section 53.07(d) of the Family Code provides that 

[t]he court may authorize payment from the general funds of the 

county of the costs of setvice and of necessary travel expenses 

p. 441 
Honorable James Warren Smith, Jr. - Page 2 (DR- 8 7 ) 

incurred by persons summoned or otherwise required to appear 

at the hearing. 

In our opinion, this provision is sufficiently broad to encompass the transportation 

expenses of a law enforcement officer required to accompany a juvenile to a 

hearing> 

You also ask whether the Frio County judge may compel the sheriff or 

constables, or their deputies, either to transport juveniles or to act as bailiff in 

juvenile court. Such duties are not among those listed for the office of sheriff or 

constable. A constable is required by statute to attend justice court in his precinct, 

but neither he nor a sheriff has any duty with regard to the juvenile court. Ir 

Attorney General Opinion H-169 (1973), this office said that a sheriff is responsib,; 

for transporting adult prisoners from a city to a county jail on the basis of article 

2.18 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Juvenile proceedings are civil in nature, 

however, and laws governing criminal procedure have no application to proceedings 

in juvenile court. Family Code 9 51.17. Finally, we note that the offices of both 

sheriff and constable constitute independently elected positions. Absent clear 

statutory or constitutional authority of which there is none, it would be anomalous 

to conclude that a county judge was authorized to require a sheriff or constable to 

transport individuals to and from juvenile court. 

Your last question is whether the Frio County Commissioners Court may 

expend funds for transportation of juveniles when such .expenditures were not 

provided for in the annual budget. 

Subchapter A of chapter 111, Local Government Code, details the 

procedures for adoption of a budget in counties of less than 225,ooO population. 

Section 111.010 provides, in pertinent part: 

(b) After final approval of the budget, the commissioners 

court may spend county funds only in strict compliance with the 

budget, except in au emergency. 

hIthough section l52.Wl4 of the Human Resources Code authorizes a commissioners court 

to pay ‘other expenses certincd as necessary by the juvenile board chairman from the general funds of 

the county; that section is spcciticaUy made inapplicable to Frio County by se&on l520881(c) of the 

Human Resources code. 

P. 442 
Honorable James Warren Smith, Jr. - Page 3 (DM-87 1 

(c) The commissioners court may authorize an emergency 

expenditure as an amendment to the original budget only in a 

case of grave public necessity to meet an unusual and 

unforeseen condition that could not have been included in the 

original budget through the use of reasonably diligent thought 

and attention. If the court amends the original budget to meet 

an emergency, the court shall ille a copy of its order amending 

the budget with the county clerk, and the clerk shall attach the 

copy to the original budget. 

A determination of what constitutes a “grave public necessity” is largely a question 

of fact which must be made by the commissioners court, but it should be noted that 

in the one reported case, the court disallowed the commissioners’ finding. See Baar 

County v. Ha&y, 150 S.W.2d 980 (Tex. 1941); see also Attorney General Opinions 

O-5184 (1943); O-4127 (1941); O-2498 (1940). If the commissioners court is 

willing to tranrfer the necessary amount from another “budgeted item,” it may do so 

without authorizing an emergency expenditure, according to the terms of section 

111.010(d) of the Local Government Code. 

SUMMARY 

A county judge is not expressly empowered to order a 

sheriff or constable to transport persons to and from juvenile 

court. Unless it transfers the amount from another budgeted 

item, a county of less than 225,000 population may amend its 

budget to provide funds for transportation of juveniles only if 

the commissioners court finds that there exists a “grave public 

necessity to meet an unusual and unforeseen condition that 

could not have been included in the original budget through the 

use of reasonably diligent thought and attention.” 

Very truly yours, 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

P. 443 
Honorable James Warren Smith, Jr. - Page 4 (DM- 8 7 ) 

WILL. PRYOR 

First Assistant Attorney General 

MARY KELLER 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY (Ret) 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

IumEAHIcKs 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Rick Gilpin 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 444