OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable 0. Earl EutchlnC,n 

8 

OWty Auditor 

oung *county 

Uraham, Texa8 

Dear Slrr 

pour letter of J*b 

o&dni~OU Of this depertma 

is aa rollora: 

led in the oounty 

la1 wan had and &eha4 earned $5.78, .ae his rcer 

County Attorney at carried @lO.OO. 

e their annual report ior tba 

ttatrhed a list of dollnqueiit rwb6 

other oaaea. Th% GorUnty AttO2’ney 

lnoluded kn addltlonal to hia tee or 10.00, the 

oommle6lon or g40.00, ?&Lohuas ths L % a6 set out 

in Artiols 950, code or urlmlnal Erooedura. Th8 

sheriff iaoluded the #!J.TS, but dl4 not inolu40 

$30.00, or Me 5% whloh is allowed under Arti 

951, Code or Orlnlinal ~roosdure. 
Eonomble 0. karl fiutohinge, Page 2 

"The q~eetion is when waa the oormeiulon or 

tbi county attorney earned? ana was he justiriable 

in eettlng this up as a delinquent ree? 

m%hen was the coamtssion of the rrheriir sarmd? 

*Both or these orricere rtiiled 

maximum of r68s ror the year 1943.~ 

Art10108 950 ana 931, Vornon'8 

crlmlual proao4u.m are u r011466t 

-A+olm 980. The diatrlot or 

to reaoh the 

Annotated 00aa 

oounty~ $t*r58~ shau be 8atltiea to tan per oant or ,a1 mm, 

rorr0lturra or aoneyr oolleota4 ror tti @iate or 

eouatf, u&ton judpents roooverea by himf and tzu 

olork of the oouit .%MtAoh *la jhdgmnt+ dm repaend ,&as11 be entitled to rive per 08nt.of the. 

amOu6t 41, eaid ;?dgment8, to ba pal4 out or th0 

amount ..wk& aollobtad. 

Of 

"ArtlOll 981. me rrheritr or other ortlo~k, 

exaopt a justlae or tba peioe or his olerk, who 

oolhot~.,mo~y for tha State oc oetmt~, l roopt 

jurfey w, -un4aenr y proddon or th is o o de, l h a ll 

be entitLmI to rotain fire par sent themof when 

aolleo00&~ 

Artiole 3893, Vernon~r maotat c&*11 Natutoe, 

prorid im plrtt 

wmr Mfloar nuitioned in thim Oha ter rho 

doe@ not oolleot the maxlmum mount or L 6 rear 

ror any fleoal year an4 who nporta delinquent 

ices far +-hat youa*, ahall be ~antitled to reS8ln, 

when' oolleoted, mob part or auoh +eunqtmnt r-8 

as Im rrurriolest to" ooaplete the ga%imtm oomg~8ation authorized by Artiolos 3833, 3688-A, and 

3336 r0r the year in whloh aellnquent reer uer8 

ohersed, and also retain the amount of l xoem 

rees authorized by law, an4 the resuin4~r ,or the 

delinpuent a06 rar that tiroal year, ahalL be 

paid as herein provided ror when eoll.eolsed; Horided, the provisiona or this Artiale shall not 

app~ly to any orrioer arter one year rko& the date 

he oeafks to hOld the orrioer to whioh any dallnquent r80 18 due, and in the evnt the orrider 

earnfng the rU8e that are deiinquent baa not oolleoted the 88918 within twelve nonths after ha 

. . . 
xonoxable 0. Be& xutohlnea, iago 3 

oeawa to ho14 tha 0rrioO, the amount or faea 001~ 

laotad shall be paid Into the oounty trcmrrury. . .a 

Article 3897, Vernon~a Annotated Civil Statutes, 

providea 15 part: 

Qaoh alatriot, oounty and pmoinot ofrioer, 

at the oloaa of aaoh rlwal year (omosmber 31at 

mhalr make to the aimtrlot oourt or the aounty 1 5 

whloh ha real4aa a morn atat~awat in Orlplloate 

(On fOxma dSaignS4 ud approYe4 by tha State Auditor) a oopy,oi rhioh statSma& ah~ll be foxwarded 

to tha Stata Auditor b thS alerk d tha dietriot 

oourt of said aounty w f thln thirty (W) 4aya Utor 

th0 8e5i8 ha8 b0O5 rile4 in hiO 0rrioO O5d 050 00~~ 

to Be filed with the ooUnt 

wlaa said oqpy shall be fl I 

auditor, if anq Othati 

l d rith tha D Dp*f arloaerr* uourt. aSi Feport ahalt &low the amount. of 

all faoa, oommia6loita and wauaanwtion8 whStov8r 

l a r wd by a@14 aftiou 4urlag tb rlaaal yaari 

and waondry, awl show thm amount or i0tk8, 001~3 

aisaioaa and'oaapanaatlona oollsotS4 by him durl 

the $laoal year) thirbly, aG4 r6port lahLL1 eon6a "fi B 

&o ltamlta4 rtatamant or all reer aeamiaalonr and 

wm~nwtion~ Oar5Od aurlmg tha if8081 JSu wMh 

WeF, not SSllSO@d, tog8th.F with tb n~.ma Of thS 

gptii owlag raid fees, aommiaaiona an4 eoqaeaa- 

. . . l n 

drtlalr 8391, Var50ne8 A,Mobdta4 Clril ‘Statuka, 

provldS8 in part:. 

*. . . 

*AL1 ourrant feea earn84 and oolleotad by 

oriioera nawa in ~~%lola 9888 during any ilraal~ 

year In ezooS~'or tha maximum rsnd uaeaa allowed 

by taia AOt, and rOF thOir .WXYfWe and rOS the 

wrvlc?aS or 8hSlr dSputiS8 rad assistante and authorized SrpSnaSa, together with all &l$nquent 

ret00 oolle0ts4 an4 not uwa as provided in ArtloLo 

3892, or use4 to pay aalariaa! or deputies str4 aaaiatanta when ourrant fees l w iMUfriOi~aA~~, ahal 

be paid into the &sunty Treaeury in th4 OoUnty 

where the ex~asa aooruSd. 
j . 

! Honorable 0. Earl ~UtOhingS, Page 4 

“~11 feee due and not wllSotea, ae shown 

in the report required by Artiole 3897, Shall be 

oollaoted by thS offloor to whose orrloe the iwa 

aoorued and Shall be diapowa or by Said offloer 

in aacor4anae with tim proviSIonS or this Aot. 

*. . . .” 

In~anawer t.13 youx rkat quSatlon you an reSpSotfully advised it is the oplnlon or this aspartmnt that the 

wtity attpmoy wrwd tha oommisalon in question whm he 

obtafwd a fiinal judgwnt in the wunty oourt in the wee 

imolted and that the aou5ty attorney was 5ot only juatlrlsa 

15 setting up this aommlaaion ae a dollnquent ree but was 

mqtirad to 40 so under the provialons or tha roregoiee atatutea. It la bur fUrthor o lnlon thrt tbs oounty attorwy 

who obtaina the IUagwnt P n tha OOOR$J owrt is l ntltla4 

to ~paraonally r~etain tbo qwi golhr ($10.00~~ fee and tha 

Portq Dollar (#40.00) ab~&Salon, provided, of oo.ucaa, thla 

amount doss not lnonaae his oompaneat.ion beyond tha muimum Oompemtion whloh he was ehtitl.d to fW the yew 1913. 

15 reply to yoursecond question you are a4dwd 

that lt la our oplnlon that the ~shul.fr oarmd the wmmiaaion authorlsed by Artlcre 951, veron!a Annotate4 uode or 

Grimhal EroOednre when he eotu&ly aelloatad the money. 15 

otimr wei48, if the aheriir ‘did net aotwlly eol19ot the rl5e 

he is not entitled to a5 oozx.sUak5. The eh@rr I8 logally 

entitled to retain the rf *a Dollars a54 seventy-iire ‘*n&a 

(#5..75) as iwa earasa 15 1943, provl404; or oourw, this 

amount does not iwreaw hle ooapenwtlon beyond thS wxlm~m 

allowaa by law ror the year 1948. fr the aherlrr actually 

aolleoted the rim 05 January 17, 194s, ‘raid rW wa s l WWd, 

as above Stated, when hS aatuall eolleoted the ri5a a@ u5- 

dar the .orrlwra’ salary IJAWhe ’ f a required to bepoalt this 

oommlasdon in the Orricers* salar,g Pu5d as the oou5ty la 5ow 

coapa5aatlng eou5ty orriclale 05 @ annual rralary basis. 

The sherifr properly l xaluiied the ‘omniad,on in his 1943 report as it MS Rot earned at that time. 

Yours very truly 

AWtmp