OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable 0. J. 9. Ellingson 

Yonr ist;t*r 'riif 

r6646 BO fOlhW6: 
63: 

Ron. 0. J. S. Ellintpon, Page #Q. 

You refer to a letter written by Sormer A6si6tant Attorney 

General Aleup to you on January 3, 1938. That letter is bared 

upon an entirely different statement of faots from thoee eontained in your letter. There the Oonviot 69lTed lees than 

one yosr flat time before he #a6 released on a oonditio$ml 

pardon whioh was aubsaquently revoked and he was returned to 

th5 penitent!ary from whioh he was finslly di6Ohsrg6d aftsr 

he had.served the remaining portion of hi6 sentenoe whiohWa6 

le.55 than on6 year rlat after his return and ra-inoaro6ration. Dr. Alsup held, under the faote stated, that the 

oonvfot Wa6, when disoharged, entitled to reoeite only )Zb. 

In the latter written tb you by Don. H. R. wllliford, 

a formr Assistant in this orrloe, the faOts there stated are 

not the same a6 thO6a in the instant oaae. There tb6 oonviot 

had served more than one year flat th6 before he wae &ran a 

15 d6y r6pTi4Y0 t0 attend hi6 mother'6 funeral. Ha pr5sIptly 

returned before the aspiration ol' hi6 reprieve, 6erv6d twtrro 

month6 5or6, and wae dleoharged. Mr. Wllliford held thr .ooodot wa6 entitled to be paid $50 wban dirrohargad. 

Article 616d~-1, Vernon’6 Annotated Civil statutes, 

among other things; provide8 that Vben a prisoner is entitled 

to a disobarga tromp prison, he or 6he shall. be furnlahed 

with a written or printed diSOharg6" oontaining oert&in information, olothing, eta., "and when a person and/or oonviot 

actually serve6 over one year, he ehall reoeive yifty Dollare ($50.00) in aonep in addition to any money held to. 

his or her oredlt, provided that if a peraon end/or oonvlot 

does not actually serve one year rlat time, he shall not raoeive P%fty Dollar6 (@O.OO)r but in lieu thereof a parson 

aervi 

3 

leas than one year aotual time shall reoeive Twentyrive ( e5.00) Dollar5 In money in addition to any money held 

to his or her oredit and a decent outfit of oitlzen*s alothing 

of good quality and fit." 

The above Artidle became efreotive on Kay 26, 193s. 

Subsequently, Artiole BlBBm-1 was enaoted and beoam6 effeotire 

Ootober 26, 1933. By the provlgione or thla Artlel6, a 

"Disohargad Conviots Navolv$ng'Pund* of $25,000 was created to 

*be usad ior the prompt paymsnt in oash to all dlscbsrge4, 

pardoned or paroled oonviot6.n 

These two artielse, when oonetrusd together, a8 they muet 

be, make it perfeotly olear that whsnaver a prieonar ia diSohargecl from the penitentiary, whether ha ha6 sbrved his 66ntaIIO6 
636 

Hon. 0. J. S. Ellingeon, Page #S. 

or been granted a pardon, full or conditional, or a parole, he 

is entitled to receive in oash, determined by the time he has 

aotually served flat on his eentenae, tha amount of money 8 tated 

in hrtiole GliJ(iz-1. If he has not actually served "one year 

flat time," he oan reoelve only $26.00. If he has actually 

served one year flat time and leaa than ten years, he shall 

receive $50.00. 

When oonvlot Huey was r&leased from prieon on Ootober 6, 

1937, on a reprieve for a period of 15 days, whloh was extended 

ror another 15 day perlod, hs was expeoted to return to prison 

to serve the reminder of his aentenoe. The Covornor*a proolamatlon contained this provision: "Time out of prison under t&la 

proolamatlon shall not be oonsldered as time served on bentenoe.w 

The erfect of whioh was to give hlzn a leave of absenoe from 

oonflnement for whlah he oould reoelve no credit on hi.8 asntenoe. 

ne returned to prison on the very day him repriem axpirad~ was 

not again relaaaed from prison until July IJ8, 1938, when ha 

was glren another reprieve for 30 days. Atthattlma, he had 

aotually served approximately LB mpnths flat of his santsnoe. 

In view 0r the roreetolng, it 'is our OpiniOU that Auoy vra6 

entitled to reoeive $50 when he was disoharged. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY C?ZNERRL CIT TmS