f-3 

d 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable t*u A. #fAdox 

county Attoxvmy 

?a10 ?lnto County 

?a10 Pinto, Texalr 

lie against a’- 

Code, V&MI a 

a roldLar in 

f Tour letter of reon the above 8tated 

laint will properly 

olr~J39 of the Penal 

l l o t o f arrsotlng 

, for th4 offenab of 

8 of 

la l xsauting or l tt6suptimg 

ful varrmt for the arreet 

In a mlrdsmearior oam, 00 

tlag to armrt azq per- 

, vhere tha law authorarrest to be abde vlthhe -11 be fined not lrs8 

thaa tventr-live nor more than five hundred 

dollars, an6 if Um8 be PBO6, be fined not 

;~;:;&zJ flftr nor mazy than one thousand 

. 

The artiole quoted 18 inolnded in ChWtez 4 Of Title 

the Penal Code, ontitled ‘Arrert and Custody ai Prieoner8.” 
Honorable Edgar A. Maddox, Pago 2 

Article 346, Penal Code, (aama chapter end title) reads as tol1OVBl 

‘By 'Of tioer, ’ as use6 la this chapter, 

la meant any peaoo officer, as sheriff, deputr 

aheoift, oonatable, marahal or policeman of a 

city or tovn, eq jailer or guard, or any perso n l peci&lly authoriaed by varrant to arrest.’ 

Artlola kl, Code of Criminal Procedure, to vhich you 

refer, reads: 

“Harsh aharitt shell bo a oonarrvator of 

the poaoo In hla oouaty, 4nd ahall arrest all 

ottendara against the lava of the State, in 

hla vfn or hearing, and take them brtore the 

proper oourt for l xarinatioa or trial. He 

shall quell and l uppwaa all assaults and 

batteries, l tfcayr, insurrections and unlavful aaae8ibliea. He ahall apprehend end COPmtt to jail all ottandera4 until im examinetion or trial can be had, 

Artlole 339, Panal Code, aupra, has been said to relate to and prohibit reslataaor to praoe officers. Harleaa ‘II. 

Mate, 53 Tex. Cr. R. 319, 109 9. V. 934. In addition to the 

l.iritation lmpoaod by Lrtiole 346, supra, vo bireot your attention to the provisions oi Artiole 36, Oode of Criminal Prooadure, 

vhhh vb quote1 

“Th* following are ‘peace oftiaerart 

the aherltt and his deputies, oonatable, 

the marsh1 or polloemen ot.an lnoorporatad 

tovn oc city, the ottioera, non-ooaaalaaionod 

ottioera end privates of the stat0 ranger 

force, and any private person apeoia.);lp appointed to execute ori.mlnal prooeaa. 

Thus ve see that there is no provision made for the 

rpplioatloa of Artiole 339, Penal Code, vhen the arrest is attempted by a ailitery policeman of the United States army. Articles 3 and 7 of our Penal Code would neem applicabla) Artlole 

3 reads in pert that ‘po person shall be punished for say aot or 

omlasion, unless the same is aads, l penal offense, and a penaltq 

ia affixed thereto bp the vrltten hV of this State.” Artiole 

7 ooatalna this l-get ë* l l aad no poraon ahall be punlahed 

for an offense vhioh is not made pen81 by the plain impwt of the 

vorda of a lar.a 
Honorable Bdgar A. Maddox, Page 3 

A military polices&an, as auoh, to not chargdd vlth 

the duty of enioraing tha provlalo~a of the Taxes Psaal Code. 

Him actlrltlar are regulated by and he ia amenable to regulations of the liar Departaant , orders of hL4 superior ofSit34rr 

and statutes of tha United States. In time of var all ottensea 

commltted by soldiers an oognizable bT courts-martial or milltary oossaiaalona. In time of peaoe a person In the mllltary 

aarvloe who, ln ary portion of a State not vlthln the exclusive 

juriadiotfon of the United States , eoamita a orhl.aal ottanae 

racognised md made punishable br the lava of the State la 

amenable to the State oourta for such offense. Such jurf sdlction la clear17 reoognlaed by the seventy-fourth artiole of var 

provldlng for the dellrev of such offenders to the olvil authorities when they are charged vlth otfanaea vhich are pualahable by the ?.ava of tha land,’ Se4 5 Corpus Juria 367, 8 2258 

10 U, S, C. A, I 1546, Title lo-Army. 

Drunkenema in a publfo plaoe is not vithin itrelt 

such an offense as till justi- an arrest vithout a varrant 

even vhen -de by o$e of the apeoitioally named peace officers, 

except olty policemen, olt]r marshals and chiefs of polloe. See 

Bennett v. State, 136 Tex. Cr. R. 192, 124 S. W. (26) 359. 

To properly l tteot a proseoutloa for a violation OS 

Article 339, supra., the information or indlotment must allege 

vhether the arrest was sought br virtue of a vamaat or olthout‘on4, and in order to sustain a ooavlotlon, the State vould 

be required to prove faeta rhovfng under vhioh olruumatanoe?. 

It the &rreat vaa attslpgted without a varrant, the 1egalltJ of 

au& arrest vould be eaaantial to uphold the judgment. Ra.rlaaa 

v. State, aupraj Sh4v v. State, 

(ad) 628. 

113 Tex. Cr. R. 169, 18 9. V. 

Pou ara therefore reapeotfully advised that a military 

policeman is not an officer vithln the purviov of the atatutss 

olted by you. Vhile additional taota may ahov other provisions 

of the Penal Code to have been violated, JOU are also advised 

that It is our opinion that a private altizen vould not be subjeot to punishawkt under Artlola 339, Penal Code, aupra, under 

the taota aubmittbd. 

BWlRS