OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

GmAW c. MANN A-” .*Inay ls, lOSO 

Trealncft offlosn ln XaxTlron county 

a r e eo mp en8a t.o n d l iea b a 8l8* lw8S 

offloers tib a their a nnua l report8 for 

alo .par 1937 ant¶ it roIlId mean that 8OHm 

of tam mm to lliat say fee8 a8 having 
Eon. Charles B. Mcrtln, May 15, 1959, Page 2 

boonoarnedasdnoteollectodfortba year 

m. mlelr reports UNld indloats that 

non0 of then marued lmd oousoteu¶ the smdmum for the year l937. 

*In &eoklng overtblr asnualroporta 

for theyear1938, Ifind that so- ofthem 

oollected&ringe year1938 few that had 

been aotually oarned'ln 1997, but, as stated 

above, theywers not listed inthoir asnual 

report for the year1937 as ha* bosnoarned 

and not oolleoted. ,G of these Ql.+qUttnt 

fsw .emmU in 1937 and oolloate6 in 1938. 

war0 esIsda& triizl ross, where llull~ts 

bad bosn returnetl ona filea hlrlng em year 

&gg. 

-wtxsm~~ tf0tilb th880 pb0in0t 0moers bo entitled tc ccllectasdrotaln thoso 

Qsllnqusnt f 808 whleh ha& not bsen roporteil 

ad dsllnquent for the ~aar 1937, some of 

*hfch huvo already beon paid to them Qurlse 

tho year 1928, and u)p11) of fho fees,aro stl&l Quo 

and unao~eb, or do theue foes bol6ng fo ths 

'oouuty by reason of t&o offher* falluP to 

roport fhom as ha- been oarnod and eoollocted 

ior the y&r &gg1* 

n ls lutsrest~ to.nots that the filwJ of this 

department have disclosed au opinion rendsroQ to Ron. Moore 

,

Qnu,StakAubitor, on January2S,lQ32,writtonbfHonorable Ev’emtt P. Johuson, Asslstaut Attorney C!emral, contra 

to the riou held by B. Alsup in the above oplulon roforred 

to, to the offeet that the retontian of Qolinquont foes 

uudor art1010 5892 ln addition to other roqulroments therein 

wntalued,ras oonditionedugonthoirbaing,rsparted. Artiala 3897, Bob 1925, Forty-fourth rSgtilat!tro, 8e8ad Called 

Session, Chaptsr 467, roads as f+.msa~ 

'Raoh Qlstrlot, county and preduct 

offlosr, at the close of eeoh fiscal year 

(December Slst) shall make tp.tho Qirtrlst 

. 
Hon. Charlss R.&Wtln,May l$Ss, 1939, Page S 

court of the uouuty in . . . ..m whioh ht resides a 

-_ . 

sworn statsment m trlpuoate ton ronus 

Qesigned anQ approved ay the &ate Auditor) 

a 00py of *Iah stataznont shall be forwarded 

to the State Auditor by the clerk of the 

dtstrict oourt of said oomtyrithin thirty 

(30) days after i&e same has been filed in 

his offlae, and one bopy to be f&lstl with 

the county auditor, If any; otberwlso said 

~&opy shall be fllsd tith,tbe Co~&ssionsrs~ 

ourt . Said report sU.1 show the anyant 

or all fees, oonmiss~ ma oomp~~~ons 

whatever warned by said offioer Qurf& the 

flsml yearg and sooondly, shall show thm 

amount of fees, eokmdssioas and otxupensatlons 

solleotsd b 

thirdly,8 s 

him dtnlng t&o f isaal ymar ; 

dreport shslloontalnmltsmlted utatement of all fsos, oomlssions and 

gompsssations eari~odduringth~ firoaf. year 

vhiohrerm not ?ollefted, ~g+h~rri.tb~th~ - . . 

name or tae party ovmg seua tees, 8omauss~oas 

ma 0ompMsations. Saldroportshallbeflle4 

not later than Pebruary lst folhwing the 81086 

of the fiso ayel a r ufor 6 l aahday.aftsr sa%Q 

date t+atsaldreport awsains notfilsd, said 

offioer shall be liable to a psnalty of Ts8nty 

Five ($25.00) Dollars whloh nay be raooverad 

by the aounty in a suit brought for suoh purposos, and in addition said officer shall bo 

subjbot to removal from offloe.* 

The above statuto road8 the sam as the smsn6sd 

AOtS of 1930, forty-first &&slature, fourth CdJ.@d SOSslon, ohapter EO, at #ioh session br the Iagisfature our 

pnsont srtiole 3892 was enaotsd, and *hioh reads ss follows! 

'Any offlow mention06 in this ohaptor 

who does not coUsdt the msxinwa smount of 

his fess for anyfisoal ysar and who rouorts 

dellnqusnt fees for that year, shall be en- - 

titled to retain, uhsn eolleoted, such part 

of such Qelinquant fatas as is suffiolsnt.to 

aompleta the maxlmum oontpensatlon authorised 

by artloles 3683, S8S3-A, arid 25586 for fh0 
Hoti. Charles R. Martin, Yay l3, 1939, Page 4 

y&r S.nLnIch Qoll.n@ent~csrsrecbrrged, 

and also retain tho mcunt of l xocss fees 

authorIzcd by law, and the rcmalnaor of 

tho aellnqucnt fees for that fIsoalyear 

shall be paldas hcrcin pzvvidcd farwhcn 

collcctc~; prorided, the pr~r~lons of thls 

art1018 shall nOat apply to any offiocr aftor 

cne year frcmthe date he ccascs to boldtho 

offioe to whioh sny delloqnent fee ls due, 

and In tha wtat the offlear earn&g the fses 

that ~0 d8aquti hsrr not 00ueea th8 

samedtMatnlvmm3alaI#arterbcoaaesto 

bold the OffbS, the ankNUt Of fee8 cOilOctb6 

shall bs pnlQ Into tho aouuty treasury. ProvlQcQ, lwwvsr, that aothlng la this Aat prcelud138 the p6p9f.e of'= 0frIcI0.fm in 

~ocordanoo with TItlc 61 of t;he Revised Civil 

statutes ofTcxas, 1925,~ partofthcmsxlmtsneomp~~tIon, Provldcd,that 

ma0 in this +tti010 by this Act 8 iilxl%F 

apply to fee8 heretofore earne6.' 

.~~ Stat&s providin~fccs for public offIccrs 

aro striotly .~nstruoa. Under fhe pro~IsSoiu~ of ths 

dove statutes, the offloer ls rsqulrcd to asakq a smrn 

riport at the cl~sc of caoh flsoal year and 8uah roport 

+mng othsr thlrup, 8hell eont8In uL ih1Q2ti 8tatemrmt 

of all fees, 8onmis~ions auQ eanpensaf‘loaq oarned durS8g 

the flioal year whioh rsrc not oOlleOtcQ, tog&sir rith 

,thcaaawOftho 

r 

id fee43 bolllmi88ions ana 

c0mpcnsatSims. ibtyrZ3iSat founi Sal fwtlole~j897 

supra, scnt~hs the report rcqti.mQ to bc aWe by meh* 

offioars to &iohtha pr~~M.~nimntalncQ In artI 3292 

undoubtedly rofcrs. We quote from the opiaion of ths 

court of CIvIl Appeals rcndcrcd in Bitter Y. Bcxar County, 

266 5.1. 224; 

r 

“‘sh4 oadymennsr provldodby .lefor 

giving notlae to the proper authorities of 

the cOllcctIon of,fees, and the purp~sc for 

vhioh they w ore sollooted, is for the offli 

cers collectfng 6uchfecsto m&c swrn reports thereof. Upon suoh reports, settlements ars lmaa ulnua~rlth the sounty aad 

fmmsuchrcpOrtsthe mount,drrS the OoMty~ 

as cxoess fees ls asoertaIneQ. It Was f0aQ 

. 
BOIL Charlee R, &Utfn, &y l.3, 1939, Pago 5 

bytho trial courtthatthe appellant 

-68 annualroports purportingto cover 

all fees oollcoted and received by him 

during the fIrcal. ycsx In question these 

reports were swoxn to as bcIng oomplste 

and oomct, but none of the fees sued 

for wore inoludcd in suoh ropcrts. Tho 

failure to dfscldsc in his rsports at 

some period of time before the &ration 

of his term 0s offioe, thp'essentlal raotrr, 

was a~plaIn vlolatlon of the law; aad 

whethsr Intentional or othcxwlsc hd was 

wIthholdIng matcrlal intcrrmatlon from the 

oounty; -6 It dots not lie In.appellant*o 

mouth to ,say the sot&y had oral not108 cr 

had approved his contontlon.~ 

5%eLcglslaturc~ bsing~authorIzedt.oflxand 

~dct&m&c the fees allcwcd to public offloers spay impose 

noaessary -aiti0-, lS.mitatIons and restriotIa6 eonslnbnt with their oolleotlon and diisposltlon. Suoh 

pr0visi0nm afford proteotion to the cotintyas mcll as 

to the offlocrs thcmselvcs and provide BKHWS of readily 

chcckingupandfollovdngthcsourocc oft&l fun@ bclong- ta the county or to the officer r;lltirmately. Such 

emnddng fees in question becams Lblc and payable aftsr. 

lnaletamnt of the Qefendar& fcr the offbase for tioh he 

was char@dInthe examInIng court, (soeartIclclO2O, 

c. c. P., 1925, as amended). Suoh fees oome within the 

prorislon~ of drtlales 5892 and 5897,. supra, and src pyquired to be report&Q by the offloor. It Is our rieu 

that the reqtiremant that.swh fees bs IaoluQeQ in tho 

offioers sworn report, bclng mandatory, Ss a conditioner 

preoedent to allowlag him to retain suoh foes as allowed 

by article 5892 and falling to do sol, such offlccr has 

not met the rtwiSrsmsat8 of said statute; we q~errulc 

the opinion of Bon. Jot J. Alsup, above rcferrcd to. 

It lsti tbcrefaro, tho opinion of this departmeat that the provisions of artiolc 5297, beln& mandatory, must k complied with bofors the Justice of the 

Peace oan demand or bc ontitled to retain uudar the 

prooisIons of,&Icle 9892, as a mattsr of right, such 

aelinqud - trial fees payable, and qualify 

under the provisions thereof. 

. 
./.’ . 

Bon. Charles R.lWti.n,Lgy15,1939,Page 6