# The Attorney General of Texas

December 22, 1982 MARK WHITE Attorney General

Supreme Court Building P. 0. Box 12546 Austin, TX. 76711. 2546 5121475-2501 Telex 910/674~1367 Telecopier 5121475.0266

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An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer HonorableG. Dwayne Pruitt Terry CountyAttorney Terry County Courthouse Brownfield,Texas 79316 OpinionNO. ~~-542 lb?: Whether one probation office may serve two judicial districts located in different counties
Dear Mr. Prultt:
You have requestedour opinion as to whether one joint probation office may serve,two judicial districts in different counties. Your question concerns the legality of the situationwhich has existed in Terry, Yoakum, Hockley, and Cochran counties since apportionment legislationbecame effectiveon April 8, 1981. Article 199,V.T.C.S., 9121 (121stJudicialDistrict), §3.112 (286thJudicialDistrict). All four countieshad previously comprisedonly one judicial district and one probation office served all four counties. Under the new apportionment, Terry and Yoakum counties comprise the new 121st JudicialDistrict,while Cochran and Hockley counties comprise the new 286th JudicialDistrict. Subsequent to the effective date of the apportionment legislation,the judges of the new 121stJudicialDistrict and the new 286th Judicial District acted to continue the probation department under the same administrativestructure. However, the same probation personnel are now employed by both judicial districts. The new probation office is known as the 121st and 286th Judicial Districts Probation Department. According to the Executive Director of the Texas Adult Probation Commission, this probation departmenthas fully met the standards set by the commission for a probation officer for each district, and this method, in fact, appears to be the most efficient, cost-effective method of providing adequate probation services to these four counties. Section 10 of article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides:
For the purpose of providingadequateprobation

SfZViCeS. the district judge or district judges trying criminalcases in each judicial district in this state shall establish a probation office and

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employ, in accordance with standards set by the commission,districtpersonnelas may be necessary to conduct presentence investigations, supervise and rehabilitate probationers, and enforce the terms and conditions of misdemeanor and felony probation. If two or more judicial districts serve a county, or a district has more than one county, one district probation department shall serve all courts and counties in the districts. This provision clearly indicatesthat the legislaturecontemplatedthe establishment of one probation office "in each judicial district." Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, it ordinarilywill be literallyconstrued. Trimmierv. Carlton, 264 S.W. 253, 258 (Tex. Civ. App. - Austin 1924), aff'd on other grounds, 296 S.W. 1070 (Tex. 1927); Brasos River Authority v. Graham, 354 S.W.Zd 99, 109 (Tex. 1961). Furthermore, section 10 itself creates two exceptions: a single district probation office is permitted (1) in a multi-district county (two or more judicial districts in a county; and (2) a multi-county district (adistrict includesmore than one county). The statutedoes not authorize a single probation office for the situation you describe: a multi-county, multi-district area. Where a statute contains one or more specific exceptions, the usual implication is that no other exceptions are applicable, and that the statute should apply in all cases not excepted. State v. Richards, 301 S.W.Zd 597, 600 (Tex. 1957); Federal Crude Oil Companyv. Yount-Lee Oil Company, 52 S.W.Zd 56, 60 (Tex. 1932).
SUMMARY
A joint probation office for the 121st and 286th Judicial Districts is not authorized by statute, and is. hence, impermissible. Each district is required to establishandmaintain its own distinctprobationoffice. Very trulyyours, L-l

MARK WHITE AttorneyGeneral of Texas JOHN W. FAINTER,JR. FirstAssistantAttorneyGeneral

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RICHARD E. GRAY III ExecutiveAssistantAttorney General Preparedby Rick Gilpin AssistantAttorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE SusanL. Garrison, Chairman Jon Bible Rick Gilpin PatriciaHinojosa Jim Moellinger BruceYoungblood

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