Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1976 )

The Honorable Emory C. Walton opinion No. H-815
Criminal District Attorney
Eastland County Re: Jurisdiction of the
Eastland, Texas 76448 county and district courts
in Eastland County.
Dear Mr. Walton:
You have requested our opinion on a 'numberof questions
regarding the jurisdiction of the district and county courts
of Eastland County.
In 1951, the Legislature transferred a portion of the
criminal jurisdiction of the county court of Eastland County
to the district court. Article 1970-141a, V.T.C.S., provides
in pertinent part:
Section 1. The County Court of
Eastland County shall retain and con-
tinue to have and exercise the general
jurisdiction in matters of eminent
domain, general jurisdiction of probate
courts, and all other jurisdiction now
or hereafter conferred by the Consti-
tution and laws of this State, except
as is hereinafter provided, and shall
retain all jurisdiction and power to
issue all writs necessary to the
enforcement of its jurisdiction, and
to punish contempts; but said County~
Court shall have no civil jurisdiction
and no criminal jurisdiction except
jurisdiction to receive and enter
pleas of guilty in misdemeanor cases,
and except as to final judgments
referred to in Section 2 hereof.
p. 3440
The Honorable Emory C. Walton - page 2 (H-815)
Sec. 2. The District Court having
jurisdiction in Eastland County shall
have and exercise jurisdiction in all
matters and cases of a civil nature and
in all matters of a criminal nature,
except as to such jurisdiction that the
County Court has to receive and enter
pleas of guilty in misdemeanor cases as
is provided in Section 1 hereof, whether
the same be of original jurisdiction or of
appellate jurisdiction, over which, by
the general laws of the State of Texas now
existing and hereinafter enacted the County
Court of said county would have had jurisdiction
and all pending civil and criminal cases be,
and the same are, hereby transferred to the
District Court having jurisdiction in Eastland
County, Texas, and all writs and process
heretofore issued by or out of said County
Court in all pending civil or criminal cases
be, and the same are, hereby made returnable
to the District Court sitting in Eastland
County, Texas. However, there shall not be
transferred to said District Court jurisdiction
over any judgments, either in civil or criminal
cases, rendered prior to the time this Act
takes effect and which have become final, but
as to such judgments the said County Court
shall retain jurisdiction for the enforcement
thereof by all appropriate process.
YOU first inquire as to the court in which misdemeanor
cases should be filed in Eastland County.
A misdemeanor may be charged by indictment, and an indict-
ment may be presented only to a district court. Indictments
charging misdemeanors returned to the district court over
which the court has no jurisdiction are to be transferred
to the inferior court having jurisdiction of the offense.
Tex. Const. art. 5, 9 17; Code Crim. Proc. art. 21.26; Dalton
v.
- State, 200 S.W. 385 (Tex. Crim. App. 1918).
p. 3441
,. .
The Honorable Emory C. Walton - page 3 (H-815)
As provided in section 2,of article 1970-141a, the
district court has jurisdiction "in all matters of a criminal
nature, except as to such jurisdiction that the County Court
has to receive and enter pleas of guilty in misdemeanor cases
as is provided in Section 1. . . ." Thus, the district court
should retain jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases presented
by indictment until it is known that the defendant will enter
a guilty plea.
Also, it should be noted that when the district court has
obtained jurisdiction by the return of an indictment charging a
felony offense, jurisdiction is not lost by the fact that,
upon motion of the State, the charge is reduced to a mis-
demeanor to which the defendant pleads guilty. Bruce v.
State, 419 S.W.2d 646 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967); Mock
-- Eate,
298 S.W.2d 583 (Tex. Crim. App. 1957).
Accordingly then, your inquiry must be limited to the
proper court in which misdemeanor cases should be presented
by information in Eastland County.
As provided in section 1 of article 1970-141a, the
criminal jurisdiction of the county court is limited to the
receiving and entering of guilty pleas in misdemeanor cases.
In our opinion, the clear implication of the statute is that
the prosecuting attorney should present an information in the
county court only in those cases in which he reasonably believes
in advance of filing that the defendant will enter a plea of
guilty. In all other instances, the case should be filed in
the district court. Of course, if a defendant actually enters
a plea of not guilty after the case has been filed in the
county court, the case must be transferred to the district
court for trial. Likewise, if a defendant resolves to enter
a guilty plea subsequent to filing in district court, the case
should be transferred to the county court for receipt and entry
of the plea of guilty.
As to the former appellate jurisdiction of the county
court, it is clear that such jurisdiction is now in the
district court, since the very nature of an appeal from a
justice or municipal court implies a plea of not guilty.
p. 3442
The Honorable Emory C. Walton - page 4 (H-815)
Your next question is whether the district clerk and
county clerk should collect the fees normally applicable to
their respective offices in each case originally filed in
the respective courts. In the absence of statutory indica-
tion to the contrary, we answer this question in the affirma-
tive.
you also ask whether the district clerk may collect any
fees of office when a criminal case is transferred from the
county court to the district court on a plea of not guilty.
Section 4 of article 1970-141a provides:
The clerk of the County Court of Eastland
County is, and he is hereby required within
twenty (20) days after this Act takes effect
to file with the clerk of the District Court
of said county all original papers in cases
here transferred to the said District Court,
and all Judges' dockets and certified copies
of any interlocutory judgment, or other order
entered in the minutes of the County Court
in said cases so transferred: and the
district clerk shall immediately docket all
such cases on the docket of the District
Court of Eastland County in the same manner
and place as each stands on the docket of
the County Court. It shall not be necessary
that the district clerk.refile anv wawers
theretofore filed by the county cierk; nor
shall he receive 9 fees for the filin-
ofthe-=, but papersinxidase *ring
defile mark of the county clerk, prior to
the time of said transfer,-shall be-held to
have been filed in the case as of the date
filed without being refiled by the district
clerk. Said county clerk in cases so trans-
ferred shall accompany the papers with a
certified bill of cost and against all cost
deposits, if any, the county clerk shall charge
accrued fees due him, and the remainder of the
deposit he shall pay to the district clerk as
a deposit in the particular case for which the
same was deposited. Credit shall also be given
the litigants for all jury fees paid in the
County Court. (Emphasis added).
p. 3443
. .
The Honorable Emory C. Walton - page ,5 (H-815)
Although section 4 appears to be limited in application
to those cases transferred to the district court within 20'
days from the effective date of the statute, we believe that
a similar result obtains with regard to all cases thereafter
transferred to the district court. Certainly, the district
clerk should not be permitted to collect from a defendant
those same fees which have previously been assessed by the
county clerk. Neither do we believe that the district clerk
may collect any fees of office from the county clerk. In
Attorney General Opinion C-789 (1966), this Office held that
[tlhere is no authority in the statutes
of the State of Texas which would authorize
an initiating county to pay court costs to
another county on a change of venue.
In our opinion, this is a sound principle which ought to be
applied to transfers from the county court to the district
court. Accordingly, it is our view that, at least with
respect to fees already billed by the county clerk, the
district clerk may not collect any fees of office when a
criminal case is transferred from the county court to the
district court on a plea of not guilty.
your last two questions inquire about the.amount, if any,
which a district clerk and/or a county clerk may collect from
a defendant in a criminal case as a fee for the offices of
criminal district attorney and county judge. Article 1061,
Code of Criminal Procedure, prescribes a fee of $15, to be
taxed against the defendant for district and county attorneys
where a conviction is obtained in any misdemeanor proceeding
or pursuant to the laws against gaming. No fee is authorized
for conviction of any other felony, and, in the absence of
statute, none may be assessed.
With regard to the office of county judge, article 1052,
Code of Criminal Procedure, provides for a fee to be paid to
the county judge "for each criminal action tried and finally
disposed of before him," but such fee is a cost payable by
the county rather than by the defendant. Since no statute
authorizes a county clerk to collect from a defendant in a
criminal case any fee for the office of county judge, it is
our opinion that no such fee may be assessed.
p. 3444
I .
The Honorable Emory C. Walton - page 6 (H-815)
S U.MMARY
Misdemeanor cases in Eastland County should
be filed in the county court only in those
instances in which the county attorney reasonably
believes that the defendant will enter a guilty
plea. All other misdemeanors should be filed
in the district court. The district and county
clerks should collect the fees normally appli-
cable to their respective offices in each case
originally filed in the respective courts.
/-yery truly yours,
Attorney General of Texas
APPROVED:
DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant
Opinion Committee
jwb
p. 3445