Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

‘Tifra~ A-~-~• GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Ap~el 28, 1948
Hon. Leigh Fischer Opinion Ho, V-556
County Attorney
Hutchinson County Re: Authority of a Justice
112 East 6th Stmet of the Peace, who is a
Borger 9 Texas pmctlclng attomeg,to
pr-actice law in courts
other than the justice
court r)
Dear Sip:
'Ilow Eequest fog an oplaion on the above sub-
ject Patter is as follow~s
“I have been requested to wlte you
fop an opinion regaading the legality of
a duly licensed and p?acticlng attome
also holding the office oi a Zfil3tice of
t.he Peace D This situatfor prsrails hme,
and there has been some sritLzism because
of it. Of my own knowledge,, however5 he
has not acted as a Juatfce of the Peace
in matters in which he has Fepnesented
those before the Court as their- attorney,
“I have studied Aztfclsa 2372 thxxgh
2378,of Vernon"s Statutes, and also the
annotations under Artisle Vr Sesrion 28,
and &ticle Sixteen, Section hG, of the
cOnstitd,iOn, and fLnd nGthhg prchibi-
tory of such a factual aituatfon in anp
of them. However, the parties fnvolved
would like a pullng op opinion fpor your
office to fully satisfy tbemseives, I
will greatly rppPecfats,rZt if you casi
help me fn this rnttep.
In view of the above facts, we asaume yo;l de-
sipe OUP . opinion
_ on . the author-ity of
.I a Justice
" . a.of the
reace 9 mo 3.9 an ottomeg, 50 pr-pI!x:ce 1aLym me coums
of this State other2 than the Justice Copuui ovep which he
presides.
Hon. Leigh Fischer, page 2 t-556)
It was held in Shoope v. State, 118 Tex. Cr.
R. 138, 38 S.W.(2d) 793:
^ _ “One_..who holds - the office of
..- sounty
. prlvllegea _
juage ana wno 1s a lawyer 1s
to practice law in the dfstrlct court-
The complaint of the fact that the phi-
vate p-osecutor p%pr%Jenting the state
was also the county ;cdg3 1.s witho?it
mepit e”
The Court of Critinal Appeals in the case of
Claplch v. State, 129 S.W,!Sd) 2911 held that Article
319, v. c. so, which prov’des that no county judge shall
be allowed to appear as an attorney fn any county OP
justice court, except In case% where the court over
which he presides hs3 neither; orfgfnal OE appellate
jurisdiction, did not prohibit the county judge frim
participating in a trial in behalf of the State in a
kdep case *-
We have carefuliy exarafned the constitutional
and statutory ppov:s:ons of th.fs State and have been un-
able to find any px o7ision% which will pr~ohibi+, the jus-
tice of the peace f>om practizfng law. TherePole, fol-
lowing the reasoting in the cases of Shoope 8. State and
Clarich v. State, it fs our opition t&t a justlze of
the peace has the aathoritg to pra$tiee law en any CO?~IC~
in this State except the court ov%p which he presides.
The justice of the peace who is an
attorney may practiso law in any couz4
in the State exsept~ the j-Jwtice comt
ovep which he presides.
Your-s ve?y truly,
APPROVED: ATTORJEYGEIVFRAL
OF TEXAS
T ASSISTAIiT
John Reeves
JR:mw