Texas Attorney General Opinion: MW-492 Page: 3 of 4
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Mr. Charles D. Travis - Page 3 (MW-492)
(a) All civil penalties recovered in suits
instituted by the State of Texas under this
chapter through the department of the Parks
and Wildlife Department shall be paid to the
General Revenue Fund of the State of Texas.
(b) All civil penalties recovered in suits
instituted by a local government or
governments under this chapter shall be
equally divided between the State of Texas
and the local government or governments first
instituting the suit, with 50 percent of the
recovery to be paid to the General Revenue
Fund of the State of Texas and the other 50
percent paid equally to the local government
or governments first instituting the suit.
Thus, section 12.107 of the Parks and Wildlife Code will not
govern the disposition of fines collected from corporate defendants
under section 26, subchapter F of the Water Code, and articles 1007
and 1008 of the Code of Criminal Procedure will have no application
thereto, because such collections are to be considered civil penalties
rather than criminal fines. See State v. Hart, 70 S.W. 947 (Tex.
1902); Attorney General Opinion M-560 (1970). Again, the identity of
the arresting officer is not critical because it is not the
affiliation of the arresting officer that determines the disposition
of civil penalties collected, rather it is the identity of the
governmental body instituting suit that is important. Cf. Attorney
General Opinion 0-5679 (1943). See generally 12 Tex. Jur. III
Conservation and Pollution Laws 111 et seq., at 437.
SUMMARY
The disposition of fine monies collected
pursuant to section 26, subchapter F of the Texas
Water Code is controlled by section 12.107 of the
Parks and Wildlife Code, except fines collected
from corporate defendants, which are to be
disposed of in accordance with Water Code section
26.126 as though they were civil penalties
recovered under section 26, subchapter D thereof.
Whether the arresting officer is a game warden
makes no difference.
Very truly yours,
MARK WHITE
Attorney General of Texasp. 1753
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: MW-492, text, July 9, 1982; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth272338/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.