Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-195 Page: 3 of 13
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The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 3
We understand you to ask first whether the sheriff is required to forward the no-filed case
cash bail bonds to the district or county clerk for deposit in the county trust depository. We conclude
in the negative because the statutory provisions requiring a sheriff to forward the cash bail bonds to
the county or district clerk for deposit in the county trust depository are inapplicable when no case
is filed against a defendant.
First, article 17.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requiring the deposit of cash bail bonds
with the clerk of the court or the justice of the peace as "custodian of funds of the court in which the
prosecution ispending," is premised on filing ofa criminal case. Attorney General Opinion C-740's
determination that the sheriff must turn over the funds to the court custodian is similarly premised
on the filing of a case and the involvement of a court:
[T]he officer receiving the cash, if he is not the custodian of the funds
of the court, should deposit the sum of money received with the
custodian. We are of the opinion that there is no necessity or
authority for a court to appoint a sheriff as custodian of the funds
since the clerk of the court or the justice of the peace, as the case may
be, is already charged with that duty. The sheriff or other peace
officer accepting the cash bond should simply receipt the bond to the
defendant and then turn the money over to the clerk of the court or the
justice of the peace, whichever is the appropriate officer. We note
however that if the court in which the cash bond is given does not
have jurisdiction to try the defendant, the cash bond should be
transferred to the clerk of the court that has such jurisdiction.
Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. C-740 (1966) at 4-5 (emphasis added). Clearly if no case is filed, there is
no court custodian with whom the funds may be deposited.
Second, when funds are not deposited with a court, chapter 117 of the Local Government
Code, dealing with the deposit and management of court registry trust funds, including cash bail
bonds, is inapplicable. Chapter 117 applies only to trust funds held by the district or county clerk
and not to trust funds held by other county officials. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. DM-396 (1996)
at 5 n.7; 35 DAVID B. BROOKS, TEXAS PRACTICE: COUNTY AND SPECIAL DISTRICT LAW 14.11
(1989). Section 11.7.052 requires a county clerk or a district clerk, who is to have for more than
three days legal custody of money deposited in the registry of the court pending the result of a legal
proceeding, including cash bail bonds, to deposit the money in the county's depository bank for trust
funds if the county has selected one. See TEX. LOC. GoV'T CODE ANN. 117.052(a), (c) (Vernon
1999). Because the cash bail bonds in question are not deposited in the court registry and held by
the district or county clerk, chapter 117 does not, by its terms, apply to them.
In short, article 17.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and chapter 117 of the Local
Government Code do not govern the deposit of cash bail bonds accepted by a sheriff from a(JC-0195)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-195, text, March 17, 2000; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274504/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.