How are a Texas multi-county district court reporter's expenses reimbursed, and can the commissioners court set them?

TX AG Opinion GA-0700: How is a multi-county district court reporter reimbursed?

Plain-English summary

The Waller County Criminal District Attorney asked about reimbursement for the court reporter of the 506th Judicial District, which covers Waller and Grimes Counties. The question was whether Government Code section 52.055 sets the exclusive limits on reimbursing court reporters in multi-county districts, absent a special statute, or whether the counties may instead pay the reporter expenses equivalent to those paid other county officers and employees.

An official court reporter appointed by a district judge is paid a salary set by the judge and paid by the commissioners court, with a multi-county district reporter's salary apportioned among the counties by population. When the reporter of a multi-county district performs official duties in a county other than the reporter's county of residence, section 52.055 entitles the reporter to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses, up to a statutory maximum, paid by the county for which the expenses were incurred.

The Attorney General explained that Local Government Code section 152.011, which requires a commissioners court to set the expenses for county employees, does not apply to a district court reporter, who is not a county employee within that statute. So Waller and Grimes Counties are not authorized to pay the 506th District Court reporter expenses equivalent to those paid county officers and employees under section 152.011, and the opinion said it could no longer rely on a 1978 opinion that had read the predecessor statute to allow that. While a reporter may receive other necessary expenses authorized by law, section 52.055 authorizes reimbursement only for duties performed outside the reporter's county of residence, and the opinion found no statute authorizing reimbursement for expenses in the reporter's home county. The opinion noted a district court's inherent power to compel reasonably necessary spending, and a then-pending bill that would have extended reimbursement to the 506th's reporter.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2009. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

The opinion itself noted a pending bill that would have amended the reimbursement statute for the 506th District. The statutes here may have changed since 2009. Confirm the current law before relying on this opinion.

Who this opinion affected (as of 2009)

Multi-county district court reporters: The opinion concluded they are reimbursed under section 52.055 for duties performed outside their county of residence, subject to a statutory cap, paid by the county where the expenses arose.

Commissioners courts: The opinion held they cannot set and pay a district court reporter's expenses like a county employee's under section 152.011, because the reporter is not a county employee.

The 506th Judicial District (Waller and Grimes Counties): The opinion found no statute authorizing reimbursement for the reporter's expenses in the home county, and flagged a pending bill that would have changed that.

Common questions

How does a multi-county district reporter get expenses paid?
Under section 52.055, the opinion said, when the reporter works in a county other than the home county, that county reimburses actual and necessary expenses up to a statutory limit.

Can the commissioners court treat the reporter like a county employee?
No. The opinion held section 152.011 does not apply, because a district court reporter is not a county employee within that statute.

Are expenses in the reporter's home county reimbursed?
The opinion found no statute authorizing reimbursement for expenses in the reporter's county of residence for the 506th District.

Is the old 1978 opinion still good?
No. The opinion said it could no longer rely on Attorney General Opinion H-1250 (1978), which had read the predecessor statute to allow such payment.

Background and statutory framework

The 506th Judicial District covers Waller and Grimes Counties (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 24.5995 (Vernon Supp. 2008)). A district court reporter is paid a salary set by the judge and paid by the commissioners court, apportioned by population in a multi-county district (id. §§ 52.041, 52.051(a), (c), 52.054(a) (Vernon 2005)). Section 52.055 entitles the reporter to capped reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses when performing duties outside the home county, paid by that county (id. § 52.055(a)-(b), (c), (d)). Local Government Code section 152.011 does not apply because a district court reporter is not a county employee (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Ann. § 152.011; Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 612, 616-17 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1989, no writ)), superseding Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. H-1250 (1978). The opinion noted a district court's inherent power to compel reasonably necessary spending (Vondy v. Comm'rs Court of Uvalde County, 620 S.W.2d 104, 109-10 (Tex. 1981)) and a then-pending bill (Tex. S.B. 812, 81st Leg., R.S. (2009)) that would amend section 52.057 for the 506th (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 52.057 (Vernon 2005)).

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 24.5995 (Vernon Supp. 2008), 52.041, 52.051(a), (c), 52.054(a), 52.055(a)-(b), (c), (d), 52.057 (Vernon 2005)
• Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Ann. § 152.011

Cases:

• Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 612, 616-17 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1989, no writ)
• Vondy v. Comm'rs Court of Uvalde County, 620 S.W.2d 104, 109-10 (Tex. 1981)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0700
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2009/ga0700.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

GREG ABBOTT

March 19, 2009

The Honorable Elton R. Mathis
Waller County Criminal District Attorney
846 Sixth Street, Suite #1
Hempstead, Texas 77445

Opinion No. GA-0700

Re: Reimbursement for the court reporter of the 506th District Court (RQ-0746-GA)

Dear Mr. Mathis:

Your request concerns reimbursement for the expenses of the court reporter for the 506th Judicial District, which consists of Waller and Grimes Counties.[1] See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 24.5995 (Vernon Supp. 2008). You ask whether Government Code section 52.055 sets exclusive limits on reimbursement for the expenses of court reporters serving in multi-county districts, absent a special statute, or whether counties within the district may pay court reporter expenses equivalent to those paid other officers and employees of the county. Request Letter at 1.

An official court reporter appointed by the judge of a district court is paid a salary set by the judge and paid by the commissioners court. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 52.041, .051(a), (c) (Vernon 2005); see also id. § 52.054(a) (salary of court reporter for multi-county district shall be apportioned among the counties in proportion to population). When the court reporter of a multi-county district court performs official duties in a county other than the court reporter's county of residence, section 52.055 entitles the court reporter to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses, subject to a statutory maximum amount. See id. § 52.055(a)-(b), (d). The expenses are reimbursed by the county for which the expenses were incurred. See id. § 52.055(c).

Local Government Code section 152.011, which requires the commissioners court to set the expenses for county employees, does not apply to the court reporter of a district court, who is not a county employee within that statute. See Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 612, 616-17 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1989, no writ) (construing section 152.011 of the Local Government Code). Thus, Waller and Grimes Counties are not authorized to pay expenses of the court reporter of the 506th District Court equivalent to those paid county officers and employees under section 152.011. We can no longer rely upon Attorney General Opinion H-1250 (1978), which stated that the predecessor of Local Government Code section 152.011 authorized the commissioners court to pay the expenses of the court reporter for the district court.[2] See id.

The district court reporter may receive, in addition to fees, "other necessary expenses authorized by law." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 52.051(a) (Vernon 2005). Section 52.055 authorizes reimbursement for expenses of a district court reporter only when the court reporter performs duties outside of the reporter's county of residence. We find no statute authorizing reimbursement to the court reporter of the 506th District Court for expenses in the court reporter's county of residence.[3]

SUMMARY

When the official court reporter of the 506th District Court performs official duties in a county other than the court reporter's county of residence, the court reporter is entitled to reimbursement by the other county for actual and necessary expenses under Government Code section 52.055, subject to statutory limits. Section 152.011 of the Local Government Code does not authorize the commissioners court to set and pay the expenses of the court reporter for a district court.

ANDREW WEBER
First Assistant Attorney General

JONATHAN K. FRELS
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

NANCY S. FULLER
Chair, Opinion Committee

Susan L. Garrison
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[Footnote 1: Request Letter at 1 (available at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov).]

[Footnote 2: A district court has the inherent power to compel the commissioners court to spend public funds that are reasonably necessary for the court to carry out its mandated responsibilities. See Vondy v. Comm'rs Court of Uvalde County, 620 S.W.2d 104, 109-10 (Tex. 1981).]

[Footnote 3: See generally TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 52.057 (Vernon 2005) (providing allowances for office and travel expenses in county of residence for court reporters of specific districts, not including the 506th). We note that Senate Bill 812 has been filed and would, as proposed, amend section 52.057 to require that court reporters of the 506th Judicial District receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses, including travel expenses. See Tex. S.B. 812, 81st Leg., R.S. (2009).]