Does a county clerk have to bill another county for mental health hearing costs?

Plain-English summary

The Austin State Hospital sits in Travis County but serves a thirty-six-county "catchment area" in the state mental health system. When someone from one of those other counties is committed through a hearing held in a Travis County court, another county is the one financially responsible for the proceeding's costs. Travis County's clerk used to send those counties a bill of costs, then stopped in early 1998, believing the clerk had no duty to do so. The earlier Opinion JC-0102 (1999) had said the clerk had no statutory duty to "collect the reimbursements" a county might be entitled to. But that opinion assumed Travis County had already paid the costs and was trying to recoup them. Travis County Auditor Susan Spataro wrote back to explain that Travis County does not pay the costs first; it relies on the responsible county's promise to pay once it receives a clerk's cost bill, and those counties refuse to pay without that bill. So she asked the office to clarify.

The opinion drew a clean line between the two situations. JC-0102 was about reimbursement of costs the county had already paid out of its own pocket; this question was about costs that had never been paid at all. For the second situation, the statute is explicit. Section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code lists the costs of a mental health services proceeding (attorney's fees, physician examination fees, compensation for court-appointed personnel, transportation expenses, certain judge salary supplements, and prosecutor's fees) and makes the county that accepts the application, issues a protective-custody order, or issues a temporary-services order responsible for them. The Legislature amended subsection (b) in 1999 to add that the responsible county pays the costs of all subsequent proceedings until the person is discharged, and that "[t]he costs shall be billed by the clerk of the court conducting the hearings."

Given that language, the opinion concluded it did not even need to decide whether the listed items technically count as "court costs," because the statute itself directs the clerk to bill them. So the answer to both questions was that the clerk of a court conducting these proceedings must bill the responsible county and has a duty to collect the costs listed under section 571.018 from that county.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General 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.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

Travis County Auditor Susan Spataro (what the opinion held): The opinion answered that the county clerk does have a duty, under section 571.018(b), to bill and collect the costs of mental health services proceedings from the county responsible for them, distinguishing the earlier JC-0102, which had assumed the county already paid and was seeking reimbursement.

County clerks of courts conducting mental health proceedings (what the opinion held for them): The opinion held that section 571.018(b) requires the clerk of the court conducting the hearings to bill the responsible county for the proceeding's costs, and that the clerk has a duty to collect those costs.

Counties financially responsible for committed residents (what the opinion held for them): The opinion held that the county that accepts the application or issues the protective-custody or temporary-services order is responsible for the proceeding costs (and the costs of subsequent proceedings until discharge), to be billed by the clerk of the court conducting the hearings.

Common questions

Does a county clerk have to bill another county for a mental health hearing's costs?
Yes. The opinion concluded that section 571.018(b), as amended in 1999, expressly requires the clerk of the court conducting the hearings to bill the responsible county, and that the clerk has a duty to collect those costs.

How is this different from the earlier opinion that said there was no duty?
The opinion explained that JC-0102 addressed only reimbursement of costs the county had already paid. This opinion addresses costs that have never been paid, where the statute directs the clerk to bill the responsible county.

Which county is responsible for the costs?
Under section 571.018(a), the county that initiates emergency detention or, if none, the county that accepts the application for court-ordered mental health services, issues a protective-custody order, or issues a temporary mental health services order.

What costs are covered?
The opinion listed the section 571.018(c) costs: attorney's fees, physician examination fees, compensation for court-appointed personnel, transportation expenses (within stated limits), certain judge costs and salary supplements, and prosecutor's fees.

Background and statutory framework

The Texas Mental Health Code (subtitle C of title 7, Health and Safety Code) governs care and treatment for mentally ill persons, and chapter 574 governs court-ordered mental health services. An application is filed on behalf of the State of Texas (Tex. Health & Safety Code § 571.0166) with the county clerk where the proposed patient resides, is found, or is receiving services (§ 574.001(b)); a court has personal jurisdiction where the person is found in the county where the court sits (Goldwait v. State, 961 S.W.2d 432 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, no writ)). The Austin State Hospital serves thirty-six counties (the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation divides the state into hospital districts and designates state hospitals, Tex. Health & Safety Code § 552.001).

Section 571.018(a) makes the county that initiates emergency detention, or that accepts the application, issues a protective-custody order, or issues a temporary mental health services order, responsible for the proceeding's costs, including the cost of filing the petition. The 1999 Legislature amended subsection (b) to provide that the responsible county pays the costs of all subsequent proceedings until the person is discharged, and that "[t]he costs shall be billed by the clerk of the court conducting the hearings" (Act of May 28, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 1512, § 1, 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 5233, 5234). Subsection (c) enumerates the recoverable costs (attorney's fees; physician examination fees; compensation for court-appointed personnel under section 571.017; transportation expenses within stated limits; costs and salary supplements under sections 574.031(i) and (j); and prosecutor's fees under section 574.031(k)), with related provision for expert-testimony expenses for an indigent patient (§ 574.010(b)). Because subsection (b) expressly directs the clerk to bill these costs, the opinion concluded it need not decide whether each item is technically a "court cost," and held the clerk has a duty to collect the section 571.018 costs from the responsible county (citing also Tex. R. Civ. P. 129, 130 on a clerk's duties when a responsible party fails to pay costs). The opinion confirmed that JC-0102's no-duty conclusion was tied to its premise that the county had already paid and was seeking reimbursement.

Citations

Statutory provisions and rules:

• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 571.018(a), (b), (c) (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 571.0166 (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 574.001 (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 574.010(b) (Vernon 1992)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 552.001 (Vernon 1992)
• Tex. R. Civ. P. 129, 130

Cases:

• Goldwait v. State, 961 S.W.2d 432 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, no writ)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0222
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2000/jc0222.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official scanned PDF. Minor character-level errors from the source OCR have been corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - STATE OF TEXAS

JOHN CORNYN

May 22, 2000

Ms. Susan A. Spataro, C.P.A., C.M.A.
Travis County Auditor
P.O. Box 1748
Austin, Texas 78767

Opinion No. JC-0222

Re: Clarification of Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 (1999) (RQ-0157-JC)

Dear Ms. Spataro:

You seek clarification of Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 (1999), which addressed issues raised in your request letter of September 29, 1998. See Letter from Ms. Susan A. Spataro, C.P.A., C.M.A., Travis County Auditor, to Honorable Dan Morales, Attorney General of Texas (Sept. 29, 1998) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter "Request Letter I"]. Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 considered whether the Travis County Clerk had a duty to seek reimbursement from other counties for the costs of proceedings for involuntary mental health services conducted by a Travis County probate court, where another county was responsible for those court costs. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0102 (1999). On the understanding that Travis County had already paid the costs of these proceedings and now wished to recover its expenditures from the county responsible for the costs, we determined that the reimbursements were not "court costs," which the county clerk as clerk of the probate court might otherwise have a duty to collect from the responsible county, and concluded as follows:

The county clerk does not have a statutory duty to collect the reimbursements to which a county may be entitled for mental health services proceeding costs actually paid by the county, but the commissioners court may delegate that responsibility to an appropriate county official.

Id. at 5.

You now explain that Travis County does not pay the court costs before it seeks payment from another county. See Letter from Ms. Susan A. Spataro, C.P.A., C.M.A., Travis County Auditor, to Honorable John Cornyn, Attorney General of Texas (Dec. 3, 1999) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter "Request Letter II"]. You referred to the collection process as a "reimbursement" to describe the transaction in accounting terms and did not use this word in its ordinary sense. See id. at 1; see also XIII OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 534 (2d ed. 1989) ("reimburse" means "[t]o repay or make up to one (a sum expended)"). "Travis County does not pay (or make a corresponding accounting entry on its books) the 'court costs,' but relies on an oral or written representation by a 'responsible county' that 'court costs' will be paid upon receipt of a Clerk's cost bill." Request Letter II, supra, at 2. You enclose an example of another county's promise to pay court costs. It is a written request from a Bexar County probate judge to a Travis County probate judge asking the Travis County judge to hold a commitment hearing on a resident of Bexar County in a Travis County facility and stating that the court costs should be billed to the Bexar County Clerk's Office.

Travis County wishes to recover "court costs" from counties that have accepted responsibility to pay these costs, but those counties are unwilling to pay without a clerk's cost bill. You ask two questions related to the subject matter of Attorney General Opinion JC-0102. You first ask whether the county clerk of a county with a state hospital has a statutory duty to collect court costs to which a county may be entitled for mental health services proceedings if no county has paid the court costs. Section 571.018(b) of the Health and Safety Code requires the clerk of the court in which a mental health services proceeding is held to bill the responsible county for the costs of the proceeding. You also ask whether the costs listed under section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code are court costs and whether the county clerk has a duty to collect such costs. We conclude that the county clerk has a duty to collect these costs.

The following facts provide the background for your inquiry about the clerk's responsibility with respect to the collection of the court costs: The Austin State Hospital, located in Travis County, serves a "catchment area" of thirty-six counties within the state's mental health system. Request Letter I, supra, at 1; see TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 552.001 (Vernon 1992) (the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall divide the state into hospital districts and designate the state hospitals to which persons with mental illness from each district shall be admitted). Travis County provides resources to the other counties within the catchment area by conducting mental health cases for individuals for whom the other counties are financially responsible. See Request Letter I, supra, at 1. The Travis County Clerk formerly sent a bill of costs to the responsible county, but in early 1998 she stopped seeking costs from counties in the catchment area other than Travis County, believing that the clerk had no duty to seek the costs. See id. Thus, you wish to know whether the clerk has a duty to send out a bill of costs to the other counties.

The Texas Mental Health Code, codified as subtitle C of title 7, Health and Safety Code, provides for access to care and treatment for mentally ill persons. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. chs. 571 - 577 (Vernon 1992 & Supp. 2000). Chapter 574 of the Health and Safety Code governs proceedings for court-ordered mental health services. A county or district attorney or other adult may file an application for court-ordered mental health services for an individual. See id. § 574.001 (Vernon Supp. 2000). All applications for court-ordered mental health services "shall be filed on behalf of the State of Texas." Id. § 571.0166. The application must be filed with the county clerk in the county in which the proposed patient resides, is found, or is receiving mental health services by court order or pursuant to apprehension by a police officer under Health and Safety Code, chapter 573, subchapter A. See id. § 574.001(b). A court has personal jurisdiction over an individual's commitment for mental health services, where he is found in the county where the court sits. See Goldwait v. State, 961 S.W.2d 432, (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, no writ); see also TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 574.031(c) (Vernon Supp. 2000) (proposed patient is entitled to be present at the hearing, unless he or his attorney waives this right).

Section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code lists various costs of a hearing or proceeding under the Texas Mental Health Code and subsection (a) of that section provides that they shall be paid by:

(1) the county that initiates emergency detention procedures under Subchapter A or B, Chapter 573 [temporary detention of person believed to be mentally ill, where there is a substantial risk of serious harm to the person or others]; or

(2) if no emergency detention procedures are initiated, the county that accepts an application for court-ordered mental health services, issues an order for protective custody, or issues an order for temporary mental health services.

TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 571.018(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000).

Pursuant to this provision, the county "that accepts an application for court-ordered mental health services, issues an order for protective custody, or issues an order for temporary mental health services" is responsible for the costs of the proceeding, including the cost of filing the petition. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0102 (1999) at 2.

Section 571.018(b) further provides that:

The county responsible for the costs of a hearing or proceeding under Subsection (a) shall pay the costs of all subsequent hearings or proceedings for that person under this subtitle until the person is discharged from mental health services. The costs shall be billed by the clerk of the court conducting the hearings.

TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 571.018(b) (Vernon Supp. 2000) (emphasis added). The italicized language was added by the 76th Legislature. Act of May 28, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 1512, § 1, 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 5233, 5234. In answer to your first question, section 571.018 now expressly requires the clerk of the court to bill the responsible county for the costs of the mental health services proceeding.

As to your second question, you ask whether the costs listed under section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code are court costs and whether the county clerk has a duty to collect such costs. This question seeks clarification of the statement in Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 that "the reimbursements are not 'court costs,' which the county clerk as clerk of the probate court may otherwise have a duty to collect from the responsible county." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0102 (1999) at 3. This statement reflects the premise of Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 that Travis County had already paid the court costs and was seeking reimbursement for expenditures. It does not address court costs that have never been paid.

The costs of a mental health services proceeding payable by the responsible county include those enumerated in section 571.018(c) of the Health and Safety Code:

(1) attorney's fees;

(2) physician examination fees;

(3) compensation for court-appointed personnel listed under Section 571.017 [court shall order payment of reasonable compensation to attorneys, physicians, language interpreters, sign interpreters, and masters];

(4) expenses of transportation to a mental health facility or to a federal agency not to exceed $50 if transporting within the same county and not to exceed the reasonable cost of transportation if transporting between counties;

(5) costs and salary supplements authorized under Sections 574.031(i) and (j) [for a judge who holds hearings at locations other than county courthouse]; and

(6) prosecutor's fees authorized under Section 574.031(k).

TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 571.018(c) (Vernon Supp. 2000); see also id. § 574.010(b) (Vernon 1992) (if proposed patient is indigent, court may order county of residence to pay expenses of expert testimony).

It is not necessary to determine whether the various costs listed under section 571.018 of the Health & Safety Code are "court costs" subject to being collected by the county clerk, because the provision expressly states that these costs "shall be billed by the clerk of the court conducting the hearings." Id. § 571.018(b) (Vernon Supp. 2000). In answer to your second question, we conclude that the county clerk has a duty to collect from the responsible county the costs listed under section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code. See id. § 571.018(b); TEX. R. CIV. P. 129, 130 (clerk's duties if responsible party fails to pay costs).

SUMMARY

Attorney General Opinion JC-0102 (1999) was based on the understanding that Travis County had paid the costs taxed in certain mental health services proceedings conducted in the county where another county was responsible for paying the costs. Its conclusions as to the clerk's duty to seek reimbursement of those costs from the other county must be read in connection with that premise.

Section 571.018(b) of the Health and Safety Code requires the clerk of the court in which a mental health services proceeding is held to bill the costs of the proceeding to the county that is responsible for paying those costs. The county clerk has a duty to collect from the responsible county the costs listed under section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code.

JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas

ANDY TAYLOR
First Assistant Attorney General

CLARK KENT ERVIN
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

Susan L. Garrison
Assistant Attorney General - Opinion Committee