How much jail-time credit do you get for an unpaid Class C misdemeanor fine in Texas?

Plain-English summary

A Class C misdemeanor in Texas is a fine-only offense, the lowest level of crime, with no jail term attached to the conviction itself. But if a person cannot pay the fine, they can be jailed until the fine is worked off, and the law gives a dollar credit for each day spent behind bars. The Bastrop County District Attorney noticed that the county jail was crediting everyone, including Class C defendants, at only $50 a day under the general execution-of-judgment statute (article 43.09). He asked which rule actually governs Class C cases.

The Attorney General concluded the jail was using the wrong number. Class C misdemeanors are handled exclusively by justice and municipal courts, and a separate chapter of the Code of Criminal Procedure (chapter 45) governs those courts. Within that chapter, article 45.048 sets the credit for unpaid fines at "not less than $100" for each day or part of a day served. When a general statute covers all criminal cases and a more specific statute covers a particular class, the specific one wins. So a Class C defendant sitting in jail for an unpaid fine earns credit of at least $100 a day, not $50.

The opinion walked through how the 1999 rewrite of chapter 45 raised this figure. The old provision (former article 45.53) credited time at $15 a day; the renumbered article 45.048 lifted it to at least $100. The same legislative update raised the community-service credit in justice and municipal courts to $100 for each eight hours. The bottom line was a correction to local jail practice: short people out of jail faster than the $50 rate would, because the controlling statute is more generous.

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

The Bastrop County District Attorney who asked (what the opinion held): The opinion answered that the county jail's $50-per-day policy was wrong for Class C misdemeanor defendants. The controlling figure was the not-less-than-$100-per-day credit in article 45.048, because chapter 45 governs the justice and municipal courts that handle Class C cases.

Sheriffs and county jails (what the opinion held for them): At the time, the opinion meant a jail calculating fine-discharge credit for a Class C defendant had to use article 45.048's minimum $100-per-day rate, not the general $50 figure in article 43.09.

Defendants jailed for unpaid Class C fines (what the opinion held for them): The opinion meant each day, or part of a day, in jail counted toward the fine at a minimum of $100, which discharged the same fine in fewer days than the $50 rate the county had been applying.

Common questions

What credit does a day in jail give toward an unpaid Class C misdemeanor fine?
At least $100 for each day or part of a day served. The opinion concluded that article 45.048 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, not the general $50 rate in article 43.09, sets the credit for Class C defendants.

Why doesn't the general $50-per-day statute apply?
Because Class C misdemeanors fall only within justice and municipal court jurisdiction, and chapter 45 governs those courts specifically. The opinion applied the rule that a specific statute controls over a general one for the class of cases it covers.

Does "part of a day" count as a full day?
Yes. The opinion quoted article 45.048's language crediting "not less than $100 for each day or part of a day of jail time served," so even a partial day earns the full credit.

Which courts handle Class C misdemeanors?
Only justice courts and municipal courts. The opinion noted county courts have no jurisdiction over cases where the fine cannot exceed $500, which is the ceiling for a Class C misdemeanor.

Background and statutory framework

A Class C misdemeanor is punishable only by a fine of up to $500 and carries no confinement as part of the sentence (Tex. Pen. Code § 12.23). Jurisdiction over such fine-only offenses lies with justice courts (Code Crim. Proc. art. 4.11) and municipal courts (art. 4.14), while county courts lack jurisdiction where the fine cannot exceed $500 (art. 4.07). Chapter 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is the general execution-of-judgment law; article 43.09(a) rates confinement for an unpaid fine at $50 per day. Chapter 45, however, governs justice and municipal courts exclusively, and article 45.002 directs that proceedings in those courts be conducted under chapter 45, resorting to the code's general provisions only where chapter 45 is silent.

The 1999 rewrite of chapter 45 renumbered former article 45.53 as article 45.048 and raised the fine-discharge credit from $15 per day to "not less than $100 for each day or part of a day of jail time served." The opinion applied the specific-over-general canon, supported by Magnolia Fruit & Produce Co., Inc. v. Unicopy Corp. of Tex. and White v. Sturns, to hold that article 45.048's rate, not article 43.09's, governs Class C misdemeanor jail credit.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 43.09(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 43.09(d), (f), (k)
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 45.002
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 45.048 (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 45.049
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 4.11 (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 4.14
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 4.07
• Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 12.23 (Vernon 1994)

Cases:

• Magnolia Fruit & Produce Co., Inc. v. Unicopy Corp. of Tex., 649 S.W.2d 794, 797 (Tex. App.-Tyler 1983, writ dism'd)
• White v. Sturns, 651 S.W.2d 372, 374 (Tex. App.-Austin 1983, writ ref'd n.r.e.)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0246
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2000/jc0246.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

July 7, 2000

The Honorable Charles D. Penick
Criminal District Attorney
Bastrop County
804 Pecan Street
Bastrop, Texas 78602

Opinion No. JC-0246

Re: Amount of credit for time served in a county jail for failure to pay a fine assessed for a Class C misdemeanor (RQ-0184-JC)

Dear Mr. Penick:

You have requested our opinion regarding the amount of credit that should be awarded to a convicted defendant for time served in a county jail for failure to pay a fine assessed for a Class C misdemeanor. Pursuant to article 45.048 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, we conclude that a defendant should be credited at the rate of not less than $100 per day for each day or part of a day served in jail.

You indicate that, in accordance with article 43.09 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Bastrop County Jail is "crediting to all inmates convicted of a crime who fail to pay their fine an amount of only $50 per day. . . . This policy includes those inmates convicted of Class C Misdemeanors." Letter from Honorable Charles D. Penick, Bastrop County Criminal District Attorney, to Office of the Attorney General, Opinion Committee (Feb. 4, 2000) (on file with Opinion Committee). The issue you pose is whether article 43.09 is the statute that applies to persons convicted of Class C misdemeanors, in light of article 45.048 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is specifically applicable to persons convicted in justice and municipal courts.

Chapter 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure constitutes the general law applicable to "execution of judgment" in criminal cases. Article 43.09(a) provides, in relevant part:

When a defendant is convicted of a misdemeanor and his punishment is assessed at a pecuniary fine or is confined in a jail after conviction of a felony for which a fine is imposed, if he is unable to pay the fine and costs adjudged against him, he may for such time as will satisfy the judgment be put to work in the county jail industries program, in the workhouse, or on the county farm, or public improvements and maintenance projects of the county or a political subdivision located in whole or in part in the county, as provided in the succeeding article; or if there be no such county jail industries program, workhouse, farm, or improvements and maintenance projects, he shall be confined in jail for a sufficient length of time to discharge the full amount of fine and costs adjudged against him; rating such confinement at $50 for each day and rating such labor at $50 for each day.

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 43.09(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000) (emphasis added). In addition, article 43.09 confers broad discretion on the sentencing court to, for example, "grant an additional two days credit for each day served to any inmate participating in an approved work program . . . or a rehabilitation, restitution, or education program," and "to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by performing community service" at the rate of $100 for each eight hours of service. Id. art. 43.09(d), (f), (k). Section (a) was last amended in 1993,[1] and subsection (k) was amended in 1999 to increase the credit for eight hours of community service from $50 to $100.[2]

Your inquiry focuses on Class C misdemeanors. A Class C misdemeanor is one in which the maximum permissible punishment is a fine not to exceed $500, and it is not punishable by confinement. See TEX. PEN. CODE ANN. § 12.23 (Vernon 1994). Justice courts have original jurisdiction in criminal cases in which the punishment is by a fine or other sanction that does not include confinement. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 4.11 (Vernon Supp. 2000). A municipal court has "exclusive original jurisdiction within the territorial limits of the municipality in all criminal cases" punishable by fine only, with the maximum fine not to exceed $500, or in certain cases, $2000. Id. art. 4.14. County courts do not have jurisdiction in any case in which the fine to be imposed does not exceed $500. See id. art. 4.07. Thus, only justice and municipal courts have jurisdiction of Class C misdemeanors.

Chapter 45 of the Code of Criminal Procedure deals exclusively with "justice and municipal courts." Article 45.002 thereof declares:

Criminal proceedings in the justice and municipal courts shall be conducted in accordance with this chapter, including any other rules of procedure specifically made applicable to those proceedings by this chapter. If this chapter does not provide a rule of procedure governing any aspect of a case, the justice or judge shall apply the other general provisions of this code to the extent necessary to achieve the objectives of this chapter.

Id. art. 45.002 (emphasis added). Chapter 45 was extensively rewritten in 1999, and many previous provisions were renumbered as well as amended.[3] Former article 45.53 was redesignated as article 45.048[4] and amended to increase the credit for time served from $15 per day to "not less than" $100 per day:

A defendant placed in jail on account of failure to pay the fine and costs shall be discharged on habeas corpus by showing that the defendant:

(1) is too poor to pay the fine and costs; or

(2) has remained in jail a sufficient length of time to satisfy the fine and costs, at the rate of not less than $100 for each day or part of a day of jail time served.

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 45.048 (Vernon Supp. 2000). Likewise, the credit in justice and municipal court for eight hours of community service was increased from $50 to $100. Id. art. 45.049.

When a statute makes a general provision that is apparently applicable to all criminal cases and another statute makes a different provision for particular cases, the latter prevails insofar as the particular case or class is concerned. See Magnolia Fruit & Produce Co., Inc. v. Unicopy Corp. of Tex., 649 S.W.2d 794, 797 (Tex. App.-Tyler 1983, writ dism'd); White v. Sturns, 651 S.W.2d 372, 374 (Tex. App.-Austin 1983, writ ref'd n.r.e.).

In the situation you pose, the amount of credit to be awarded for jail time served as a result of a proceeding in a justice or municipal court is the more specific provision. Because article 45.002 makes chapter 45 applicable to proceedings in justice and municipal courts to the exclusion of other provisions (particularly article 43.09), it is clear that article 45.048 is the statute to be applied to determine the amount of credit to be awarded to a defendant convicted of a Class C misdemeanor for time served in a county jail. Thus, in answer to your specific question, a defendant who is sentenced to county jail for failure to pay a fine assessed as a result of conviction for a Class C misdemeanor should be credited at a rate of not less than $100 for each day or part of a day served in jail.

SUMMARY

A defendant who is sentenced to county jail for failure to pay a fine assessed as a result of conviction for a Class C misdemeanor should be credited at a rate of not less than $100 for each day or part of a day served in jail.

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

Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General - Opinion Committee

[1] See Act of May 20, 1993, 73d Leg., R.S., ch. 578, § 2, 1993 Tex. Gen. Laws 2188, 2189.

[2] See Act of May 30, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 1545, § 3, 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 5314.

[3] See id. § 6, at 5315.

[4] See id. § 48, at 5323.