Attorney General of Arkansas — Opinion
STEVE CLARK, Attorney General
Honorable David R. Malone State Representative, Fifteenth District P.O. Box 1048 Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702-1048
Dear Representative Malone:
By letter you have directed our attention to Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-720.1 (Repl. 1962) which provides:
COUNTY’S PORTION OF MUNICIPAL COURT EXPENSES — APPROPRIATION — The county wherein a municipal court is held shall pay one-half [1/2] of the salaries of the judge and the clerk of the municipal court of all municipal courts therein organized under the provisions of Act 60 of the General Assembly of 1927, and acts amendatory thereof (Sections 22-701 — 22-715, 22-719 — 22-731, Arkansas Statutes, 1947) and Act 128 of the General Assembly of 1947, and acts amendatory thereof, (Sections 22-732 — 22-738, Arkansas Statutes, 1947), and the quorum court in counties subject to either or both of said acts shall at its annual meeting make an appropriation of a sum sufficient to pay the county’s proportion of the expenses of all such municipal courts, such payments shall be made out of the general revenues of the county; and such duty may be enforced by mandamus proceedings.
You then pose the question for resolution by an official opinion:
Under Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-720.1 (1962 Repl.) is a county wherein a municipal court is held obligated to pay the county’s proportion of all the expenses of the municipal court, or is the county merely obligated to pay one-half of the salaries of the Judge and Clerk of the municipal court?
At the outset it is important to note that the applicability of the questioned statutory provision, with limited exception, is directed to those municipal courts established under the two acts therein enumerated. Prior to passage of Act 45 of 1951 (now codified as Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-720.1) it appears that the county did not share in the cost of operating courts established in accordance with Act 128 of 1947 (now codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-732 — 22-738). See, Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-732, 22-735 (Repl. 1962). In regard to Act 60 of 1927, the expense of a municipal court was addressed by Section 16 of the act. This particular section was codified as Section 9912 of Pope’s Digest and then Section 22-720 of Ark. Stat. Ann. 1947.
When first enacted Section 16 provided:
The Quorum Court in counties subject to this Act shall, at its annual meeting, make an appropriation of a sum sufficient to pay the county’s proportion of the expenses of the municipal court herein provided, which shall be one-half of the expense of the municipal court, same to be paid out of the county’s share of fines, penalties, forfeitures, fees, and costs collected in said municipal court and not otherwise, and such duty may be enforced by mandamus proceedings. (Emphasis added.)
Under Act 141 of 1935 this section was amended to read:
The Quorum Court in counties subject to this act shall at its annual meeting make an appropriation of $1,800.00 to pay the county’s proportion of the expenses of the municipal court herein provided, such payment to be made out of the general revenues of the county and such duty may be enforced by mandamus proceedings.
In Crawford County v. City of Van Buren, 201 Ark. 798, 146 S.W.2d 914
(1941), the effect given the section as amended was explained as follows:
. . . In other words, the county must share equally with the city the cost of the court, provided that the county’s share shall not exceed $1,800 per year. See also, Jackson County v. Pickens, 208 Ark. 15, 184 S.W.2d 591 (1945).
Then in 1949 the section was again amended by Act 206 of that year. As found within the text of Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-720 (Supp. 1949), the statutory language reads:
The Quorum Court in counties subject to this act shall at its annual meeting make an appropriation of a sum sufficient to pay the county’s proportion of the expenses of the municipal court herein provided, which shall be one-half of the salaries of the judge and the clerk of the municipal court; such payment to be made out of the General Revenues of the county; and such duty may be enforced by mandamus proceedings.
The text of the act, found within the bound volume of the Acts of Arkansas 1949, also includes the following passage:
. . . provided, however, that this Act shall not apply to counties having a population of less than 42,400 or more than 43,000 as determined by the federal census of 1940.
Through passage of Act 45 of 1951, the Arkansas General Assembly enacted what is now codified as Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-720.1 (Repl. 1962). Section 2 of the Act provides for the repeal of all laws or parts of laws in conflict.
Looking first to the language of the statute itself we perceive that it is not totally unambiguous. When consideration is given to the foregoing historical development we view the intent of that development to limit county expense to a sum certain or one-half of the specified salaries. Therefore, subject to judicial interpretation, it would be the opinion of this office the county obligation as regards “expenses” of courts established pursuant to the two acts enumerated (unless otherwise provided, as in Ark. Stat. Ann. 22-764 (Supp. 1983)) is that of one-half of the salaries of the judge and municipal clerk.
The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Michael E. Wheeler.