Can a county attorney accept compensation from a crime victim in connection with the prosecution of the alleged offender?

Plain-English summary

The Board of Governors addressed county attorneys in counties where they were prohibited from practicing law. It concluded that such county attorneys were disqualified from becoming entangled with private interests or grievances connected with the private practice of law and, consequently, were disqualified from receiving compensation for alleged services rendered to persons, firms, associations, or corporations for legal services performed. The Board added that it was against the declared public policy of the state for a county attorney, as a public officer, to demand or accept a reward for services rendered in that capacity.

Applying these principles, the Board concluded that a county attorney in such a county committed a reprehensible act, and an act unworthy of a bar member, by demanding or receiving compensation from a person from whom property was alleged to have been stolen, in connection with the county attorney's prosecution of the alleged receiver of the stolen property.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1931, decades before Oklahoma replaced its original Rules of Professional Conduct (patterned on the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics) with the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct (adopted 1988) and the later Ethics 2000 revisions. The county-attorney practice restrictions it assumed reflect the law of that time and may not match current Oklahoma law on county or district attorneys. Subsequent rule amendments and later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a county attorney accept payment from a crime victim related to a prosecution?

A: The opinion concluded no. It treated demanding or receiving such compensation as a reprehensible act unworthy of a bar member.

Q: Why was the county attorney disqualified from taking such compensation?

A: The opinion reasoned that in counties where county attorneys could not practice privately, they were disqualified from entanglement with private interests, and that public policy forbade a public officer from accepting a reward for official services.

Background and rules framework

The opinion did not cite a numbered rule. It rested on the disqualification of county attorneys barred from private practice from entangling themselves with private interests and on the public-policy bar against a public officer accepting a reward for official acts. These concerns correspond in current practice to the conflict-of-interest and public-trust principles governing government lawyers, though the opinion predates the Model Rules.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• The opinion does not cite a numbered rule; it applies the disqualification of county attorneys from private interests and the public-policy bar against accepting a reward for official acts.

See also

• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 8: Prosecutor as Witness
• ABA Formal Op. 467: Prosecutor Supervisory Duties
• ABA Formal Op. 469: Prosecutors and Debt Collectors

Source

• Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-13/

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

Adopted November 20, 1931

County Attorneys in those counties in which they are prohibited from practicing law are disqualified from becoming in any way entangled with private interests or grievances connected with the private practice of the law and, consequently, are disqualified from receiving compensation for alleged services rendered to persons, firms, associations or corporations for legal services performed. It is also against the declared public policy of this State for a county attorney, being a public officer, to demand or accept a reward for services rendered as such public officer.

It is the opinion of the Board of Governors that a county attorney in and for such county commits a reprehensible act and an act unworthy of a member of The State Bar of Oklahoma in demanding or receiving compensation from one from whom property is alleged to have been stolen in connection with his prosecution of the alleged receiver of such stolen property.