EA~TORNEYGENERAL
OF TEXAS
WILL WILSON
ATI’O-GiZNERAX.
January 15, ,I959
,Honorable Dan Walton Opinion NO, WW-546
District Attorney
Harris County Courthouse Re: Whether Article 802e of
Houston 2, Texas Vernon’s Penal .Gode authorizes
prosecution of ,j~uvenilcs under
a city ordinance pertaining to
Dear Mr. Walton: traffic.,
Your request for an opinion reads in part as fo$lows:
“A question has arisen~ concernil)(l the,jurisdictjon of the Corpo-
ration Court of the City of Houston to prosecute a juvenile, between
the age of 14 and 17 for a violation of a Cify Ordinance of the City of
Houston, Ths specffic ordinance :concern&d is the ordinance defining
and making penal a negligent collisk~. The City Attorney contends that
prosecution can be maintained by reason of Article 802e, V.A.P.C.,
which reads as follows:
‘Section I,, Any male minor who has passed hls~ 14th birthday
but has not rtscbed bl* ~L?th~bMhd+y;and any female ,minor who has
passed her 14th birthday but k&s not reached her 18th birthday, and ‘~
who drives or opsrateaan.autom6blle or any other ~mo@r vehicle on,
at@ public road OPhighway in thls state oti upon any street or alley
within the limtts.of any city; town ‘or village, or upon any beach as
defined in Chapter 430, Ackof the ,51st Lsgla.lature, 1949, while under
th& iafluende ~6f intoxlcatiqj Ilquor~, 01~who drives or oparatos any
automobile or any other motor vehicle in such way a& to.:vlol*te an
traffic law of this state, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor - a
be punbhad by~a fine of not more than Cite Hundred,~($lO,O.OO) Dollars,
As used fnthls, section, the term ‘any traffic law ,of ‘this ,s~tate’shall
laelude the following statutes, as heretofore or hereafter .amendsd:
“Chapter 42, Acts of the 4lst Legislature,,,Second caLled Session,
1929,(Article 827a, Vernon’s Texas Penal Code), except Section 9a
thereof; Chapter 421, Acts of the 50th Legislature, Regular Session,
1947 (Artlcle 6701d, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes); Chapter 430, Acts
of the 51st Leglnlature, Regular Session, 1949 (Article 827f, Vernon’s
Texas Penal Code); and Articles 795 and 801, Texas Penal Code of
1925,
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.’ ., Honorable’ Walton, page Z’~(WW-546)’ : :
“.
“Set, 4. The offenses cre&tad under this Act shall be under
the jurisdiction of the courts regularly empowered to try misde-
,: meanors carrying the penalty heretn affixed, and shall not be under
the jurlsdictlon of the Juvenllt Courts; but nothing contained in
this Act shall b% construed to otherwise repeal or effect the statutes
regulating the powers and duties of Juvenile Courts. The provisions
of this Act shall be cumulative of all.other laws on this subject.”
‘“It is necessary that this office have your ,bpinion on this question
as we are charged with the duty of prosecuting appeals from Corpora-
‘, tion Court. (Emphasis supplied)
“It is my optnion that Article 802e would not authorize the
prosecution of such a person under a City Ordtnance because Article
802e among other, things states that it shall be a violation for any
such minor to commit the enumerated offBnses or “to drive or,oper-
‘ate an automobile or any other motor vehicle In such way as to
~, violate any traffic law of this state. . .” However, the statute goes,
further and defines the term “any traffic law of this stata” and in
such,dafinltion include9 only certain statutes of the state and does not
include ordinance8 of incorporated cities. It is my OpMon that the
enkmeratNn of these state statutes would exclude the application of
any other state law or any city ordinances from the opakat@a ,of,tbk
Act,”
Section 1 of Article 802~ states “as musedin this section,: the tarm
,‘any tkafftc Iaw,of this state’ shall include the following statbtei. s e,* The
word include is not, .ordltiarlly, a word of Limitation,.but rather One of
enlargement.~ However this term ‘any traffic law of this state’ is all in-
chive and in our opinion could not be enlarged upon. Furthermore the
captionof thf,,act recites “An,Act. &’.defLning the term Iany traffic law of
thSs state. D 0 It ,is therefora.our opinion that the,Legislature intended to
and did define such term and Article 802c’V.A.P,C. is’ilmited in its applica-
tion to the ,of&nse of driving a moton veblek whUe uuder~ the influence, of
intoxkcating liquor and to the&s ,otfenses. denouncsd in .’rtlcles 827a, (except
section 9a thereof), 827f; 795 and 801, of the’penal code%nd.Article 6701d
Vernon’s Civil Statutes.
SUMMARY
Article 802e V.A.P.C. iS limited in its application to
the offense of drlving a motor vehicle while under the
inftuence’.of intoxicating liquor a,nd to those