OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
iionoreble Ir'la. YelCerman
ACLing County Attorney
XraVIII COunLY
Austin, Texas
Deer Sirs Opinion No. O-6210
Rer Authority
st on the above
question end not4 he question, aa
Acti% County A is tbaL addi-
tional ecquielt & Austin outride
th4 city llmlts onues of the aountg,
You ark in your loving que~tlonst
6081-B prohibit
orporatod city
e of parks and
8 of 640 acres
i purchaee or
s Artlole 6081-D prohibit
of any lncorporatod city
r the purpose of parks and
outsida of 1~s oity limits, by purchese or
condemnation? *-
‘,3. Do tliose artioles mean that the
govcmlng body of an incorporated city may own
end hold more ihan o40 acre4 outelde of ihe
city llcaics, LO be used for the purpoee of
parks and play grounds, but that they can never
38
Hen. Wm. Yeldeman - Page 2
acquire more than 640 acre@ at any 01x4 time, by
purchase or oondemuati on?
“4. Do Articles 6081-B and 6081-D llmlt
the riqh;s conferred upan Uonc !?ule ol-vies by
Art:ele 1175, Bection 15, uith reference to
aoqtirLng property ouisldo of the c:ry ltnits
fop parks end playgrounds?”
The ahsver is your flrsi question is that ANi-
ale 608lb, Verna~~n Annotated Civil Statutes, is a bracket
lav applicable only to cftiea of a certain populetloh by the
1923 census. Austin doeo not come vithlh the ola~sslfleatlon
bewwe It bed 144s than 43,000 Inhabitants by the 1920 oeneus.
Therefore, the ansveP to your question Is no.
Artiole 60816, Vernon’9 Annotated Civil Btatutss,
which you lnqulm about in your seeond question. oohtaina pro-
vlsionn vhiah are similar to thoee aontainod In Artlele 6081b,
except that it la not a bracket lav. Section 1 0r that article
prov%des:
“SOC. 1. That Ma govemlng body of any
incorporated alty In ‘thfs state ney mcelve
end hold through @it or mador ded%oatian, and
1s hereby lnpover4d to oondemu or to pumhase
land& vlthout its terrltorUtl 1iast.s and vlthLn
the county in vhioh such city is situated for
the pux’posa of establlsbixrg and sbaiata~ t&r+
on pubI& rocreatlonal parks end playgrounds,
either or both, no one of such parka or playgrounds
vhlch may be acquired by purchaee or thxough oon-
domnatlon to exaeed 320 acres in aPoa and the
total acroage outslde of the lidts of the city
vb%ah may bs acqulreo by purch484 and through
oondmnatfon procecdlngs, either or both, shall
not 4xo4cct 640 acroe.”
Section 6 of ~riicls 6C@ld 1imUs the sp?lPcation
of Section 1 co those titles that do not h6vs contrary pmvi-
don5 ln tholr ohertare. SoOtioR 6 pPOVid84s
‘Nothing here- contained rhall be
cone~rued 86 repoallng My provisions oi My
special charter or any inaorporated oity, but
Hon. Urn. Yalderman - Page 3
the powers, teram end provisions hereof shall
exS8t an altematlve powers, terms aad provlslons
af any such special charter and any alty which
shall hereafter adopt oc eaend ito own oharter
under the terms of the Rams Rule provision8 of
the ConatituLion may provide In any suoh charter
or amendment8 thereto provlslcum on the subject
aovsred hereby other than eml differing froa those
herein provlded.”
Section 1 of Artiole X%VI of the oharter of the
City of Austin (19%) authoriaer the City Couuoil to acquire
land outaide the altg litits for parka end playgrouuds, an
follows,
“The City Uouncll shall have pciwer
to aequlre land inside OP outride of the cor-
porate boundaribrr~ or the City or Austin, by
puramas or aondeanation, r0l the purpose of
establlahing or enlar@ng any park, parkway or
pla;ygzvund, and to improve, equip, prllltaln
mad regulate the use or @ma, aad the applloa-
ble provisions or the laws 0r the state or Texas
relating to emlneat domain are adopted snd made
a part or thl8 Artlole and rhall apply in uon-
demmtlon proceeding8 hereunder, but the City
of Austin shall not be required to exeaute the
bon& referred to fn raid law8.’
Article 60816, therefore,- does not limit the
amount of land which the City of Austin may 6oqulre by con-
deauation end purohase outside the city llalte for park8
and playgrounda under Artlcls XXVI or the City Charter. Thiis
is a speolal oharttr opd it is not repealed by Article 6081d.
Also, Austin 1s a Hose Rule City and it; la exprersly authorized
by Section 6 of Article 6Oiosld to “provide ln any ruah charter
or amendments thereto provS.slons on the subject covered’hereby
other thau aud diiiering Prom those herein provided.” We,
thesefore, answer your second question no.
In view 0r our answera to your first two qusrtions,
it becomee unnsaesaery to answer your third qusrti3R.
your Question Ro. 3 is an abstract queetlon aa
far ae the City of Au8ti.n is conaerued. Article 608lb, in
40
Zion. Wm. Yeldarmn - Pqa 4
Section 6 and Article 60816, lu Seotion 6 (OOpied above) each
provide that *nothing oontalned In this act ah811 be ion-
swued as repealing anx pmvlalona of any special charter of
any inoorporated oity. The City of Austin baa in Arclcle
XXVI a apeolal provlalon on parka and playgrouuda which
gives it greater powers than Artlole 6081d. It la true thOt
Section 15 of Artlale 1175, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925,
confers the sane8 powers cm the City of Auatln as to acquiring
parka and playgrounds outside the city limlta as doen Arti-
cle XXVI of the City Wrter. It is not necessary, however,
to pass on whether Artlole 60816 ll&ta the powers aonfarred
on Home Rule Cities by Seation 15 of Artiole 1175 because
Article 60&J, by its OYLIDrOViSiMS, is not applltable to
cliLaa llka Austin which have l apeclal charter provision on
the subject of parka and playgrounds whleh is other titan and
differs rr0a Axtiole 6081d. No, accordiqgly, find no neceea-
ity r0P anawedng your rowth question.
Trusting that the foregoing gives you the
lnfomatlon desired, we are
Yours very truly
ATTORURY
CamRAL OF TEXAS
BY Fe&an Dlckaon
Assistant
FDIBT