OFFICE OF THE AmORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Benorable CbarlrrH. Theob6Jd
06untyAttornay
06lreat6ncounty
Oalvrsston,Teua
D6ar 61r:
Your requret to
ouofullj oan~idoro6 bp t
request a6 folLat
tabar requoddd me te
r spielon oa th le
y e u h a r e h o Ad Ewe. 85
60 of tho ast ataa68,
et that theso i6 LIBmlrt~
~pr+wtahg th6t ii 'urp%0ti0n
d wocrmtitutioa<hat the
b0 lfr00ttvO.* fBnak6t Iasutloa
Honorable Uharles K. Theobeld, Page S
TWction,RS of Article 5 of our State Con-
etitt&on. gm%Qts authority to thn legislature
to inoreaae. dio&nlah or chance the civil and
criminal jurlediotlon 6P county aourte by elt%er
ha1 or saneral law. Sections 1 and E’ 01 the
above auoted sot are themrore valid.
*Howover, Section 5 of the aot PrOV~diQg
addltioual oompensation for the County Clerk
and County Judge, and providing for the eppoiQt-
mnt of an additional daputy clerk and the pay-
ment of a salary to eucb deputy, is clearly us-
onQstitutional as a looal or special law ettempt-
in& to regulate the effaira of a county, anG
whsra a Sensral lcw oan be labd~ea;iplicable.
Al!aostthe idantieel prooedurewas aondemcd in
the oaee of Duclos vs. EbrljaCouuty, 251 6. #.
569, Effi~bd by SupM!N GOti iQ S&5 5. 1c'.S62.
Ale0 see the aese8 OS Altgelt ve. Gutzeit, 1SV
5. R., ESS, affirmed by Suprem Court in 201
S. Vi. 400; *ara vs. Harris Ccirnty,E00 S. W.
794; and the reevnt case of Ulller et al vs. El
Paso County, 150 8. X. (2d) 1000, (Empreme Court
or %x&s--0pin4on delivered by Ctiiarf'Justfoe
Alsdmndsr I.* (Unhrscfning ours )
$eotionr 55 end 66, Constitutional Sew, Vol. 9, pp.
4voe,473 and 474, Taw~ JUrlsprudunOe, r8ad aa fOihVSJ
“1. 86. &3QUR~~y - A legislative maat-
ment may be unaonetitutional and therefore in-
valid aa to aem of Itspprovisionr, and Valid
ae te cthera. Indeed, lt ie elementary law
tbat a statute will elways be sustained a8 to
portions wbleh Rre not ufioomtitutlonal, unlese
the UQ43OQSfi~kd~OQSl gOrtibQS @Qd the WQsti-
tutional portlo~s are so intsrminglrd that they
oamot be severed. The eonstitQtloQal 8,QdUQ-
aOQBtitUtiOQa1 prOVit8lOQl3 IBaybVBQ be OOQtaiQed
in the same section, and ret be perfectly dia-
tinut end ee~rable, so thet the first miy
stami though the ti6t fa~L1. The point is. Qot
bheth& they are NJQt0iEOa in the sdDl6seotioQ,
fo- the dietributloa into aactidns is au~ely
artitioial, but nh:?+harthey ere as6sQtlally
and Inrreparablyaonneoted in substanea. If
the two parts tin be possibly ieparatad, the
OOti srhotidd0 60, aI%&QOt p%~&t the IQVrrlid
part to dfmtrey the whole law.
Bonorable Charlea H. 'phrobald,Page 6
Thaw an aat he1.dunaeaetftutlonal aon-
tains a prov+.on for the rapeal of prior law,
suah provision is al8o unooastitutioaal. If
the statute in qusrtion operated as.an amend-
nmnt of an earlier law, ths effect of holding it
to be unabastitutional is to lsata the orlgfnal
anaatmsnt in full tame and offeat.
"I 68. Ssvsrabllit~ of Part8 of Aat - A8
to whether eonntitational psrts of the statute
must bo held to be invalid or inoperatira baasusa
of concroeia.tion
18 dependent upon the objeot of
the law, and the manner and extent to whioh
ths unoon~titutional portion affeots the re-
maina~r. It is mid that tho aburt araynot d4-
elare the whole to be invalid unlsse a11 the
grovi4ionm aro connsated in subjsot mattex, de-
pendent on each other, Qpemtlng togother for
6l'Oth8X'W14400 COIlMQtti
together IIasadng
tb lvaw r=po8o that it eaanot be preapacld
that the laglalatura would.havo psaed ths one
without the otbu.
**It ir a roll-settled xulo that, if Ohs
*ore41 pro~irioa4 of a le&slatire aat
are 40 mutually emmated with aA depaadeat
tm eaoh other aa conditions, oonotderatioo~
6r oompaaabioa fer aach other am to mwmnt
the belief fbst the Legirlature intanAa$
them a8 a uhclo, and would not hare 6aaaCe4
one or mire of theaiii'the others ~0~14 not
br jotid and oarried into effest, than all
th4 pro*lrion* mlut f411.'
non~the othrr hand if the unOo46titutkoMl
portion of the mtatuto 1s rtrioken out, a08 that
which rmalnr la oompletr In Itself and oapabla
of bring lxsouted l.n aOoordaPor with t&a ameat
lagf*lativa infant, rihellyimi4~4adent of t&4*
whlah is rsjeotaa, it Lust be 4u8taiwL"
Zt is our opinion that Seatiarw 1 anO 2 of th* aot
PFB elear2y severable aa aonstitutional.
Xt is 001 fwther 6gfnio5 that the partial tmaon-
5titutmmlify or the sot [ta wit, aeohion Ss aa point44 eta%
IionorabloChsrlss Bi Theebald, Page 4
in oplniou No. O-3722) wkll &at aifeet the other motiona
0r the aat.