Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable R. L. Crosier County Attorney Johnson County Clehrne, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion IiunberO-3S56 RE: Necessity of submittira refunding bonds of common school districta to the Attorr-63General for sp- prove1 prior to their issuance. Ye have your letter requesting our opinion on the follo~I.n,g question: "Is it necessary for the Attorney General to anprove ref%.ndlngbond& of Hines Common Sohool D?strlat Ro. SO?- Article 27So of~Vernon*s Annotated Clvll Statutes r6qd8, in part, as follows: *Where bonds have been legally issued or muy be hereafter issued by any * * * c'ommonrohool dlstriot * * * new bonds bearing the seme or a less rate of interest may'when ordered by the govarnlnq board thereof be issued either a6 term bonds or as seriel bonds, maturing in either ceae within forty years from the Uate of the issue, an& may be made optional an any Interest peyment date as the governing board.shall direat; provided fur- ther that matured interest coupons of such dietrlat may be refunded in lrke manneri and provided furM16r that no election shell be necessary to authorize the !.ssuanceof suah new bonds; and provided further that the State Treasurer shall uy,onorderof th6 State Board of Education exohange bonds not matur- eiiheld by him for the permaaent sohool fund for the new refunding bonds issuad by the same in=pora- %ion under the provIsIons of this subdlvlsion in case the rate of interest on the new bonds i8 not less than the rute of interest on the bonds for which they are oxchanged3*. The above quote& article ia th6 suooesaor to Artiale 2789; whioh was anonded in 1935 by ~the Forty-fourth Lcgisla- tar6, page 760, Chapter 331. The artiole likewise wa8 emend- edby the Acts of 1933, Forty~third,Lsgialature, page 62, 6h. ',',;o;he prior Act being a Dart o? the aodiftoatlon of 1925, to which said arti+6lwaa known as Artlole 2864 of the 1911 Rsvised Civil Statutes: The first law authorizlng,.ths issuance of refunding bonds by a school distriot 0r any kind 1s found in the Aats of l?S5, page 263. Under the.Aots of 1905 iudeperdent school dbtTiCtS were authorized to iselta new or refunding bonds *in co?rPornitywith this Act?. Thla Aot,required all original issues of bonds, both of co~&~ll ~sohool districts and independent achool districts, to be ap- proved by the Attorney General before same were issued and sold. It was also necessary that new or refuhdlw bohdn IS- sued by an independea school district should first be epprw- ed by the Attorney General. ITo authority was oonferred upon common sohooi disiriots to issue refunding bonds, Under the revision of 1911 this section of the Aot of 1905 was given the number 2864, which article authorized in&- pendent school,distrlcts to issue refund1n.gbonds ninoonform- ity with this chapter*. The reference to "'thischapter" ins the revision had reference to Chapter 13, Title 49, under whioh was found the authority for the issuenoe of bonds by school districts. both independent and common, and both of whioh were required to,uubmit the bond proceedings to the At- torneg General for approval prior to their issuance en8 sale. Under the revlsion of 1925 this sta?;ute wea g:.va;l the new designation - Articie 2789 - and authorized indc-.pendent sohool diatricta to issue new or~refnnding bonds "in oonformfitywith this subdivisionVt-.Artiole 2789, as amended in 1933 and 1935, usea exactly the same wording as the revised artiole of 1925. It wea not until the amendment of 1933 that common schocl dis- tricts were authorized to issue new er refunding bonds. It will be noted throughout the history of thla statute that there has bsen Son3 Jhange from time to time , in the wording as above indioated, for example, under the Acts of 1905 the law provided that the bonds should be is- sued "'inconformity with this hot". Under the oodlfioation of 1911theg W3Te to be issued nin foniotity w%th this ohapte+f'.~'Under the revision of 1925 they.were to be is- sued *ln oonfoFlaityviiththis subdivision*, which phrase- ology has been oerried forward to successivs ar?endmnte down throu& the amendment of 1935. There oan be little doubt but that the Legislature intended to have common sohool district refunding bonds approved and issued In the same manner as that required for independent sohool dfa- triots. By changing the reference from "this Act" to "this ohapterW to "this subdivislonn, we think that no material ohange has been effected. In the case oi ~Ennlsv. Grump, 6 Tex. 34, whioh was oitea -inAdsms v. State, 145 S. 1::. 940, the court said2 "The mere ohange of-phraseology insthe re- v1slon or s statute before enforced will~n.ot work a chang6 in the law previously declared, uniess it clearly a?pesrs that such was the intention of the Lagislature". In construind a revision of statutes the presumption is that the codtiiers and the Legi.sla'turedid no",intend to change the laws as they formerly stood and e mere ahange of QhPW30logy or punctuation, or the additionor omission Of words in.revision or codification of statutes does not naoes- sarlly,c))sngathe operation or WYect thereof and Will not bs deemed 6% do.so unless the intent to make euoh change,is alear and unmistakable. The provisions ol'3ie'Bct of 1905 relative to the issuance of refunding bonds by independent schoo$ dj.s- triots, in our opinion, has been carried forward and embodied in a revialon or codification in words whioh are suSst,agtiany the same in meaning, and under the authorities suoh,slig& ohangea 81% 'tobe considered imnaterial and the law may b considered as a oontinuance of the old law. Thera is no question but thst throughout tha history of this particular statute refunding bonds of independent school districts are required to be approv- ed by the Attorney General, and when connnonschool.dls- triots Were authorized to issue refundlni:bonda we think the oon&itions atteohing to the issuame of refunding bonds by independent sahool distrfots became cqtiallya8 applicable. The phrase "under the provisions of this sub- aiVlSiOn*, as round in Article 2789, as amended (supra), in our opinion hes reference to the condltioas under whioh school districts generally have tkie authority to issue bonds ori&nsl.ly. This authority is found in Article 2785 or Vernon's Annotated Civil Btatutes - the pertinent part reads asfollows: YSuoh bonds shall be examined by the Attorney General and, ii approved, registered by the Comp- trol16r,r", You are, therefore, advised that in our opinion ~a-. funding bonds of common s&ooJ districts nust be approved by the Attorney Oeneral prior to their issuance. Trusting that the roragoing fully answers your in- quiry, wa are Very truly rcurs ATTU&EY GENEENL OF TEX3.S By /a/ Clarenoe JL Crovfm Clsrenoe E. Cro'Ne Assistsat GBC-s:jrb . . -:-. .