Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFF!CE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN

HsnorebleS. J. 18aaoka
Chsirmsn,JudlolarJCcwalttaa
House of Repreaentatlrar ! i
?
49th Leglol&.lra I.-a_. '1
Austin,Texas
'-1.. i
~.
1. 'i.
Door Judge ISaaOkS: o&a" no. o-6442 *.
A\rthorlty OS City
/' ... akatlng rinks, oarnivals,
.c. ',. -: ahd the like, within tha
*.yl*,llmlts.
/ ,>-
/' '\ "h,, 4
I \. I..,'
You ask‘thliB.depart&nt~for an opinion aa to whether
the City Counolls of th& smalla~aitlaa of the Stata, that 16,
the non-has@xwle olties,may eneot valid ordinanceslike or
similarcdtho one atteohedto your Inquiry. The attaohed or-
dlanoe belng.‘a.yfollavs1'*.,~-,~./*'
i
"TRE STATE CF TEXAS
"COUNTYOF TROMPSOR D
An ORDImmE
i'
TO BE ENTITLED
"AN ORDINANCEprohlbltingall Tent Shws,
SkatingRinks or Carnivalsfrom shoving
within the City Limits tor the duration
of the War.
Hon. Y. J . Isaaoks,Pago 2

“BE IT ORDAIHISD
BY THE CITP CWNCIL C? TEE CITY 08
CORINTH,TKXASa
“3ECfIOri
1. That no tent show, skatingrinks
05 carnival8be allowed to operatedlnaldo the CltT
LLmits.
“SRCTICR2. Any perron or pereom vlolatlng
the toregoLngs.otiOnrhall ha fined not loaa than
tventr-floedollam ($25.00).
“3ECTIm 3. All ruler requlrlngan ordinance
to bo read more than onoe sro hereby ruapendedand
this ordinanceahall kooae effeotlvefrom and aster
its passago,approvaland publloatlon.'
Artlole 1011 of the RevisedCivil Statutea, dealing
vith such oltLeo a8 are nnntlonedby you, oontalnsthe iollor-
ing:
"The City Council ahall hare piwor to pas8
all ordlaanow, rules aad pollee regulationa,
A04 imtrary to the Oonrtitution o? thir State, ?or
the good government,peaoe and order of the olt7
md the trade and omtser@o thereof, that my ba
neoessaryor proper to oarry Into effect tha pworr
vested by this tltle.intha oorporatlon,the OltP
governmenta? ln any department OF offiob theranoii
to enforoeahA observanceof all ruoh rulo8, ordln-
ames and poll08 rogulatlona, and to punish ?lola-
tlona thereof. HO fin4 Or p.Mltjr shall OXOQQd OM
Hundmd Dollars.”
Artlole 1315 of the Statutea, further declares:
"The gcvernlngbodJ shall alaohnve p0U.r: . . .
"11. To abate and removenulsanoosand to
punish the authors thereofw fine, and to define
and deolam what shall ha nuleancea,and authorize
and direct the summeryabatwtentthereoit and tc
abate all nuisancesvhioh may Injure or afiect pub-
lic health or oomfort in any manner they may deem
expedient.. . .
Eon. 3. J. faaaoks, Page 3

"37. To llOQMe* tax and rQgulSt@or sup r~aa
and prQvanth&n&era, peddlora,pavn brokers aa8
keepers,m otbr sxhlbltlona, ahwa and amusements.
"38. To llornae,tax = rQgulat.0 thQatn5,
clrousea,thQ exhibitlana of oaumon ahomen, ahwa
of any l&xl, and ths lxhlbltlonof natuz-al and ac-
tlfloial.ourloaltlea,oarntana,menageadoa and mua-
ioal exhlbltloaaend performmoe*.
'39. To SuthOri85 thQ pWper offlioerof the
cltytn grant and issue lIo~naea,and to dlreot the
38nne~ of laauIngand regiaterlngthereof.and the
Pees to be paid therefor. FJolloenaeshall be is-
zued for a longar period than one year, aad ahall
not be asalgnebleexoept by permlaalon of tha city
oouno11.”
APt%oh 7047, hOtlOIh 22 (S), ~Ql'!lOti'S Annotated Clvi,l
Statutes, levy8 a State oooupatlontax QLIteat ahwa and
author-
izescountiesand oitlos to levy ona-halfof the amount of tax
leviedby the State. Subaeotlcm (b), SQotlon 25 o? Artiole 7009
in?osesan annual or quarterlyoaoupatlon tax on oarnlvala. Seo-
tlon 34 of Artlole 7047, when mad In oonneotlonvith the first
paragraphof said Artiole, levy8 a nlnnuel ooouationtax on aket-
ine rinks. Count&Q8 and oltleaau7 5150 levy an oo0~01tiontex
on both carnivalsand akz&lng rlnka. (tie Art. 7Ob8, V. A. C. 9.
Also sQe Art. 7047a-19vhloh relatesto skating pinka.)
Ithaa bQen stated by our bupr~meCourt in thQ oaae OS
Iu53ourI, x. i3T. Rt. Co. 0. RookvallCounty Levee Improvement
Matriot no. 3, 297 3. w. 206:
" it la nw thoroughlyWell SQttlQd by
the de&&a of the highestOOUI%S In thQ land
that munioipal ordlnanaea, and even leglalstlve
enaotmenta,undertakingto regulateuseful bualnQaa
enterprises,are subjeotto lnveatlgationin thQ
courts,vlth the &v of determInIngvhether or not
the ordlnenoeor act la the lavfti exerolaa of the
pollee power; for no leglslatlvebody, oz ether trl-
bunal as to that, oan, under the guise Of QtiarOlng
police regulations, arbitrarilyinterferevlth the
constitutlonelpropertyrights of a single lndlvid-
ual. The Legislature may, in the exercise or a
Han. S. J. Iaeaoka,Page 4

reasonablQdlaoretioa far thQ proPlOt1~of thQ
pub110 VQlfere,5Iakolaw that OpQPOtOt0 thQ
lndlvldualhurt, but th isright llva7a la aub-
jeot to judloialreviw, and the lay itaQl? Is
void if it ooatravenea the superior right o? an
lndlvidualwham it InjurQa. . . .”
With F5iOX’QMQt0 tha QXtQnt O? Sad lLarit5timon
;;lce parer, It is stated ln Texas Jurlaprudenoo,Vol. 30, p.
:
Y3enerell7apQeklng,munloipal oorporetiona
have tha right, under the pollo~ pouer, to aa?+
guard thQ health,OoJnfort, and generalvel?arQ
of their oitlzansb7 auah rQaaonablQre#ulatlona
33 are neoeaaarJfor that purpose.
9%~ pollee poser la not en arbi?xalyotm;
it has its lf0ltationa. Thus It la aubjeot to
the llmltatlonaIlppOSed b7 t&Q Conatitutiar upon
every power of gowmmnt, and vi11 not bQ per-
ctlittedto invade or Unpalr thQ ?UndS!d5z&Sl llb-
ertlea o? the oltlzen. Also it 18. founded In
pub110 neoeaaltyand onl7 pub110 aeoQaalt7oan
justlf7Its exer5l.m. It la oomaaaurate with,
but does not QxaQed, tha dut7 to providQ for thQ
real needs o? tha p~crpl~In their health, aafQt7,
comfort and oonvenienaeas oonaiatentlyas 1557be
with privateprop&i7 right5. . . .'

A lav?ulbuaiobae or oooupatlonvhloh I8 not a
nuisanoeper se, but is of auah a nature that It ~7 bQma@
a nuisanceeooordlngto thQ mammr or plaoe a? Itb pursuit,
La subjeotto rQaaonablezwgulatlon,but ma7 not by abaolu-
tely prohlbItQdby 8 orlmlnal cnYllneao~under the OYera to
abate nuisenoea. (Ex partQ Harris, 261 3. W. 10507 .
Tent shows, skatingrinks end oarnirala are all
taxedand their right to operatela reoogultedb7 State 13VS.
Fe; may be rQaaonablyregulated,but the7 oannot by prohlb-
. {See Mpnphy v. Wright, 115 9. U. (26) 448). Tedtsbp,
skstingrinks and oernlvslsare not nulsonoeaper se.
stated in the oase of Ex part@ Brewer, 152 3. W. 1068:
. 185

Hon. 3. J. gaeaoka,Page 5

"The quoatioa of tb right of a olt7 to
adopt reeaonablQregulatiau lo regard to all
mattersaubjmot to tha polio~ power has Men so
frequentlykfor~ thla oourt and so QxhauatIvQly
dlaouaaedve do not deQa It naoeaaa~ to do so
hex-Q,but men17 oito laaa af the deoialona,
vher~inItI8 Qxpreaalyheld that8 rIghto?thQ
city euthoritlQ8to adopt awh regulations, ao
longaathayara roaaonablo,eri uphald,Snd
vherein it 15 hQld that, I? auah OrdlaanoQodo
not amount to virtualprohlbltloa, they lrQ not
in oonfllotwith the l.?yao? the state lIoenalng
suoh oooupatlon.. . ..
It is stated in thQ oaae of Bx part@ Ooldberg, 200
3. w. 386%
II
. . . Thsre are a
tlons vhloh SeQm to by ~~11 UndQrotoodas thQ law,
whlah may by stated as ?ollouar A buaineaavhloh
is outhorlredby the state lav oamot by proh.ibitQd
by city ordlnana~dIrQotlyor 1ndIrQotly. A busi-
ness vhiah Is regulatedby thQ state oannot be pro-
hibited by the olty either by e x p r ess
lnaotsuntor
by prohlbltoryreguletlon. A bua+Iluaa regulated
by the state oamot be Fegulakd b7 the oft7, other-
wise then by grant O? parer to auoh Oity In the
oherter pasaQd Irjthe LQglSlatWQ SC@ the purpoaQ
of auoh regulation. Bar oen auoh regulationbe
otherwisethan In aooordvlth the state 1aV. . . .*
There are ran7 oases holding that a buaLnQa8vhIoh
la authorizedby state lav oannot by prohibitedW' olty ordin-
anoe dlreotlyor Indireotly. For the purpoa~a of this oplnloa
VQ do not deem it neoQaae~ to oite addltlonalauthoritIQa.
In vlev of the foregoingauthorltlea7ou era reapeot-
fully advisedthat It is the apInionof this dQpertmQntthat
city oouncllaof the smaller oltiee of Texas, that la, the
non-home rule oltlaa, oennot enaot a valid OrdIMMQ like or
similarto the one sttaohed to your lnqui~y. Stated differ-
mu. s. J. fsaaoks, ~rga 6

ently the oity 00u~l1s of suoh olt%es oannot ensot a valid
ordim~e vhloh vi11 prohibita burinasrthat lo 8uthoriud
by State lav.

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