May 14, 1974
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The Honorable Ron Jackson Opinion No. H- 302
Acting Executive Director
Texas Youth Council Re: The meaning of mentally
201 E. 14th Street . ill and feeble-minded as
Austin, Texas 78701 used in Section 30 of
Article 5143d, V. T. C. S.
Dear Mr. Jackson:
Article 5143d. Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, creates the Texas Youth
Council “to administer the state’s correction facilities for delinquent
children. . . . ” (Sec. 1). Section 30 of the Article provides:
‘Whenever the Youth Council finds that any
delinquent child committed to it is mentally ill,
.feeble-minded or an epileptic, the Youth Council
shall have the power to return such child to the
court of original jurisdiction for appropriate
disposition or shall have the power to request
the court in the county in which the training
school is located to take such action as the con-
dition of the child requires. In no case will the
Youth Council upon the determination of such a
finding related to any such child cormm ‘tted to its
custody delay returning the child to the committing
county or make application to the proper court for
appropriate handling of the case beyond the mini-
mum time necessary for the removal of the child
from its facilities in accordance with law. ”
You have asked us to define “mentally ill” and “feeble-minded” as used
in that section.
Article 5143d was enacted in 1957 (Acts 1957, 55th Leg., ch. 281, p. 660).
Title 59 of the Texas Statutes is entitled “Feeble Minded Persons”. However,
Articles 3867 and 3871, which dealt generally with the commitment of SO-
called “feeble-minded” persons, have been replaced by The Mentally
p. 1404
The Honorable Ron Jackson, page 2 (H-302)
Retarded Persons Act, Article 3871b. V. T. C. S., infra, and The Mental
Health and Mental Retardation Act, Articles 5547-201 to 5547-204,
V. T. C. S., infra. None of those Articles define “feeble-minded” and
the term now appears orly in Article 3871a. V. T. C. S., which refers
to “a State school for the feeble-minded or mentally retarded, ” still
without defining “feeble-minded. ”
While the terms “mentally ill”, “feeble-minded”, and “mentally
retarded” are obviously not synonymous terms, ‘and there exists a real
need of legal refinement of them, we believe that, for the purposes of
your inquiry. the term “feeble-minded” was probably used to denote
the concept of mentally retarded. For example, the Family Code,
V. T. C. S., treats mentally ill children in Sec. 55.02 and mentally
retarded children in Sec. 55.03. And compare Articles 5547-4 and
5547-201, V. T. C.S.
Article 5547-4. V. T. C. S. , the definition section of The Mental Health
Code does not define “mentally retarded”. It does define “mentally ill
person” as: ” . . . a person whose mental health is substantially im-
paired . . . ”
The Mentally Retarded Persons Act, Article 3871b. V. T. C.S., in
its Sec. 3(l) defines a “mentally retarded person” as:
11 . . . any person, other than a mentally ill person,
so mentally deficient from any cause as to require
special training, education, supervision, treatment,
care or control for his own or the community’s
welfa.re. ”
In The Texas Ment.al Health and Retardation Act, Article 5547-201.
V. T. C. S., et seq., the same term is defined in substantially the same
language. The Texas Education Code, Sec. 26.01, in connection with pro-
v;s;uns for rehabilitation districts, defines a “mentally retarded person”
as
,* . . . any person six years of age or older, who.
because of retarded intellectual development, cannot
be educated safely and adequately in the public schools
p. 1405
. l
The Honorable Ron Jackson, page 3 (H-302)
with normal children or in readily accessible
training institutions in the hone environs of such
person, but who may be expected to benefit from
special education or training facilities designed to ’
make him economically useful and socially adjusted. ”
We therefore answer your question that “mentally ill:’ as used in
Article 5143d, V. T. C. S., refers to those persons whose mental health is
substantially impaired. “Mentally retarded” on the other hand, refers to
those whose mental development is deficient to the degree that they need
special education, care and treatment but who, with such special edu-
cation, care, and treatment may become productive members of society.
SUMMARY
“Feeble-minded, ” as used in Article 5143d,
V. T. C. S., Sec. 30. authorizing the Youth Council
to return mentally-ill or feeble-minded children, is
probably used to denote one who is “mentally re-
tarded”, which is defined by statute as a deficiency
in mental development. “Mentally ill”, on the other
hand, means substantial impairment of mental health.
Very truly yours,
Attorney General of Texas
Opinion Committee
p. 1406