186
OFFICE OF THE A7TORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
&noraUe J. N. fiauldwia
@unty Attorney, Johnson County
cleburne, Texas
Dousir:
Yiohave rscslvsd your rs
and quot. from ssas as follows:
"OILS Of the iasmbsrsOf th lonars~ Court
or thls oounty ha holssale lum-
bar business ior ; hs oprates
a truok and goes east Taxas
and buys lumber e buys various
kinds of lumbar 8 buys Umber
suitable ror br
ous lumber yuds in
ld bridge lumbar to
ias In this *lolnlty. Hs
iereot lumberyards in
ke whatover kind of lum-
me of the lumber mld to
on ha sold to one of the Jurls
re load of bridge lumber.
"The other three nrembars of ths Comaisslomrs~
Court halveheretoforebought from these local yards
some of the indention1bridge lunaer that this Comls-
sloner sold to the yards, and ueed it in repairing and
buildingbridges in their resgaotlve preolmts. I tiso
understandthat this partloular Comalssl~na~has pur-
ohased rrom sane at the looal yards suas of the idsatl-
oal bridge lumber that he had previouslysold ths ya#&s,
and used it in re;?alrlngand building brld@es in hls
preolJlot.Ths smterial in eaoh of suoh lnstanosswas
paid Soorby the County, and the price paid ror the
material was ths sake prioe that any individualwou3.d
have had to pay Sor this kind of material.
*I do not hiue any InformatIonthat tbsre existed
any-ape-at or understendlngbetween the loss1 lumber
yards and the Commlsalonor,thtithe, or any other Cm-
mlssIoners or the oounty ~uld purohase at retafl any
wers buying from him.
part of the lumber the ~yirrd
WKould the purebasingof this ldentleal bride lua-
ber the boa1 yerds by the other three
from nonbore of
the Commissloaers~ Court,to be assd In bridge repairing
and bulldlq In their respeotlve prsolnots,be a viola-
tion of either art. 571 or Art. 373 of our Penal cads?
Vjould the purshaslnaof this ldentlosl bridge 1-0
bar rroathe looal yards by this partloular Comlssloner,
to be used in &id(s repalrln(land buIldisg Is his prs-
olnot,bs a tlolatisa of elther Art. 1191or Art. 37S,
OS our Psnal Oods?*
Artlole 571, Psnal Cods OS Texas, reads as followsr
*Any ofiloer or any sounty or OS asy olty or town
who shall oootraot dlreotly or indlreotly, or beoome
La any way latrsted is say oontraotror the purohsss
oi any drait or order on the troasurcor suoh sosatyr
alty or town, or ror asy jsry oertltlsatoer any other
debt, olaia or dsmand for whloh said seunty, elty or
town uy or oan in any event be made llabl?, shall be
lined not lass thur ten nor more than twenty tlass the
amount of the order, draft, jsry osrtiiloate,debt,
olals or llabllltyBs purohasedor oontraotedior.
Within the term 'oifloer,' 18 lnoludsd sr-offloer8ontll
they have made a ilnai settlement of their oS?IoIal ao-
OOunts.”
Artiole 373, Penal Code of Texas, reads as follows:
*IS any officer of may oounty, or of any crltyor
town shall beooiw in any manner peeuniarlly lnterestsd
in any eontraots made by suoh sounty, olty or tom,
through Its a&ents, or otherulse, Sor ths eonstruotion
or repairof any brldse, road, street, allay or house,
or any other.work undertakenby suoh oousty, city or
town, or shall be&we tnterested in any bld or propt~al
for suoh work or In the purohase or sale of anything
t
-de for or on ecoount oi aloh oounty, city or town,
or who shall oontruot for orenoelve any mney or
property, or the iepreseatatlvsof either, or any
emolkaent or advantage whatsoever la oonelderotlon
of such bid, proposal,oontraot, purchase or sale,
he shall be flned not less than fifty nor more tkaa
rive hundred do11ars."
Under the above faote subaitted by you, it seems olear
that the bridge lumber purobased by ths ~mmls~loners for the use
sad benefit or the oounty was purohased IFofii
your looal lumber
yard and not~fron your soarmiseloner~.Under well dsttled prlaol-
plea of law we must prssums, la the abssnee of facts to the oon-
,trary.that your oommlsslonerowned so interest in such brldEe
lumbar at the tlms s&me was purohasedfor the oouaty. Yea also
state in your lstter that you know of no sgrwment or udlerstandlnt,
between the lumber yard and the eommlrslonormeking the sale of such
lumber to the luaiberyard, that would lndleste same was other than
a Eons fide sale..
We do not believe that the aots-desorlbedin either of
Jour questions oonstituts par se violationsof the hereinabove set
out penal statutes.
Trust&a6 we have answeredyour iaWry satlsfaotorlly,
we are
Yours very truly