, ; OFFICE OF THE ,AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS .
AUSTIN
Honorable Tm A. Craven
Caunty Auditor
McLerIn~county
Waco, !i%xas
DJar Slrll
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joaorabl&Toa\+. Craven, Page 2
on fhs basis of the population of said county,
accordin;:to the last precodinq Federal Cenous;
provLded that tie Co.mzsstonersCourt.3in said
courA.ios are authorlced~tofix the naximm amma
salary for th-nbalance of the fiscal year 1941
after tineefl'cctivsdate of thin Act on thz basis
of the F&ernl Census of 19&O and th3rcsi'tcr ac-
cording to the last preceding Federal Census;
and declaring an emarseucy.
."BoIt I&acted By Tie LeSislaturo Of We
State Of Texas:
"S%ction 1. The CoimlssionersCourts in all
&unties of Texas having a population of not less
than one h-undredthousand (100,003)m.d not Icore ~.. .
,, i ~‘.,. :%han one hundre,d+@ n$nety t&?~sand.(190,000)'~ .. .,i: :
l&abittitEi,ambording td &&last p'reccdlng'Fe& ;
era1 Census, infixingthe~anuualaalarythat . .. 1
~shallbe paid an dfficernamed In Section 13 of
~maptor.455~of the Acts of.the Second Callad Sea- '1
'. .. aton of 'the Forty-fourth.~c~Ssletlire,wheIiesuch:~ ‘..’ -.:
officer'-a,salary is detcmnincd In cog@.iauca~vith
:‘th.e,.lavs
v*hiChexlst%d~on'August24, 1935; a&d Zs ,. I
based-upon pogul‘ation,shall coq?uto and fix the:
aalery of each of such officers at.tha mximuu
amouutvhich could have beon ~tid each of such
officers undor~the lavs exis&q on August 24,
1935, accordirigto the Pederal.Census of 1940
and thercaftor-accordLugto the last preceding '. i
Federal Censusi provided thoCormlsoionero Courts ~' I
In mid counties are authorized to.azend then
presmt order,of said Court fixlr?zthe n&?Lmm '.
snlarg,of said officers.for the fiscal goar 194$
frcn and afterthe offcctlve date~of this Act
for the balmoe'of said fiscal year; accor&ing
to the Federal Causus of 1940, and thsreafter
‘x2'-',~~.'~.~&..&t&&--p -the:
.).estr.prace~.Peder~.
---y.-F.-.--- ..-- __ . Camus.
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A caraful oou..arZoon
betvaen the cagt2on and the body
Of this Efll ir&icatos a conflict betveon tiio~. The caption
dcscriboathe I3511as:
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DonorableTom A. Craven, Page 3 .,,~,:,
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This langun,gt3
Is, In 0~ opi~~-?ion;:
pernLssSve,pur- : ':
portingto confer upon the co~~~~lssionem~co+sntsof the affect- ,.
cd countiesthe poirerend discr&;ion to.dotemino'the rzaxi~m
salericsof county o~fica~~ within specified Units. Vebster's
gstomticasl Dictio;urg defines "autho?:ce"to r&a "te clothe
vith authorityor-legal poue~) to give a right to act."
.'J!he
body of the Dill, on the othor hood, gives no
discretionto the comiissloners~ Court, but directs that.the
officers salaries shall be set at the m?.xitm%prescribadby
this Dill in zcandatorj lgsquage~
1
“!?he Comlssions~s Courts Q 0 * shall eon-
pute and fix the salaryof.each of such officere
at the n~~fmii'awuut * * e." (&lphC~iS ours).
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Such dSvw&!mce.betwee~ the caption &XI body'of the Act,. ;.i
&j&s t&3 '&&iro''ActIiwallil, ‘63 ‘&lie&i,~ ‘ati’bein& fn +i&&ti’iri
of A&icle III8 Section 35 ofthe Texas C@nstitut3m, which readst
:'
"Seci '35.~
Ro.bijZ,.(except gens&al apl
', -.propl?is'tion:~bills;.~hi~
. ... z?ay&brace the va-'.~'....
riouugsubjectsand accoimts, for and on eo-
‘c+rh...of vhlch,noneysare app?oprlated)shall "
ti
contain mope t.han.,onesubject, wh2oh shal3.be
expressedin its 'title. But if any subject _ /
shall be mbracod in an sot, which shall not
be expressed in th6 title; such act shall be
void only as to so.xach thereof, a8 shall not i
be so exprassed."
?&e pmposa of such a constitutionalpro&ion ,lowells
stated in the follonia quotation fron Coolep~s Constitutional
bkltations (7th Ed.), .P.2C5, vhieh ~33 quoted with eggOVa in
Eevnon
v. Wilm~.~son,
103 9. W. 656,et P. 6571
w4 4 4,
Xt hoe bson held by the courts
that vhen the oxpr~s vtirbltige of cl~chtitle
llults arxlrmtrict3 the ptuqs~o of’the bill,
ACm'eTtto J.~@.,&jt~~rs?
any.acc-J>ia O~~C,“W~SB in SW% bill
DSCi pPB3CS':b.Od,
fk',?Z iC illOX-
aws of the lq$slative~power, cud th-zte law
subject to th5.scoql8int lo unocnstitutlonel.
Uard Cattle isPastwe Co. V.~Csrpentar,109 r-
%3x. .10~.~.203
Sr..Wq .521333x.Psrrt@.De swvia,..'.'
&3'%k. &. R. 635;229 S. W; 5425F!iLton
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ve Ry. Co., 13.9!i!fsX. 455, 283 S. I?.4.!5; GulP'
&odilctionCo. va Rmrott (Tax.~Cqi~. A2g1.)2%
:., ..
S. W. (2d)'389:r)ltterv,:Boxar~Co.:(T$x..Con.': ‘. : :. ;
(2-J)l?jj,
Apti,)13.S..y,.- issj ~~~1~~~~'~~~
State, 53 Zex. Cr. R:626, 31'1. S. U..?j6t Aclens~
V* H&or WbPk8 co., a5 !ikx.~465, 25 23;U. 635,
.’ 606,"
‘fnweiuch es tha vice hherwinribwe Indicated goes to the
vary essence of Rouse 0113 3~. 518,it 1s our q&nion thatthe seme
13 uncm,natitutlonaltmd void in lta entirsty..
Yours very truly