Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Ilarah6, 1939 Hon. Chaa. 8. Martin Oounty kudttor zalTfetoncounty Yarllll&11, 70~8 Hon. ahas. B. &tax-tin, Yarah 6, 1939, Page 8 as follows: *seotion 4. This aot shall ba In roraa and efiaat for a period of two years from and arter the date of Its aneotmsnt.a wSaotIon 4a. Provides that the prorIeIone of this aat shall apply to aountlas with a population of not lass than 49,900 end not@ore +kx~+N 48,915 and oountiae with a population of i&t lees than 10,570 and not more than 10,380, aa- oordlng to the last preoedlng Federal aenaue.m Seation 1 or Artlela 9S79s-1 reads as rollowe Vha Ooqjty C@maieeIonerl~Oourta and the Ulti Wmmi~eloa df any Inowporated tow within eaid Oouaty oi this Strta ara hereby authorlnrad to leaee or rent ofifae epaae for the purpose of aidin& end oooperatingwith tha agenolce of the Stats lnU Faders1 Govern- ments an$agad In the administrationor relief of tho unuplo9ad and needy paopla of the 8tate ot Texas, and to @a~ the regular monthly utIlIt)rbills for luoh ofiIae8, euah'as llghte, gas end watert an& when In the opinion of a majority of the OoamWilo~. Court of a ,oqunt~ luoh ofiloi epqoc,is o&eenti81 to the p r o p er ldrlaletntlaa'o? eoah yanalee or either the 8tate or fedwal @owrnmente, leid t?ourteam heroby 8peolilrallyauthorIcedtQ &my ror same end for the rqular monthly atlf- ity bills for euah o?tIoo# out of the Oounty*e 9eaeral Fund by warreat as in the paymeat of Other obligations oi the Oounty. The provi- lion8 ot this Aot lh8ll apply to oountime hw- ing e population o? not Ire8 than forty-sI$ht thouautd nIna hundred and not mora than forty- nine thousand aaoordlng to tha laet praasdlng Fsdozal CenSuS.” MOe+4lng t@ tineaat ~odanl QeneY6, mrrleell Oounty had a pcipuletion of 4S,9bt, thee falling tithb~ the tons8 and provisions OrzAHIolae BMlb-89 and SST%r-1 aad baI* the only ootwty in the State aomlng within the Hon. Chae. R. Martin, Usroh 6, 1939, Page 3 population brackets sat forth In the sbovemsntionsdeta- tutee sxoept whsreln the last alaese of SeatIon 4a, ArtI; 010 522lb-83, eupra, provides that: "In aountiee with a population of not lees than 10,370 and not more thsn lO,JBO, aaaordlng to the last preast¶IngFedsral asn- sue.* We are shown by the last Federal oeneue, &&on County had a populationof 10,571 Inhabitants,being the only aounty in the Stats coming within the population braakst est.out In the last olauee of Ssatlon 4s. Artlale bl?Zlb-83. We bslisve that Ar&Iols SMlb-23 deelgnatseby dseorIptIonHarrison and Uax+on Countlse, whioh In just as sifeatlrs had suah oountiee bssn epeaItIaallyraentlonod by name In the etatnte and that the applicationof this aot Is so Inilexiblyflxod ae to prevent It ever beins 3 appllqabls to other oountlee, the same being true with refsrsaae to Artlola 8578s~1 Insofar as It apPfled only to EIsrrIeonCounty at the tima It went Into ef~sot. SootIon $5, Art1010 3 of the State Constitution reads In pert ee hollower %m Leglelatu.rs shall not, exaspt as otherwles prorId@ In this OonetI+utIon,pa58 any loaal or lpaoIal laws, suthorltlng.... rsgulatlngthe affairs of oountlee, alt,Ise, towm, wards or eohool dletrIate....andin all othsr aaeee where e gmnoral law oan k medo npplloable,no looal or epeoial law shell bs oaaoted; prwldsd, that nothIng.hersinoon- talned shall be oonetruod to prohibit the Leglelatruo from peealhg lpeaiel lawe Sor the prreervationof (c(old and rieh of this State in oertaln 100a11t1s*~* In the aaee, Ora9 vs. Taylor, eE7 0. 81 $1, the Suprsms Court of ths United Stats8 defined a loaal law aet -ho phraes 'loaal law' moans prImmIlT, at least, e lew In faot, If not In form, Is dlraoted only to a lp eo lila epotrm Hon. Chas. R. Martin, &m-ah 6. 1939, Pago 4 The aase, City o? Fort Worth vs. Bobbitt, S6 S+?(2nd) 470, holds among other things, that: *An aat applloable to oOuutIe8 having a population Of fran 3!5190 to 35,EOO was sraeIn and clpeolal, oltlng &eon te. Buraon, 64 Ohio State 4701 Owen OOunty CommIeeIouerevs. 8pane- lar, 159 Ind. 575, and that an act authorisIng bonds by aItIse having between 106,000 and llOoOOO InhabItanteby 1920 OOIISUBbslng a pll- oable only to one alty hold looal law withPn oonstItutIonalprovIsIon.W Con8tItutIonArtl- ale 3, Seation 56. The aaeo, Bsrar Ootmty vs. Tyman et al, 97 81 (2nd) 567, holds In effsat, that: *Courts In determining whether law Is public, general, spoolal or looal ~111 look to Its eubetanoo and praotlaal operation rather than to Its title, form, phraseology ulnae otherwise prohibitionand fundamental law ~ainet epoolal legislationwould ba nugatory. The Laglelaturamay olaesffy aountlae on basis o? populationfor purpoaa o? fixin oomp6meatlono? oounty and preolnet oiifoere but alaesl?laatIoamust bo'baeed . on real dIetlnotionand must not bs arbltrar- Ily deolsod to gI+o what ia, In eubetanao,a looal o r lpeolal law tha form o? goneral law. Aote rodualng ealarise of offiasre In soum- ties o? eOO,Of?Oand loos than 310,OOO popula- tlon hold uureasonabloand arbitrary In its sleseIfIoatlonand void as a epoolal law.' 'Weballeva that whether the aats in question an to ba regarded as epaoial and whothir their operation is uniform throughoutthe &tate depends upon whether the popu- lation afiords a fair baeIe for the ol.aeai?iaatioa Of noun- ties with reraronoo to matter8 to whloh they relate and whether the rasult they aaoolPplleh Is in fast a real ala8si- ?IatIoa upon that basis and not a daelgnatlonof a SIP&&la aounty to whioh clone they #hall apply under the gufeo of . 5 =, Hon. Chas. R. Martin, Maroh 6, 1939, Page S suoh olassIfIoatIon. The laws In question ware so dram that they are general In tora but In faot only applied,at the tI5e they Went intO emat, t0 &ZTiSOn COUUty rith the lxaeptloa above stated relatlre to Mardoa County. You further inquire, If any ol the abovomentlon- ed atatqtes ara unoonstltutlonal,la the CommIa~Ionera~ Court authorlsedand IS It mandatory on It to oolleot and reoorer tram the wulour persons the amounts of funda paid to them under and by virtue of the abwe q&f#d lta- tutec4, The oaee, Ekmsums va. Botts, S4 Tea. 555, holds In effaot that an unoonstItatIotiello .t’r k g u the la &ool- sg I leotioa of debts proteoted alerts of oourts aotlng under it. The Supreme Oour%of the Dnltad States In tho oase of United States ~8~ Realty Ocmpany, 163 0. 8. 489, 41 U. 5. (X..Ed.) glb hold knowledge or the InvalIdIt]r of aa aot of COngrew ~111 not be Imputed, In adrmeo of any authoritativedealaratlon to that effeot, to thosa who are aotiag under Its protisloas,so as to praolnde them fra having equltIe8 bwed on their relIanae upm the aot. *An Offleer who, u.thOtrtauthority of law, oolleots taxes Or moemaire fees aa7 bo oompellodto nIm?mr # the pacson~ rrom whm the mosey was rooo.ved. But Sees paid voluntarilyand with ia ,l knewledge of the faots, though under a m.stake of law, onnaot, under settled prlnelpleI, be reoovered.* 3 (S4 Tex. Star. 476g S8 T IX. Jar., 71593 Xlrah- field ts. .rt.Worth Uat.. Bank. 83 Tex. 4Sg, 18 8E 94Si Oounty of ,& .ve*ton vs. Oorham, 49 Tex. 879, SOS; Qify of Xourton to. fee8or, 96 Ter. Bbb, 1S SW 86&I You ere n8peotfoll~ adrimed that ft 18 the opinion of thle Departmentthat Artiole gWBe-1 and Arti- 01s bgglb-gS are speolal law8 and, therefore are unoon*tl- tutlonal snd void and you are rusther advise4 that the CommI88Ioner8~ Court I8 not authoriwd te oolleat and Hon. Chn8. R. Xartln. Maroh 6, 1939, Page 6 reamer fund8 from the rarIou8 permon8, the amount8 OS funda paid to th8m under and by virtue of the abotemen- tlonml 8ktute8. Tru8tIag that the foregOlag mm?w8 your Inquiry, we ramin c Very truly your8 ATTOlUEY -L OF ‘fl!XAS BY L2,64%ewA Ardell WIllIars A8818tant AWrAW BBTCLOeRRp APPROVsDr r. ..,_.,_,