OFI=~CEOF~E A’ITORNEY OENEEALOFTEXAE 

AUSTIN 

lionorablo rii L. Shelton 

County Auditor 

Johnson County 

Cleburm,Texas 

., 

Dear-t 

OplAlon Number o-4574 

Rel Is Johnson County eligible 

ror partlolpation in the 

funda intheRoadBond 

Assumption Aat,. under 

the facte eubmStted? 

date 

We are in receipt of your opinion requeet of recent 

and quota from rour letter as follora: 

: 

wHouse Bill N0.'-6~.Aota of the First Called 

Seseion or the 47th Legislatum, page 2, chapter. 

2, Seotlon 1, reads,+ga* a8 followsr, '. 

," 

e @Aud itla hereby dstemlned that the further 

provisions of this,Abt oonetitute fair, just and. 

equ$table oo.mpen!mtion, repamat,:and reimburdement to aazld ~oountieu and dofined dlstrlots and 

for their aid and aatilstauoe to the State in the 

oonstruotlon of State Highway8 and,for the ocnBtruotion of no/d road8 rhioh are anolllar to 

but do not oonstitute a part of e a32-%& of' 

State Highway8 and' ful.4 discharges the legally 

implied obllgatloua of the State to compensate, 

repay, aud reinrburee the aggenoles of the Stateior expenaee incurred at the iustauoe and ~olicltatlon of the State, aa well ai for empsnses.luourred for the benefit of the Stats, and fully 

dischargeethe &ate's legally implied obligation 

. 

to suoh cOutMef# and defined road diatricte to 

provide additional funds for the tither oouatruotion of roads not designated ae a part of the State 

Highway System.* 
Honorable R. s. Sheltoni page @ 

*From the rsadjmg of the foregoing It oeoure 

to ma that a county would be entitled to partioipation to th8 extent that it had expended Road 

Bond aimmy on roada Iead.%ng into State Highwayr. 

Joh~on.aouuty, from it8 County tid8 road bond8 

expended 11m of it8bondnoneyonroad818adlng 

lute designat8d State Highway8 but lt hs never 

roo8ivad any partloipatlon to the mount OS auoh 

moluy eqmadodr 

*To the OXteAt that auohmomy that - 8X&?end8d 

on the88 Seeder or supply road8 56 it eligible SW 

partlolpation in the Road Bond Amumption Aatt m 

Deoember X8, 1941, aoting on the literalwording OS 

the Aat and not OA any oemned intention6 OS Thor 

I,egielature, I tiled a olaim dth the Board of County 

and Distrlat Road Indebtedrmar for partloipatlon and 

thus far they hav8 not aoted OA it s myray. 

"1 uould ap~eclots your opinion a8 to the ellgibility 8-M ju&nsas of my olti for partiolpation.m 

Reply&~ to the rw8g0fng you al-8 respeetiully advised 

that Johuson County ie not entitled to participation in the 

County and Road Distriot XLghmay l+uudLSor road bond money expended on th8 oonstrwtion OS r8ada leading into a desigxmted 

Stat8 Highway.: Buoh~roadLkre by th8 defialtion OOAt.¶iA8d In * 

the Aot d88@mted a6~~laterUroad8, and eligible obllgatlon8, 

as defined in Seotion 2 bf”the~Aot~abov8 reSsrr8d to, means 

obligationa the prooeeds oS,which uere'actually8xpended on 

deaigmted hlgh~ays,~pnd all road8 whiuh prior to Jmuary 2, 

,lQU# had not beoame 8 part of th8 Syet8m of State deaigmted 

hlghmya are defined aa wlateral roads'. 

The.reSerenoe in Seotion 1 of House Bill #6, which you 

quoted IA your lettsr, ln whloh it la stated that Rthe further 

provlalons of this Aot oonstltute Sair,:,~Just and equitabJ.a oompetiation, ,repagrment and reimbursement of said oountles and 

defk!mErda& dirtrlets and for. their a&d and aaaletulce to the 

. 
. 

RonoMb&e R. L. i%8%to0# pag8 M 

State in the construction of State Rlghwaym and for the. 

oonatruetion of aaid roads whioh are anolllary to but do 

not conatltute a part of said Ilytteai of State Highways and 

Sully diachargeathe legally implied obligatlonm of the 

State, 8tO.e has l'8Sel'8AO8,tO the prOVi8bA oontained in 

chapter G,tith reference to the "Lateral Road Aeoount?, 

zvhida deala with the dietplbutlon OS the~mrplue~ remaining 

in eaid fun&after the BoPrd hae paid off and dieoharged 

all eligible'obl%gation& 'You will note.that the LeglolatUre has provided's method of dlatrlbuting this 13urplUs 

fund to the counties and road districta, and, has also de; 

temnlned how thla ~money shall be expended by the oouaties and 

road dlatricts; and a;aon&other'things,,Chapter 6 contains 

the Sollowing provision; 

9unds remaining 3.l1 the Lateral Road Fund of any 

oountg after the payment ,oS said right-of-way~obligatlons ahall be tieed by the hounty’.Sor paying the 

mturiUg principal,'intereet-and'alnklng:~fnad,~reqUimment due py,the county in that: Slsoal year on 

bonds, warriuats or:other e~ldenoes.oS~ iadebtednesa~ 

which were legally $ssued,by maoh.oo~ty or road 

districts prior to Jarmargi.2,:1939, .the proOe8ds of 

Which,Wm8 aottily expended'in the conatruot~on or 

tipl?OVeIU8At Of lC+eral oO*!y, poads". 

Evidently the LeglPrlatuz+e i&ended tb di&charge whatever legally tiplied o~ligatioz&oS:the.State~to oompensate 

the oowT&iss and road.districta :Sor~?anolllary~ roads by the 

dlstributlon of this eurpl~s Sian&and authorizing tile counti 

to apply a portion of same to the :payment of obligations outstanding, th8 proceeds of which wereuaod to construct lateral 

roada. 

very trU1y yours 

ATTORHJTXGRIiE3AL OF TRXAS 

Assistant