ion: L.;R. 'Thompson

County Auditor Taylor County Abllene,Texas, OpinionNo: O-2281 Re::Would-.an

.aot of the legislature ~.be requlred.before

,Taylor County :could.levy a~tax.for the estab-~ Ushment of a:.count health Wit? :Contitruinn

Article t418f,Vernon's

pear Sir: $nn&ated?&vil~Statutes. ~~ ~'

,:, ~._;' Y&r,reqi~estfor:an oplnion.6f this Department, letter dated.Apcil2!Ith~,has,~recelved our attention. .Your pad8 as fol-lows~!

:%ere ie ~a'.strong sentiment ln.thls :County~,to-~establlsh a qounty~

health unit, whlch,cannotbe,

done wZthout.the power to levy a tax. ,, '.

z,"Under

~Art;~ 4436~1, ;cotitles,~of'ndt

le'ss ~,: than 22,200.nor.more .than,:22,500.

are authorized -to levy a:t,aXnot to.exceed..ten,,cents:~~on*eaeh" one..hundred

ollara:Porareatlnga':Countg,.' health unit.

.?The,..State

Health.Department has written

our .Red.~:~Cross

secretary to~the ~effect that's county.health

unit'oould,

be created under Senate Ijill

No: 47, passed,May 31, 1927, and refers to Section 10~of that biL1.

!Artlcle 4436~.

seems to apply only to Nolan County.,~so

far as we can~:,determlne from the census..

"I am of the opinion that It would require an act of the legislaturebefore we bye le,tterr

.

Honorable L. R. .Thompson, page 2 '(O-2281)

could levy a tax for the establishment county health unit. Am I correct?" of a

We find that the populationof Taylor County, aocording to the 1930 Federal Census, to be'41,023 inhabitantal:oonsequently, Taylor.County

would not come wlthin the provisions of Article 4436k2 Vernon's ,ClvllStatutes, .refered to In your request.

the Acts of 1927;~Fortleth LRglslaturs,First Called Session, Chapter 42, establisheda State.Department of Health, coneistlngof arState Board of Health, a :State Health~Offlcer

and his adminifitrative staff, having general powen and duties lm

erovlsions~(.Article 4414a, sed and authorlzed.by lta 4 1 a, '5 4416a, 4417a, 4418a, 418f, Vernon*6 Clvll~.Statutes ‘whose purpose is to protect and promote the health of the people of'Texas.

-Article4418a, .Sectlon 6, Subdlvlslon.(3) of said Act authorizes the-State'Board ofHealth to adopt rules, not'lnoonslstent

with law, for its-own procedure,a copy of which miles ~shall be filed ln the,State-Department of Health.

~Artlole )14i8d:.Seotion 

### a of said Act, provides that the StateJealth Officer shall exercise all the'powersand discharge ,a11the duties 'vested by law'~ln~the:StateDepartment of'lieieciltht

that he ,shall.be'the executive head of 'the De- .partment

and shall have the power, with the &pproval~of.the State Board of'&alth, to provide and~pronitilgatk such admlnlstrative,rules

and regulations-as may be deemed Mcessary, not lnconsistent.wlth the .lms .of.thlli

'State, for the effective perfforrence of the duties imposed by all laws upon the State Department of Health.

Artlole 4465a, being Section 11 of 'Chapter 42 of said pacts

of 1927, provides that all laws relating $0 public health, satiltatloti and the control and preventionof communlcable,'contaglous and Infectiousdlaeases,ahall remain ln force except where In confllotwith the provisions of said Act.

~Oenerally,the legislaturehas clearly plaoed the power, which by the declared policy of thisestateIn health and Banltary regulations In protecting and promoting thehealth of its people, Is vested In the State Health Bepartment. While such matters are of concern to the Commissioners'Court of the various counties,such agencies

are courts of limited jurlsdlctlon~and'thelr powers are limited and controlledby the Constitutionand the laws aspas&Wby the Legislature.\

.vPubllc

matters concerningthe people of the State at large In common with the Inhabitantsof the given communityare clearly..wlthln

the sovereign jurlsdlctlon.of the State to be administered by It In whole

or In part, exclusively, or concurrently with the local corporation,the separationof administrationdepending on the policy of the particularstate as said policy has developed
as disclosed ln,lts laws, organic, statutory, anddecisions." "McQulllln Municipal CorporaU&II, Second Edition, Vol. l,,Sectlon195, p.

.
In keepingwith this policy, the legislature,by .Article4423; Vernon's Civil Statutes,has provided for the the appointmentof a .county health officer by the-Commlssloners'Court .ofeach organized county. ,Artlcle4427 of ~sald statutes requires 'thecounty health officer, among .other duties, to aid and, assist the-State'Board of Health ln all ,matters

~of local~quarantlne.,,lnspectlon, disease prevention and su&@esslon, vital and mortuary statistics ,and general sanitationwithin his county; and he shall at all times :'report

to sald.~State

Board, In suchmanner and:.form

as St shall prescribe, the presence of all contagious,infectiousand dangerous epidemic diseases~wlthln his jurlsdiction;

. . . . and he shall aid said State Board at-all times In the enforcementof Its proper rules .*regulations,requlre- .mentsand ordinances,and In the enforcementof all sanitary laws and quarantine regulations within his jurisdiction."

Article 4528a, of said statutes, authorizes the Commlssloners~'Court to employ~oneor more Qraduate Reglstered nurses whose duty is to visit the public schools In the county, investigatethe health conditionsand sanitary surroundingsof such schools, cooperate.wlth the '&~itjr:

organized Boaed of Health and local health authoritiesIn general and perform such other.and further duties as may be required of them by the Commissioners Court. Each of the foregoing:Honorable L:R. Thompson,page 4 (O-2281)

'named persons, the County Health.Offltier and graduatenurse o$'nurseswhere employed, in their relation to the healthwork and ln cooperatlng.wlth the~state

Bealth.Eepartment, could be properly termed a~'"health~unlt."~

Section 10, Senate Bill-~47, Acts bf 1927,,Fortleth Leglslqture,First Called Sesslon,:?%apter.42,. Is found 'lncorporvlted udder Article 4418f, Vern~n~s~Clvll Statutes. This artlcle reads as follows:

;"It shall b& lawful for'the StateT)epartment .ofHealth to accept donation& and contrlbutlons, to be expended In the lntePetit.of the public health and'

thee'tiforcemknt

of 'public health laws.. The Commisi!lone~:~Court of;any County shall.have .the authorit to appropriate.~ and expend money from the general revenues-of 'its .Countyfor and In behalf of publfc health and sanitation

within lta ~County."‘

.mlasioneis

The above statute specifically-authorizes the ComCourt~of.thecounty t6.expend funds ,from lts.ge~r&$ revenhe fund for.coWty purposes for and In behalf of public health and .sanitatlon. .Such provlslon contemplatesthe render- -lngof financial aid in,.boop&ration with theIState:Health,.Departint ln.the admlWstr&tlon of the health and~sdnltitlon regulationsand the pq&ectlng of the public health-within the conflnes.ofthe county. ?lYhe enactmentby the Jkglslatur~,of~ .ChapteP

42;lncludlng ~Art;i'cle 4418f, did not -rkpeal.ArtlOle .4427,,&up@a,

noFdoes-Article '4418f ~supersqde

or ,ln tiny way eontemplate,expendlture of ~funds

'b.y health.unlts.'orqersons ~uhoae furlotions

or~dutles,oonfllct rirlth the statutdry~du~$les imposed 'upon

th&County-Health .Offlcer..

It'ls.'not

preemed that the admlnlst~atlve rules -and regulatlons,~promulgated by.the State Health.Offlcerln creating'what

the Department terms a'"Cbunty~Heal~th .SJnlt", Its purpose and functioning,ls.lnc6nslstent.wlth the performanceof duties imposed by law .uP6nthat Department. .We
are unable to flnd.wherethe legislature has defined the term "Cbutity

Health Unit", or that there Is any legal significance attached to the use of the term.

"The CommlsslonersCourt Is a creature of the State Constitutionand Its powers are limited and controlledby the Constitutionand the laws asWonorable L. R. Tnompson, page 5 (9-2281)

passed by the Legislature." Comralssloners Court vs..Wallace,15 S.W. .(2d) 535, biting Constitution,

Article 5,~

Sec. 18; Baldwin

vs. Travis County, 40 Tex.Clv.App.199, 88 S;W. 480;:Sewardvs. Falls County (Tex.Clv.App.) 246 S.W. 728; Bland vs. Orr, 90 Tex. 492, 39 S.W. 958.

Article 8, Section 9'of the Constitutionof Texas,. creates the five.separate class,es

of cons<utlonal

funds fixes 'the

limit of funds to be r$lsed through taxatlon~by $d 8 ny county, limiting the funds for county purposes or commonly known as the Qeneral Fund to twenty-fivecents on the One Hundred Dollars valuation In any one year. 'In the case of Carroll v.~WlllI~P*,

109 Texas 155, 202 S.W. 504, It was held that this provlslonof th& Constitutionalso constituteda llmltatlon
on the expendituresfrom such fund.

Although section 10 of the Act (Article 44181) does not expressly authorize the areatlon'afa "CountyHealth Unit", it does authorize the'expenditure of funds from the Deneral Fund of the oowty for and in behalf of public health and sanitationIn the county,

It Is, therefore,the opinion of thi‘s xkpatiment that Article 4418f, Vernon~9:Clvll~Statuteli, authorizes.

the Commlanloners~

Court to appropriateand expend qoneF fromthe general fund of the oounty for and in behalf of publichealth and l

anItatlonwithin the county; -Such rtatute doed not place any control or limitationon such esperidltures as to how the money may be expended. .Stich funds expended In cooperation

with the:State~

Realbh Department **in** Its authorized admlnistratiofi

of the health and sanitation Ins of the State #&thin the .oounty would meet the requirement of the statute. No additionallee of'taxes~outslde of the t%nstltutlonal limit of tw&n+~flve cent8 6e the hund*d dolliir.valuatIon ($tl;~r~z;~~Sectlon 9 of the Constltutlon)Is .contemplated

.
YouIs verg truly

WmJRK:ewrbt ATTORREYQERERAL OFTEXAS

BY s/'Wn. J.R. King

Assistant APPROVEDMay 13, 1940 Gerald C. Mann AttorneyGeneral of 'Texas APPROVED OPINION COMMIWE By RWF, Chairman