ion: L.;R. 'Thompson 

County Auditor 

Taylor County 

Abllene, Texas, Opinion No: 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 t 418f, Vernon's 

pear Sir: 

$nn&ated?&vil~Statutes. ~~ ~' 

,:, ~._;' 

Y&r,reqi~est for:an oplnion.6f this Department, 

letter dated.Apcil 2!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..hundredollara:Por areatlnga':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 legislature before we 

bye 

le,tter 
r . 

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 population of 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 ,Clvll Statutes, .refered to In your request. 

the Acts of 1927;~Fortleth LRglslaturs, First 

Called Session, Chapter 42, established a State.Department of Health, coneistlng of arState Board of Health, a 

:State Health~Offlcer and his adminifitrative staff, having 

general powen and duties lm 

e 

rovlsions~(.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. 

-Article 4418a, .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'powers and 

discharge ,a11 the duties 'vested by law'~ln~the:State Department 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 prevention of 

communlcable,'contaglous and Infectious dlaeases, ahall 

remain ln force except where In confllot with the provisions 

of said Act. 

~Oenerally, the legislature has clearly plaoed the 

power, which by the declared policy of this estate In health 

and Banltary regulations In protecting and promoting the 
health 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 controlled by the Constitution and the laws 

aspas&Wby the Legislature.\ 

.vPubllc matters concerningthe 

people of the State at large In common with 

the Inhabitants of the given community are 

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 separation of administration depending on the policy of the 

particular state as said policy has developed 

as disclosed ln,lts laws, organic, statutory, 

anddecisions." "McQulllln Municipal CorporaU&II, Second Edition, Vol. l,,Sectlon 195, p. 

. 

In keeping with this policy, the legislature, by 

.Article 4423; Vernon's Civil Statutes, has provided for the 

the appointment of a .county health officer by the-Commlssloners'Court .of each organized county. ,Artlcle 4427 of 

~sald statutes requires 'the county 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 sanitation within 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, infectious and dangerous epidemic diseases ~wlthln his jurlsdiction; . . . . and he shall aid said State Board at-all times 

In the enforcement of Its proper rules .* regulations, requlre- 

.ments and ordinances, and In the enforcement of all sanitary 

laws and quarantine regulations within his jurisdiction." 

Article 4528a, of said statutes, authorizes the 

Commlssloners~'Court to employ~one or more Qraduate Reglstered nurses whose duty is to visit the public schools In 

the county, investigate the health conditions and sanitary 

surroundings of such schools, cooperate.wlth the '&~itjr: organized Boaed of Health and local health authorities In 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 graduate nurse 

o$'nurses where employed, in their relation to the health work 

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 State T)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 

.County for and In behalf of publfc health and 

sanitation within lta ~County."‘ 

.mlasioneis 

The above statute specifically-authorizes the ComCourt~of.the county t6.expend funds ,from lts.ge~r&$ 

revenhe fund for.coWty purposes for and In behalf of public 

health and .sanitatlon. .Such provlslon contemplates the render- 

-lng of financial aid in,.boop&ration with theIState :Health,.Departint ln.the admlWstr&tlon of the health and~sdnltitlon 

regulations and the pq&ectlng of the public health-within the 

conflnes.of the county. ?lYhe enactment by 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.Offlcer ln 

creating'what the Department terms a'"Cbunty~Heal~th .SJnlt", 

Its purpose and functioning, ls.lnc6nslstent.wlth the performance of duties imposed by law .uP6n that Department. .We 

are unable to flnd.where the legislature has defined the term 

"Cbutity Health Unit", or that there Is any legal significance 

attached to the use of the term. 

"The Commlssloners Court Is a creature of 

the State Constitution and Its powers are limited 

and controlled by the Constitution and the laws as 
Wonorable 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;:Seward vs. 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 Constitution of 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-five cents 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 

provlslon of th& Constitution also constituted a llmltatlon 

on the expenditures from such fund. 

Although section 10 of the Act (Article 44181) 

does not expressly authorize the areatlon'af a "County Health 

Unit", it does authorize the'expenditure of funds from the 

Deneral Fund of the oowty for and in behalf of public health 

and sanitation In the county, 

It Is, therefore, the opinion of thi‘s xkpatiment 

that Article 4418f, Vernon~9:Clvll~Statuteli, authorizes. the 

Commlanloners~ Court to appropriate and expend qoneF fromthe general fund of the oounty for and in behalf of publichealth and l anItatlon within the county; -Such rtatute doed 

not place any control or limitation on 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 additional lee 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 

APPROVED May 13, 1940 

Gerald C. Mann 

Attorney General of 'Texas 

APPROVED OPINION COMMIWE 

By RWF, Chairman