# The Attorney General of Texas

December 31, 1982 MARK WHITE Attorney General

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An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer HonorableRay Farabee,Chairman StateAffairs Committee Texas State Senate Room 411, StateArchives Building Austin, Texas 78711 opinionNo. MW-567
Re: Construction of article III, section 49-b of the Texas Constitution
Dear SenatorFarabee: Article III, section 49-b of the Texas Constitution establishes the Veterans Land Fund. See also Nat. Res. Code S5161.171, et seq. This fund, which is administeredby the Veterans Land Board, is used to purchase tracts of land which are then sold to veterans who meet certainprescribedcriteria.
In 1977,Texas voters approvedvarious amendments to article III, section 49-b, includingthe following:

The unmarried surviving spouses of veterans who died in the line of duty may also apply= purchase a tract through the Board provided the deceasedveteransmeet the requirementsset out in thisArticle.... (Emphasisadded).
Your inquiry concerns this provision. Specifically,you ask whether the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in 1960 and died of a service-connecteddisability in 1973 is eligible to apply to purchase a tract of land. We understand that the Veterans Administration has in fact determined that the injury which led to this particular veteran's death was service-connected. We furtherunderstand that at the time of his death, thisveteranwas eligible toparticipate in the VeteransLand Programbut had never chosen to do so. The answer to your question necessarily turns on the meaning of the phrase "died in the line of duty." The surviving spouse about whom you are concerned is eligible to apply to purchase the aforementioned land only if the scope of this phrase is broad enough to include a veteran whose death resulted from a service-connected injury but occurred thirteen years after he was discharged from the service. See Tex. Const. art. III, §49-b (definitionof "veteran").

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This phrase is not defined in article III, section 49-b or in the statutes governing the Veterans Land Board. See Nat. Res. Code §§161.001,et seq. Similarly,neither the bill analysis of S.J.R.No. 13, which proposed the 1977 amendments to article III, section 49-b. nor the federal statutesgoverning theVeteransAdministration,see 38 U.S.C. sections 101, et seq., shed any light on itsmeaning. Compare 38 U.S.C. 5105 (standardsfor determiningwhether injuryor disease is incurred "in the line of duty"). Thus, the question must be: what was the intent of the legislature in proposing this amendment and of thevoters in approving it?
At first glance, the phrase "died in the line of duty" would appear to embrace only those veterans who actually died while in active service. We cannot,however, imagine any reasonwhy thosewho proposed and approved this amendment would have wanted it to be construed so rigidly. Nor can we conceive of any sound policy arguments in favor of such a construction. On the contrary, we believe that it is far more likely that those who sponsored and ratified the amendment intended the opposite construction. If an otherwise eligible veteran sustained an injury while in the line of duty and died soon thereafter, while still in active service, his spousewould be eligible to apply topurchase a tract of land. We see no reasonwhy she shouldbe disqualifiedsimplybecauseher spousehad themisfortunenot to die until later,after being discharged from the service. The fact that her spouse's death occurred after a lengthy period of time should not, in our opinion, be dispositive of her eligibilityunder thisprovision.
We therefore conclude that the spouse about whom you inquired is not automaticallydisqualified from applying for a tractof landunder article III, section 49-b. Whether she is in fact eligible to purchase the land under all other applicable criteria is, of course. beyond the scopeof this opinion. SUMMARY The phrase "veterans who died in the line of duty" in article III, section 49-b of the Texas Constitutionmay embrace an individualwhose death resulted from a service-connected injury but did not actually occur prior to discharge from active service.

MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas

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JOHNW. FAINTER,JR. FirstAssistantAttorney General RICBARD E. GRAY III ExecutiveAssistantAttorney General Preparedby Jon Bible AssistantAttorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Susan L. Garrison,Chairman Jon Bible

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