**XAS**
Aucvrrnr **II:TEXAS** PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERAL

. ,llaroh~26, 1947

Hon. W. Riley Wyatt, Chairman State Prison Board SanAntonio, Texas Opinion Ro. V-105 Be: Authority OS?risoa Board to direct general manager to permit the use of inmate labor on sewage project with Dear Mr. Wyatt: the City of Huntsville.

Your request for aa opinion onthe above cap- .tioned subjeot reads as follows:

‘The Texas State Board of Health has -pract lcally condemnedthe exist Lagsewage disposal plant in Huntsville as Inadequate.

“The Clt **of** tiuntsvllle has always handled the d sposal

I of sewage from the prlson sjrstem in Huntsville since the prison 

### hasnosewage disposal plant of its own. At present, it is estimated the aewage flow iron the prison syetea coast’itutes one-third of the estimated total normal flow to the **sewage**treatment plant. “The City **of** H~tsvllle has never imposed a sewer service charge on the prison

-. system because of, a contract entered into between the city **aad** the prison system, which provides that the prison sgstea will pay its’ prorata share of the coat of any improvements dr e#ienaions at the oity’8 aewer disposal plant.

“In view of the foregoing hazards, the Texas State Board of Health has directed the Cit,y of Huntsville to take steps inanediatelg to correct the condition existing, andpith, referenoe tothis sewage the City of Huntsville has called upohthe prlaon.- ._

ElOIl. M.Riley Wyatt, Page 2, V-105

board to furnish Inmatelabor in the construction of this sewer extension program.

“In view of the contract heretofore entered into (aopy of which is herewith encloeed), andfurther in view of the benefits to accrue to the prison board, can the prlson board authorize the general managerto permit the use of Inmatelabor on’this project?”Article 6166a, of Vernon’s Civil Statutes, reads In part as follows:

’ * * *All persons shall be worked within the prison walls and uponfarms owned or leased by the State; and in noevent shall the labor of a prisoner be sold to any contractor or lessee to work on farms or elsewhere, nor shall anyprisoner beworked on anyfarm or otherwise uponshares except such farms be ownedor leased by the State of Texas. ” In Opinion No. O-4322, addressed to Mr. S.,M. Lister, dated April 15, 1942, thi.s Department held that the Texas Prison Board does not have authority under Article 6166a, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, to permit the use of trusty prisoners by State offi,cials, membersof the Prison Board, andemployees of the prison system. In Opinion No. O-4727, dated July 3l, 1942, this Department held that while Article ,61660 authorizes the Prison Board to lease real estate for agricultural or grazing purposes, it was of the opinion that this does not authorize the contracting of convict labor underthe cloak of a lease of real estate, andthat Article 61660must be construed together with Article 6166a, in that the employment of convicts as guards in the operation of the prison system is so obviously opposed to the general principles andthe statutory policies hereinabove

. mentioned and discussed, that the power will not be implied as incident to the general power of the manage,r to control the prison system; that authority wasnot vested to use convicts as guards to replace employed guards. TheIegislat ure, in its regular biennial appropriation, provides for the various employees andI&Q&I. M. RUey Wyatt, Pag&3, V-105
operation of the Texas Prison System. It wasthe evident intention of the Legisinture to prohibit the use of convict labor In the performance of work pertaining to the prison system, whensuch work is to be performed outside the prison walls, andnot on the farms ownedor leased by the prison system.

Themanifest intention of Article 6166a compels usto answer that convict labor maynot be tised outside the prison walls andoff of State property for construction of sewerage lines in the City of Huntsvllle. SUMMAFiY

Texas Prison Board is not authorized to direct the general managerto permit the use of inmate labor onsewage project outside walls or off of farms of Texas Penltentiary. (Article 6166a, V. C. 3.) Yours very truly, ATTORNEY

GEI’iFXAL

OFTEXAS

BY Assistant

A3:JMc:mrj APPROVED NAR.26, 1947

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