HonorableA. E. Hickerson

County Attorney Montgomery Cm&y Conroe, Texas

Dear Mr. Hickerson: OpinionNo. O-1707 Re: Selectionand Desiguation of Depository for San Jacinto River Conservationend Reclamtion District.

We acknowledge receipt of your communicationdated November I:;, 1939, in which you request the opinion of this department on the following questions which we quote from your letter:

(1) "Should the authorities ofthe San Jacinto River Conservationand ReclamationDistrict be required to select a depository for funds, or shouldthey use the same depositorya8 the county and county txhoole."
(2) ",I8

the Comnieeioners'Court in any way'responsible for the selection of this depository."

In consideringthe above questionswe have carefully read and studied House Bill No. 832, passed by the Forty-fifth Legislature in ~1937,creating the San JacintoRiver Conservationand Reclamation District under authority of Section 

### 59of Article 

### ~6 of the Constitution of the State of Texas and defining the powers and duties of the said district. We have also read and studied House Bill No. 941 and House Bill No. 1079, passed by the Forty-sixth Legislature in 1939, the same being amendments to House Bill No. 

### 832.

Neither of the above mentioned acts of the Legislature specifically authorize or require the San Jacinto River Conservationand Recl+uation District to select and designatea depository for it8 funds. It will be noted, however, that Section 

### 6 of House Bill No. 

### 832,Regular Session,Forty-fifth, Legislature,after providing for the appointmentof a teniporary board of directors and the election of officers,requires that:

"Each of esid temporary directors shall take and subscribe to an oath of office, similar to the oath required of County Commissioners,and shall execute bond in the sun of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00)payable to the District, the sufficiency of which bonds shallbe determinedby the State Board of-

HonorableA. E. Bicker-son, Page 2 

### (O-1707)

Water Engineers, which bond after being recorded in the officialbond records of the county in which the districtmaintains its office shallbe depositedwith the depository selectedand approved for the deposit of the fund.6 of the District." (Emphasis added.)

It IS manifest,we think, from the above that the legislativeact creating the San Jacinto River Conservationand Reclamation District and defining its powers and duties contemplatedthat a depository shouldbe selected and designated for the deposit of the funds of the District and the official bonds of its directors. This, no doubt,would be true even in the absence of the above quotedprovision a6 it has always been the policy of the Legislature to require each political subdivisionof the State handlingpublic funds to select and designate a depository for the depositand safe keeping of its funds, and to require the depository selectedto give a good and sufficient bond as security. State Bank of Commercevs. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company, 

### 28 S.W. (2d) 

### 184,from which we quote a6 follows:

"A soundpublic policy requires that the State should take special security from every one who collects or handles public funas. That rule seems to began old one in this State, and IS applied in all caseswithout exception."

Section 2 of House Bill No. 832, supra, reads as follows:

"The San Jacinto River Conservationand Reclamation District is created as a governmentalagency, a body politic and corporate,vested with all the authorityas such under the Constitution and laws of the State; and shallhave and be recognized to exercise all of the powers of such governmental agency and body politic and corporateas expressly authorized in the provisions of the Constitution,Section 

### 59 of Article XVI, for Districts created to conserve, control,and utilize to beneficial service the storm and flood waters of rivers and streams of the State, or suchpowers a6 may be contemplated and imnliedby the uurooses of this provision of the Constitution,-andas-may be conferredby General Law, and in the provisions of this Act; and shall have and be recoepized to exercise all the rights and powers of an independentgovernmental agency, body politic and corporate,to formulateany and all clans deemed essential to the operation of the District anh for its administration in the control, storing; preservation,and distributionto all useful purposes of the storm and flood waters of the San JacintoRiver and its tributary streams; and a6 such District, shallhave and be recognized to exercise such authority and power of control and regulation over such storm and floodwaters of the San Jacinto River and its tributaries as may be exercisedby the State of Texas, subject to the provisions of the Constitutionand the Acts of the Legislature." (Emphasisadded.)HocrrableA. E. Hickerson,Page 

### 3 (O-1707)

It will be noted that Section 

### 6 of saidHouse Bill No. 832 provides that the San Jacinto River Conservationand Reclamation District shall have "all and singular,the powers, duties, functions, and to observeprocedures insofar as the samemay be applicableand practicable, to accomplish the purposes of this Act, as is providedby Chapter 25 of the General Laws of the Thirty-ninth Legislature,Regular Session, and the severalamendments thereof."

It appears, therefore, that the San Jacinto River Conservationand Reclamation District has, in addition to the powers set out in House Bill No. 

### 832,and its amendments, supra, all of the powers set out in Chapter 25 of the General Laws of the Thirty-ninth Legislature,Regular Session (Article 

### 7880),and should follow the procedure therein set out insofaras the same may be applicableand not in conflictwith the specificterms and provisions of saidHouse Bill NO. 

### 832,and its amendments.

Chapter 25 of the General Laws of the Thirty-ninth Legislature,Regular Session, carried in Vernon'sAnnotated Civil Statutesas Article 

### 7880, is a very comprehensive statute, containing in excess of one hundred and fifty sections, dealingwith water control and improvementdistricts, in general. Section 113 of Article 7860 provides that a depository shallbe selected for such districtsby the directors thereof, "in accordance with the provisions of law for the selectionof depositories for counties in this State, and the duties of such depo$itoryand the bond and securitiesto be given thereby shall be the same as providedby law for county depositories,except as herein otherwise expresslyprovided." This Article further requires the depository so selected to furnish a good and sufficientbond to fully protect the district and guarantee the safekeeping of its funds and directs how the funds shall be kept and paid out.

From the above we have concluded that the San Jacinto River Conservation and Reclamation District should select and designate a depository for the safe-keeping of its funds and officialbonds, a+ shouldnot rely on the county depository for this purpose. If this is not done, the funds of the Conservation and Reclamation District will be unprotected, as the county and school depositorybond only protects those funds belonging to and dsposited in the depositoryby the respectivepolitical subdivisions. Hale County,Texas, et al.
vs. American IndemnityCompany, et al., 

### 63Fed. (2d) 275.

Inasmuch as the legislativeact creating the San Jacinto River Conservation and Reclamation District gives to the district all and singularthe powers, duties and functions set out in Chapter 25 of the General Laws of the Thirty-ninth Legislature,Regular Session, and the severalamendments thereto (Article

### 7860,Revised Civil Statutes of Texas), and charges said district with the duty of observing the procedureprovided for in saidAct, insofar
as the samemay be applicableand practicable, it is our opinion that it would be proper for, and the said Conservationand Reclamation District should follow the procedure set out in Chapter 25 of the General Laws of the Thirty-Ninth Legislature,Regular Session, for the selection of a district depository.I

. .

HonorableA. E. Hickerson, Page 4 

### (O-1707)

In answer to your first question, it is the opinion of this department that the directors of the San JacintoRiver Conservationand Reclamation District should select and designatea depository for its funds and in so doing should follow the procedureprovided for in Article 

### 7880,Section 113, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, the same being a part of Chapter 25, General Laws, Thirty-ninth Legislature,Regular Session.

In answer to your second question, it is the opinion of this department that the Commissioners'Court is in no way responsible for the selection of the depository for the Conservationand Reclamation District. The duty of selectingthe depositoryrests solely on the directors of the district.

Yours very truly

APPROVED DEC 9, 1939
/s/ Gerald c. Msnn A!iTOREEIGENERALOFTEXAS

ATTORNEY GF.NERAL

OF TEXAS By /s/ Tom D. Rowell, Jr. Tom D. Rowell, Jr.

Assistant

TDR:FG:Ul

APPROVED OPINION col.Qmrl!EE BY /s/ BWB CHAIRMAN