OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

iionoreble Ir'la. YelCerman 

ACLing County Attorney 

XraVIII COunLY 

Austin, Texas 

Deer Sirs Opinion No. O-6210 

Rer Authority 

question end not4 

Acti% County A 

tional ecquielt 

th4 city llmlts 

You ark in your 

i 

st on the above 

he question, aa 

is tbaL addi- 

& Austin outride 

onues of the aountg, 

loving que~tlonst 

6081-B prohibit 

orporatod city 

e of parks and 

8 of 640 acres 

purchaee or 

s Artlole 6081-D prohibit 

of any lncorporatod city 

r the purpose of parks and 

outsida of 1~s oity limits, by purchese or 

condemnation? *- 

‘,3. Do tliose artioles mean that the 

govcmlng body of an 

40 

incorporated city may own 

end hold more ihan o acre4 outelde of ihe 

city llcaics, LO be used for the purpoee of 

parks and play grounds, but that they can never 
38 

Hen. Wm. Yeldeman - Page 2 

acquire more than 640 acre@ at any 01x4 time, by 

purchase or oondemuati on? 

“4. Do Articles 6081-B and 6081-D llmlt 

the riqh;s conferred upan Uonc !?ule ol-vies by 

Art:ele 1175, Bection 15, uith reference to 

aoqtirLng property ouisldo of the c:ry ltnits 

fop parks end playgrounds?” 

The ahsver is your flrsi question is that ANiale 608lb, Verna~~n Annotated Civil Statutes, is a bracket 

lav applicable only to cftiea of a certain populetloh by the 

1923 census. Austin doeo not come vithlh the ola~sslfleatlon 

bewwe It bed 144s than 43,000 Inhabitants by the 1920 oeneus. 

Therefore, the ansveP to your question Is no. 

Artiole 60816, Vernon’9 Annotated Civil Btatutss, 

which you lnqulm about in your seeond question. oohtaina provlsionn vhiah are similar to thoee aontainod In Artlele 6081b, 

except that it la not a bracket lav. Section 1 0r that article 

prov%des: 

“SOC. 1. That Ma govemlng body of any 

incorporated alty In ‘thfs state ney mcelve 

end hold through @it or mador ded%oatian, and 

1s hereby l npover4d to oondemu or to pumhase 

land& vlthout its terrltorUtl 1iast.s and vlthLn 

the county in vhioh such city is situated for 

the pux’posa of establlsbixrg and sbaiata~ t&r+ 

on pubI& rocreatlonal parks end playgrounds, 

either or both, no one of such parka or playgrounds 

vhlch may be acquired by purchaee or thxough oondomnatlon to exaeed 320 acres in aPoa and the 

total acroage outslde of the lidts of the city 

vb%ah may bs acqulreo by purch484 and through 

oondmnatfon procecdlngs, either or both, shall 

not 4xo4cct 640 acroe.” 

Section 6 of ~riicls 6C@ld 1imUs the sp?lPcation 

of Section 1 co those titles that do not h6vs contrary pmvidon5 ln tholr ohertare. SoOtioR 6 pPOVid84s 

‘Nothing here- contained rhall be 

cone~rued 86 repoallng My provisions oi My 

special charter or any inaorporated oity, but 
Hon. Urn. Yalderman - Page 3 

the powers, teram end provisions hereof shall 

exS8t an altematlve powers, terms aad provlslons 

af any such special charter and any alty which 

shall hereafter adopt oc eaend ito own oharter 

under the terms of the Rams Rule provision8 of 

the ConatituLion may provide In any suoh charter 

or amendment8 thereto provlslcum on the subject 

aovsred hereby other than eml differing froa those 

herein provlded.” 

Section 1 of Artiole X%VI of the oharter of the 

City of Austin (19%) authoriaer the City Couuoil to acquire 

land outaide the altg litits for parka end playgrouuds, an 

follows, 

“The City Uouncll shall have pciwer 

to aequlre land inside OP outride of the corporate boundaribrr~ or the City or Austin, by 

puramas or aondeanation, r0l the purpose of 

establlahing or enlar@ng any park, parkway or 

pla;ygzvund, and to improve, equip, prllltaln 

mad regulate the use or @ma, aad the applloable provisions or the laws 0r the state or Texas 

relating to emlneat domain are adopted snd made 

a part or thl8 Artlole and rhall apply in uondemmtlon proceeding8 hereunder, but the City 

of Austin shall not be required to exeaute the 

bon& referred to fn raid law8.’ 

Article 60816, therefore,- does not limit the 

amount of land which the City of Austin may 6oqulre by condeauation end purohase outside the city llalte for park8 

and playgrounda under Artlcls XXVI or the City Charter. Thiis 

is a speolal oharttr opd it is not repealed by Article 6081d. 

Also, Austin 1s a Hose Rule City and it; la exprersly authorized 

by Section 6 of Article 6Oiosld to “provide ln any ruah charter 

or amendments thereto provS.slons on the subject covered’hereby 

other thau aud diiiering Prom those herein provided.” We, 

thesefore, answer your second question no. 

In view 0r our answera to your first two qusrtions, 

it becomee unnsaesaery to answer your third qusrti3R. 

your Question Ro. 3 is an abstract queetlon aa 

far ae the City of Au8ti.n is conaerued. Article 608lb, in 
40 

Zion. Wm. Yeldarmn - Pqa 4 

Section 6 and Article 60816, lu Seotion 6 (OOpied above) each 

provide that *nothing oontalned In this act ah811 be ionswued as repealing anx pmvlalona of any special charter of 

any inoorporated oity. The City of Austin baa in Arclcle 

XXVI a apeolal provlalon on parka and playgrouuda which 

gives it greater powers than Artlole 6081d. It la true thOt 

Section 15 of Artlale 1175, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, 

confers the sane8 powers cm the City of Auatln as to acquiring 

parka and playgrounds outside the city limlta as doen Article XXVI of the City Wrter. It is not necessary, however, 

to pass on whether Artlole 60816 ll&ta the powers aonfarred 

on Home Rule Cities by Seation 15 of Artiole 1175 because 

Article 60&J, by its OYLI DrOViSiMS, is not applltable to 

cliLaa llka Austin which have l apeclal charter provision on 

the subject of parka and playgrounds whleh is other titan and 

differs rr0a Axtiole 6081d. No, accordiqgly, find no neceeaity r0P anawedng your rowth question. 

Trusting that the foregoing gives you the 

lnfomatlon desired, we are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORURY CamRAL OF TEXAS 

BY Fe&an Dlckaon 

Assistant 

FDIBT