: August 6,'1952 

Eon. I)~. C. Greer 

State Highway Engineer 

@ate Eighwag'Department~~ I~' . 

.Austin,*Texas .opinion No. v-1493 

Re:. m-rect 0r the aot.meating 

the era for Lease of High- 

.wqg,commis.sion lands upon 

the previous authpitg Or 

th&FIighway Commission re- 

~ear.Sir: speotipg these lands. 

,. 

You.have requested an opinion upon the following problem: 

.' "Iands~acquirea~ by the Highwajr ~ommissio~,by~ 

pwchsse, o~naemnation or otherwise to be useQ for 

rights of way for State Highways, and which are no 

longer needed for highwey~right of way'purposes or 

by citizens as a road, because of the changing of 

the route or abendoment of suoh highway, have for 

many years been dizposed of by requesting the Governor to execute'quit claim deeds- to such lands after 

the proposea transfers have been,approve&by the Attorney General. This procedure seems to be in line 

with'the authority contained in Article .6673a of Vernon's Civil Statutes end, possibly in some instances, 

by Article 6614s~9. 

Wince the 52nd Legislature e&acted Senate Bill 

354 creat'ing Boards'for the leasing of 911 State 

owned lands for oil, gas and mineral development,~we 

are wondering if it repeals all or a pert 0r Article 

6673a and 66749-9, or in.any manner limits the authority of the Highway Commission to dispose or such 

changed or abandoned right of way as it has,in the 

past." 

Article.6673a,.V.C.S., provides as follows: 

"Wherever the State Highway Comm$ssion has 

aoquired or shall hereafter acquire any land by 

purchase, condemnation, or otherwise to be used 

as a right of way for any State Righway and thereafter the route of such Highway was or shall be 
622 Hon. D. C. Greer, page 2, v-1493 

Ohanged or abandoned, and any such right of way 

be no longer needed for such Highway, or needed 

for use of oitizens as a road, the State Highway 

Commission may recommend to the Governor that 

such land be sold and that he execute a deed conveying all the State's right, title, and interest 

in such land SO acquired. Upon the reoommendation of the Commission; the Governor may execute 

a proper deed conveying and/or exchanging'such 

land for airrerent land belonging to the same"person or persons. It shall be the duty~of the Corn-~ 

mission to rix the fair and reasonable value of 

all such land and advise the Go'drnor thereor. 

Provided that where such land is given to the State, 

the Governor may return the same by proper deed to 

the person or persons from whom the same is received. 

fall money der'ivea from the, sale of such land shall 

be deposited with the funds from which it was originally taken. The Attorney General shall approvd, 

all transfers under this Act." 

The portions of Article 5382d, V.C.S; '(Acts'52na 

Leg,, R.S. 1951, ch. ,325, p. 556) which are.material to the' 

c&atioh of bgards to lease Sta$e-owned lands are as follow. 

%%ction~l.. There is hereby created Boards 

for,lea;se,of~ lands owned by any Department; Board 

or,Agenoy'of the State of Texas : :. 

We0tion 2. All.lands-or any parael of same 

'now owned by; or, that may-hereafter be owned by,or 

held-1I.L trust for the usa and benefit t5r',a,Departmeet, Agency or' Board ,mag be leased by the appropriate Boera~for Lease to any person or persons, 

firms, or corporations subject to ana as providea 

fur in this Aot, for the-purpose of-prospecting or 

exploring for and mining, producing,storing,caring'for, ttianiporting, preserving, selling ana aisposing of,the 011,~.gas or other minerals. 

Wection 4. Whenever in the opiliidn of .the 

appro$riate'Boara for l.+a~se there shall be such a 

demand for the purchase of oil,gas OT mineral leases on any lot OT tract of land subject to the control of the Board-as will reasonably insure~an 

advantageous sale, the Board for Lease shall place 

such oil, gas or mineral leases on the,msrket in 

such tract or tracts as the BOera for Lease may 

designate. . . . 
. . 

Hon. D. C. Greer, page 3, V-1493 $23 

Section 15 provides that *all laws and parts of 

laws ifi conflict herewith Yare hereby expressly repealed' 

with several exceptions nbt material to this opinion. 

It is clear that Article 6673a is not~,repugnant to Article 53828.' Article 6673a authorizes 

the aonveyance of an abandoned right-of-way, but it 

does not grant the power to lease such Tight-of-weg 

for oil and,gas purposes. Att'y Gen. Op. O-2481 

(1940). Article 5382a provides a procekre whereby 

lands owned. by any state department may be leased 

for mineral development. No part of this article 

provides for the sale of lands owned by a'bepartment. 

There being no repugnance between the two statutes, 

they should be allowed to stand together. This rule 

of statutory ~construct$on~wss.expressed~by the Su$reme 

Court in Winterman'v. McDonald, 129 Tex. 275, 283, 102 

s.w.2a 167, 171 (19371, as follows: 

"Repeal of laws by implication is not 

ravorecik. 39 Tex. Jur.;Seation 75, p0 140: 

59 C-J.,;- Sectlop 510, p. 905. ..In this absence 

of an express repeal by statute, where there 

is no positive pepugnanoe between the proviso 

ions of the old and new statutes, the old and 

new statutes will each be construed so 8s to 

$r; ;ffect, if possible, tonboth statutes. 

. *, Section 75, p. 140. 

i 

_L 

If Article 5382d should. be construed as repealing Article 6673a, the result would be that there 

would be no method of selling an abandoned right-of-way. 

It is extremely doubtful that the Legislature intended 

to leave the State without a method for selling land 

which is no longer of any use to the State or to the 

public. 

You are therefore advised that Article 5382d, 

which you refer to as Senate Bill 354, does not require 

you to change your methods of selling abandoned rightsof-way as authorized by Article 6673a. It merely loperates to subject the land to the possibility of being 

leased for oil..and gas development by the Board for 

Lease. 

Artiole 5382a, V.C.S. (Acts 52nd L%g.,R;S: 

1951, oh. 325, pa 5561, relating to the leasing 
624~ Hon. D. C. Greer, page 4, v-1493 

0r State owned lands for. oil, gas/a@3 mineral 

development, does not repeal the power of the 

State EUghway Department to sell abandoned 

rights-of-wey according to the methods prescribed 

in Article 6673a, V.C.S. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: PRICEDANIEL 

AttOTneY General 

Jesse P. Luton,Jr. 

Lana Div-ision 

E. Jacobson 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Thomas Black 

Assistant 

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