%-HE ,*TTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

Honorable Howard M. Fender 

District Attorney 

Tarrant County 

Criminal Courts Building 

Fort Worth, Texas 

Dear Mr. Fender: 

Opinion No. WW-213 

Re: Whether C,hapter 268, Acts 

the 55th Legislature, 1957, 

page 569. is constitutional. 

Of 

In your letter of July 17, 1957, you request the opinion 

of this office as to whether House Bill 921. Acts of the 55th Legislature, 

Regular Session, 1957, chapter 268, page 569. is constitutional. 

This Act relates to Tarrant County Water Control and 

Improvement District No. 1. and you state that Attorney General’s Opinion WW-163 appears to hold an amendment to this type of statute unconstitutional, whereas Attorney General’s Opinion MS-194 holds the same 

type of act constitutional. 

Your question is resolved by the differences in the types 

of acts in each of the cases. In Opinion WW-163, our office was not passing on the validity of an act creating a river authority or a water control 

and improvement district, but on the contrary, this office was merely considering the validity of House Bill 317 of the 55th Legislature that authorized the San Antonio River Authority to condemn lands not heretofore used, 

but merely dedicated for cemetery purposes, when such lands were located 

only in Bexar County. We held this Act unconstitutional on the ground that 

Section 56 of Article III of the Constitution of Texas prohibits the enactment of any local or special law relating to cemeteries, and we in no re: 

spect passed on the authority of the Legislature to create river authorities or water control and improvement districts. 

In Attorney General’s Opinion MS-194 (1955), this office 

passed on the constitutionality of Senate Bill No. 389, Acts of the 54th Legislature, Regular Session, 1955, which created the Reagan County Water 

Supply District. In that Opinion it was held that Senate Bill 389 is a general law, and the notice required by Section 57 of Article III of the Constitution and statutes enacted pursuant thereto are not required to be published nor exhibited prior to introduction or passage of the proposed act. 

Consequently, Senate Bill 389 was constitutional. 

In view of the foregoing, you can readily see that there is 

no conflict between the holdings in Attorney General’s Opinions WW-163 

and MS-194, and after a careful review of House Bill 921, Acts of the 55th 

Legislature. Regular Session, 1957, chapter 268, page 569, you are advised that the Act is constitutional for the same reasons that were announced in Opinion MS-194. 
Honorable Howard M. Fender, Page 2 (WW-213) 

SUMMARY 

House Bill 921, Acts of the 55th Legislature, 

Regular Session, 1957, chapter 268. page 569. is constitutional under the provisions of Section 59. Article 

III of the Constitution of Texas since it is a general 

law. The provision in Section 57, Article III of the 

Constitution of Texas concerning publication of local 

and special laws is not applicable to the instant case. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

RRR:jl:cm 

BY 

Assistant 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE: 

H. Grady Chandler, Chairman 

W. V. Geppert 

Wallace Finfrock 

B. H. Timmins, Jr. 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: 

Geo. P. Blackburn