_ -._ ._ 

Honorable A. E. Hickerson 

County Auditor, Montgomery County 

Conroe, Texas 

Dear Mr. Hickerson; 

Opinion No. O-926 

Re: Whether or not the County 

Rospi,tal Board of Managers 

is authorized to issue and 

sell monthly hospitalisation service policies. 

With further reference to your letter of June 2, 

kindly be advised that your request f~or an opinion as contained therein has received the attention of this department. The questions asked by you are as follows: 

Vi. Would the enclosed agreement if put 

in effect by the Montgomery County Hospital 

(I will say, which is owned and operated by 

Montgomery County) and sold only to residents 

of Montgomery County, comply with any statute 

which may exist. 

"2. If so, is there any statute covering 

the amount of expense which the Montgomery 

County Hospital may expend in selling these 

agreements and overhead in general caused the 

hospital by virtue of inaugurating the plan. 

"3. Based upon information by hospitals 

using;such plan, we understand that it Is not 

necessary to secure a charter, that so long as 

Montgomery County Hospital issues the agreement 

only to citizens of Montgomery County, that this 

is all that is necessary. Is this correct?" 
Hon. A. E. Hickerson, page 2 o-926 

We observe from your letter that the Montgomery County Hospital is owned and operated exclusively 

hy Montgomery County, and we necessarily presume that 

s'ame was constructed and established under the rovisions of Chapter 5, Title 71, Articles 4478 to 98 inclusive, 

c4 

Revised Civil Statutes of 1925 and amendments 

thereto. 

Anticle 44.78 provides: 

"The commissioners count of any county 

shall-have power to establish a county hospital 

and to enlarge any existing hospitals for the 

care and treatment of persons suffering from any 

illness, disease or injury, subject to-the pro-. 

visions of this chapter. At intervals of not' 

less than twelv.8 .months. ten uer cent of the 

quald$*d -.-tax ~aying'voters of a county 

may petit.ion such court to provide for the establishing or enlarging of a county hospital, in 

which event said court within the time designated 

in such petition shall submit to such voters at a 

special or regular election the proposition of 

issuing bonds in such aggregate amount as may be 

designated in said petition for the establishdng 

or enlarging of such hospital. Whenever any such 

proposition shall rece1ve.a majority of the votes of 

the qualified property taxpayers voting at such 

election, said commissioners court shall establish 

and maintain such hospital and shall have the 

following powers: 

"1. To purchase and lease real property 

therefor, or acquire such real property, and 

easement6 therein, by condemnation proceedings. 

"2. To purchase or srect all necessary 

buildings, make all necessary improvements and 

repairs and alter any existing buildings, for 

the use of said hospital, The plans for such 

erection, alteration, or repair shall first be 

approved by the State *ealth Officer, if his approval is requested by the said commissioners 

court. 

“3. To cause to be assessed, levied and 

collected, such taxes upon the real and personal 

property owned in the county as it shall deem 
Hon. A. E.B&ckerson, Page 3 o-926 

necess&ry to provide the funds for the maintenance thereof, and for all other necessary 

expenditures therefor. 

“4. To ;issue county bonds to provide 

funds-for the establishing, enlarging and ~_ 

equipping of said hospital and for all other 

necessary permanent improvements in connection' 

therewith; to do all other things that may be 

required by law in order to render said bond3 

valid. 

"5. To appoint a board of managers for said 

hospital. 

"6. To accept and hold in trust for the 

county, any grant or devise of land, or any 

gift or bequest of money or other personal property or any donation to,be applied, principal 

or income or both, for the benefit of said 

hospital, and apply the ssme in accordancs with 

the terms of the gift. (Acts 1913, p. 711." 

Article 4479, as amended by the Acts of the 40th 

Legislature 1927, pertaining to the board of managers for 

said hospital, provides that the term of office for 8Wh 

member of said Board shall be two years, except that in 

making the first appointments after this Act takes effect 

three members shall be appointed for one year and three 

m8mberS for two years 30 that thereafter three members 

of said board till be appointed every two years. The 

managers shall receive no compensation for their services 

but the Act provides that they shall be allowed their 

actual and necessary traveling and other expenses within 

this state to be audited and paid by the commissioners 

court in the same manner as other expenses of the hospital. 

This Article further provides that any manager after being 

cited may at any time for cause be removed from office 

by said court. 

Article l&80, pertaining to the powers of the 

Board of Managers, provides in part that the Board shall 

have the general management end control of the said 

hospital, grounds, buildings, officers and anployees 

thereof; of the inmates therein and of all matters rel 

e 

ting 

to the government, discipline, contracts and fiscal co - 

terns thereof; and make such r~11es and regulations asmay 
. . 

Hon. Aa E. Hickerson, page 4 o-926 

seem to them necessary for carrying out the purposes 

of such hospital. 

pnovisions 

Your attention is further.called to .the other 

of Chapter 3 pertaining to the admission of 

patients, and that no discrimination shall be made in the 

accommodations, care or treatment of any patients because 

of the fact that the patient or his relatives contribute 

to the cost of his maintenance, in whole or in part, and 

that where a patient is able to pay for his maintenance 

the hospital shall not charge any greater sum than the average per capita cost of maintaining such patlent including 

a reasonable allowance for the interest on the cost of the 

hospital. 

The above statutes are called to your attention 

for the purpose of showing the Legislature has treated the 

subject of erecting, establishing, operating and maintaining such hospital with considerable detail. 

The commissd,oners court is given the authority 

to acquire real property for such purpose; to erect all necessary buildings, and to levy and collect taxes for the 

maintenance thereof. We do not construe such contracts 

as-authorized to be made'by the county board of managers 

as granting to said board any greater power or authority 

,to make and enter into contract for the maintenance of 

said hospital than would be authorized to be made by the 

commissioners court in the absence of a board of managerL. 

We deem it unnecessary to go into the provisions of the 

policy form aspresented~along with your request in view 

of the authorities hereinafter cited. 

"'The commissioners court is a creature of 

the state constitution and its powers are limited 

and controlled by the constitution end the laws 

as passed by the legislaturel. Article 5, Section 

18 of the Constitution of Texas; Baldwin v. Travis 

County, 40 Tex. Civ. App. 199, 88 SW 480; Seward 

V. Falls County (Tex. Civ. App. ) 2 6 SW 728; 

Bland v. Orr, 90 Tex. 492, 39 SW 55 !b I(-- 

Commissioners Court v. Wallace, 15 9. W. (2d) 535. 
Hon. A. E. E:ckerson, page 5 O-926 

It is a well settled principle of law that the 

commissioners court does not have any authority except 

that which is expressly or impliedly -conferred upon it 

by law. Edwards County v. Jennings, 33 S W 385; 15 Cor. 

Jur. 457, Sec. 103; 15 Car.-Jur. p. 537, Sec. 221. 

"Where a power is granted and the method 

of its exeroise is prescribed, the prescribed 

method excludes all others, and must be followed." Lewis' Sutherland Statutory Construction, 

Vol. 2, par. 572, 527, 828, 631., 

We quote from 15 Corpus Juris p. 537 as follows: 

"In ac&ordance with .the ,general rule heretofore stated, that county boards or county 

courts have.kno powers other than those conferred 

expressly or by necessary implication, such courts 

or boards have no power to rent or lease property 

or franchises owned bythe county, in the absence of statutory authority so to d." 

We quote from the case of Edwards County v. Jennings, 

33 SW p. 585, as follows: 

"Counties are political or civil divisions 

of the state, created for the purpo~se of bringing government home to the people and supplying 

the necessary means for executing the wishes~bf 

the people, end bringing'into exercises the machinery necessary to the enforcement of local 

government. Counties, being component parts of 

the state, have no powers or duties except those 

clearly set forth and defined in the constitution 

and statutes. 1 Dill. Mun. Corp. (par. 25). The 

statutes of Texas have clearly defined the powers, 

prescribed the duties, and imposed the liabilities 

of the commissioners court, the ~medium through. 

which the different counties act, and from those 

statutes must oome all the authority vested in 

the counties. It is provided in the constitution 

that the county commissioners so chosen, with the 

county judge, as presiding officer, shall compose 

the county commissioners court, which shall exercise such powers and jurisdictions over all county 
Hon. b. E. Kickerson, page.6 o-926 

buslneaep as is conferred by this constitution 

and the laws of this state, or as m&y be here-, 

after prescribed. 

8, sec. 18. 

Constitution, Article 5, par. 

Looking to the powers granted by 

the Legislature by virtue of the above cohstitutional provisions, we find that no authority is 

given the commissioners court to enter into such 

contract8 as the one sued on in this case. Revised 

Statutes, Art. 1514. It is clear that the attempted 

contract was beyong the power and authority donfided 

in the county commissioners." 

We find that in 1927 Honorable H. Grady Chandler, 

Assistant Attorney General of Texas, wrote a conference opinion rendered to Era E. P.! Watts, then County Auditor, of 

Wichita County, Wichita Falls, T&as, in which this department held that the commissioners court of Wichita County 

did not have authority to lease the county hospital. This 

ruling, we think, lends support to our view that such 

authority, expressed or implied, for raising tinds for maintaining a county hospital by means of selling policies of 

insurance is not round in the laws of tMs state. 

In view of the above authorities, you are, therefore, respectfully advised thatit as the opinion of this 

ii 

epartment that the.~l~ontgomery County Hospital Board of 

snagers doesnot hav,e authority to sell policies of lnsurante for hospital service under a membership plan as a meens 

of financing the county hospital affairs. 

Our answer to your question No. 1 renders it unnecessary for us to answer questions two and three of your 

letter. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GEEERAL OF TEXAS 

BY Wm. J. R. Ring 

Assistant 

WmlCrBT--pam 

APPROVED JUL lh 1939 

W. F. MOORE 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE 

BY WRK, CHAIREAR