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### HE ,~TT~RR~EY GENERAL

OFTEXAS

Honorable Henry Wade District Attorney Dallas, Texas Dear Mr. Wade: Opinion No. 

### W-173. Re: Effective date of House Bill No. 

### 940,kcts of the 55th Legislature, Regular Session. Youhave requested the Opinion of this office relative to the effective date of H.B. 940, Acts of the 55th Legislature. The foregoing bill creates aJuvenile Court andaCourt of Domestic Relations in Dallas, and provides generally for the organization and operation of said courts.

The official endorsements on the Bill itself reflect that it was finally passed by both Houses of the Legislature by the requisite two-thirds majority which is required for aBill to become immediately effective after its approval bythe Governor . TheBill was subsequently approved bythe Governor on June 12, 1957.

Section 22 of said Bill, samebeing the emergency clause, reads as follows:

“The crowded condition of the dockets in the District Courts of,Dallas County creates an emergency andan imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several davs in each House be susnended, and said Rule is Section reads as followsr

“Nolawhereby suspended, and it is so enacted.”



### 39of Article III of the Constitution of Texas, passed by the Legislature, except the general appropriation act, shall take effect or go into force until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was enacted, unless in case of an emergency, which emergency must be expressed in apreamble or in the body of the act the Legislature shall, by avote of two-thirds of ail the members elected to each House, otherwise direct; said vote to be taken byyeas andnays, and entered upon the journals.” Section 32 of titicle III of the Constitution of Texas, reads as follows:-. -

. -

Honorable Henry Wade, page 2 

### (WW-173)

“Nobill shall have the force of alaw, until it has been read onthree several days in each House, and free discussion allowed thereon; but in cases of imperative public necessity (which necessity shall be stated in apreamble or in the body of the bill) four-fifths of the House, in which the bill maybe pending, maysuspend this rule, the yeas andnays being taken on the question of suspension, and entered upon the journals.” It is noted that the emergency clause of H.B. 940 or no section thereof contains the usual provision that “this Act shall take effect andbe in force from andafter its passage, and it is so enacted”, or words of similar import or meaning. Theprimary question is what effect, aclause, if any, the absence of such

or words of similar import, in any section or portion of the bill has upon the effective date of same.

Theexact question was before the Court of Civil Appeals in the case of APP., s 

### 70S.W. 1001 (Civ. error dim. W.O.J. The emergency Alause of the bill before the Court read as follows:

“The fact that there is nolaw in force adequately providing for the license of physicians, surgeons andmidwives creates anemergency andan imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read onthbrc several days be suspended andthis act placed on its final passage and it is so enacted. ItSpeaking of the foregoing clause andthe effect of sameupon the effective date of the bill, the court said:

“It will be observed that

‘direct’ when the act shall go this section does not into effect, nor is

.. .i such direction to be found in tne preamole or anywhere in the body of the act. In the absence of such direction, it could not, in view of the constitution, go into effect until 90 days after adjournment. The

‘emergency and imperative public necessity’ recited is that ‘the constitutional rule requiring-bills to be read onthree several days be suspended.’ Theconstitutional rule referred to is that prescribed by section 

### 32,art. 3, of the constitution, which it authorized suspended ‘in cases of imperative public necessity,’ and evidently has no reference to section 35of the same article.”Honorable Henry Wade, page 3 

### (W-173)

The applicability of the foregoing decision to H.B. 

### 940is readily apparent. The emergency clause of said bill, as in the above case, was effective only to suspend the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each House. Thebill is completely silent as to the time when sameshall become effective. Nolanguage therein used is reasonably indicative of alegislative intent that the bill should become immediately effective after its passage.

You are accordingly advised that it is our opinion that H.B. 

### 940,pursuant to Section 

### 39of Article III of the Constitution of Texas, will become effective 90days after the adjournment of the Regular Session of the 55th Legislature.

House Bill 940passed by the 55th Legislature, Regular Session, will become effective 90 days following the adjournment date of said session of the Legislature. Very truly yours, WILLWILSON Attorney General of Texas

LP:jlrwb APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTEE: H. Grady Chandler, Chairman Larry Jones Milton Richardson Joe G.Rollins By"' / Leonard Passmore Assistant

REVIEWED

FORTHEATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Geo. P. Blackburn