_A -

March 23, 1939

Hon. Geo. VI.Cox State Realth Officer Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-615 Re: Effect of 1937 amendments to the Vital Statistics Len with particular referenoe to illegitimatebirth.
Your request for an opinionas to the effeot of the 1937 amendment to theVital StatistiosLaw has been received.

Inyour letter datedMaroh 16, 1939.you request that we answer three questions, to witr

"1. Are the records filed under the 1927 law subjeot to the restrioticnsof the 1927 law, or relieved of such restrictionswhich were omitted in the 1937 Amendment?

"2. Should the State Registrar, in 1936 and subsequentyears, attaoh to the original record the affidavit of the father ohanging the surname, etc., on the reoords filed prior to 19371

"3. Should the StatsRegistrar, in 1938 and subsequentyears, issue a oertified copy of the birth reoord of an illegitimate child filed in violation of the legal provisions in force at the time when that record was filed?"
TheVital StatistiasLaw, as oontained in the 1924Vernon's Codificationof the Revised Civil Statutes.was listed as Rule 34 to 57 inclusive of A*iole 4477. In 1927 the First Called Session of the 40th Legislaturepassed Senate Bill 46, nhioh purported to set up a Vital Statistics Law for the State of Texas, and by Section 24 of said Act the LegislaturerepealedRules 34 to 67 inalusive of Artiole 4477 of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1926, Senate Bill 46 did not purport to amend any existing law, but was a ocmplete law within itself, and did not depend upon any other statute or sat of statutes. Section 14 of this Act related to birth certificatesand the matter whioh they were to contain.Hon. Geo. W. Ccx, Marah 23, 1939, page 2 o-515

In 1929 the First Called Session of the 41st Legislature passed Senate Bill 20, which amended Sections 3 4, 14 and 20 of Senate Bill 46, passedby the First Called Session of the 40th Legislature. The section of the 1929Act which amended Section 14 of the 1927Actadded a new subsectionto said Seoticn 14, designatedas subsection 25, and relating to the birth recordsand certificatesof illegitimatechildren. Evidently this subsection is the one you refer to in your letter.

Senate Bill 46, Acts of the 40th Legislature.First Called Session, as amended by Senate Bill 20, Acts of the 41st Legislature, First Called Session.was codified in Vernon'sAnnotated Statutes as Rule 34a to 57a inclusive of Artiole 4477. Section~14of said Senate Bill 46. as amended by Senate Bill 20, Acts of the 41st Legislature, First Called Session,was referred to as Rule 47a.

In 1937 the 45th Legislaturepasses House Bill 376, the title or caption ofwhiah roads as follcws:

."&IAct amendingRule 47a of Article 4477 of Title 71, Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, 1925, by repealing subparagraphs 6 and '25thereof3and dealaringan omergenoy."
You will note that the oaptioncf this Billmakes no referenoe to the originalAct passed in 1927,nor to the 1929 anandatoryAct, nor does itmake any reference to the subjestmatter aontained ins the Bill. Article 3, Seoticn 36 of the Constitutionof Texas states that no Bill shall ocntainmore than one subject,whioh subject shall be expressed in its title, andmakes certain exceptionsnot pertinent to this opinion. The Supreme Court of this Statehas held that if articles amended are suffioientlyidentifiedby reference in the title of the amendatoryAct, and the articles amended themselves indicate the purpose of the amendment, that the title of the amondatoryAct is suffioient. Scottish-AmericanMortgage Ccnnpany v. Hardy 56 S. W. 169; Raymond Kibvo 95 S.W. 727.

It is the opinion of (thisdeparhnent that House Bill 376 passed by the 46th Legislature is invalid because itviolates Section 35 of Article 3 of the Texas Constitution,in that its subjeot is not expressed in the title or caption of the Bill. The only reference wade in thentitle of this Act is to an unofficial aodifioationwhioh is not recognizadby the State of Texas, and is not a part of any officialpublication. 'lhe title of this A& refers tc subsectionsbf Article 4477, Revised Civil Statutes, 1926, which as a matter of fact do not exist in the 1926 codification. The attempted 1937 amendment is thereby rendered ambiguous and invalid. It follows that Senate Bill46, passed by the First Called Session of the 40th Legislature as amended by Senate Bill 20, passed by the First Called Session of the 41st Legislature, is in full force and effect, including thekm. Geo. W. Cox, ldaroh23, 1939, page 3 o-515

prcvisicnsand restrictionswith referenceto the birth records and certificatesof illegitimate children,and should be follclred by your departmentwithout reference to or limitation by l+cuse tiill 376, Acts of the 45th Legislature,which you refer to in your letter as the 1937 amendment.
Yoursvery truly ATTORI\%Y

GENIZAL OF TEXAS

Sy s/koss Carlton Ross Carltcn Assistant
RC!ob:we
APPROVEC: S/W. F. Moore ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS