OFFICE OF THE AITORNEY GE~NERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Nonorable Thos. A. %heat 

County Attorney 

Liberty County 

Liberty, Texer 

Orlnlon Mmb8r c)-18d2 

flat Artfs private drolna are 

oonntructed in nccordnnce with 

Artlclc 6153, shall ouch prlvata 

drnlne be ropeired and mlntolmd 

by tho.Draineae Coz&mlonora out 

of Dralnar,e Dlstriat funds? 

Xe hatie your latter of Jenuarp 16, in which yekrequest our opinion on the above oaptlonsd question, scd t&e 

Soots undei’lying your question arei briefly, 0s follon%t, 

CThatLlberty CountyP.epoixi Drelnage Distriot 

Ember 2 lagally cstabliehed dnd oreatod in ocoord- 

(rnoe with Title 128, Chn;ter 7 of the Revised Civil 

Btnttitoa lme’becn and in funotioning.88 d drainQ6e 

dlatrlot pursuant to.such lavr( and thnt under 

authority of hrtlole 8133 of anld title, private 

drains have been aoostruotod ivhloh find a8 -their 

ultlntite souroo or outlet oemle drains, ditches 

and ls~eea, aonstrWted by thk dkxiot.* 

Your quueatlon iaj 

Y?hethsr or not those so-aellad private drains, 

oonetruotnd in txkaordance with Article RlR3, shall 

be rzir;tnlned and repnlrod by: the Drolnnf;e Co:mlaalonaru out of the Drslmqe Dletrlot funds, to-:vit, 

tha Kaintannnaa Fund, or doas the xi~alntomnaa and 

ropalflng of mid so+olled private drains kav@ 

to be done by the person ownlng the land who had 

the aamo oonetruated et hla awn expense In aoaordanoe dtb aald artioloru 
Eonorablo ThOEi. A. Wheat, page #a 

It 18 ouc oplnlon that the fnalntenance of ssld private 

drolne roust be at the oxpenee of the person or persons who 

oanatmcted thorn, and that the oomloaloncra of the drainage 

distriot are not outhorfzed to exppnd funds of the Ulstrfat 

obtalned through a maintenanae fax: levy upon tho owners resldlng wlthln the dlatriot. 

In fJUpl;Ort of this cono~ueion we wish to stnto that 

as e qoncrsl proposition of law, a dralnnge district organized 

pursuant to stntuta Is R aubdlolsion.ot the State which oxerolaes grantod po:vere withIn it& torrltarlal jurisdiction, and 

that its dutlao aro Fubllc,.not private, In their caturo. They 

are political or pub110 aubdlvlalons of the State, created for 

n special purpose find exaralslng only auoh po~~ra es ore expresslp grontod or which are essential ond inoidont to the 

cxorolse of 33xprossed powara FJven. *on (I drain8.y dlstriat 

is organized pursuant to, Title 120, Chnptor 7, of the Revised 

Clvll Statutes of 1925, wa think there la only one purpose 

Sor whlah it 1s created, and that la to dreln the lnnd wlthln 

the dlatrlot, or to ereat and nnintaln asnale and dltohas, to 

central floods and other flowing wntore. hit Is, thdrofore, a 

neoessary conclusion thet if the ofgenlzatlon 1s to be camptent to aaoozpllsh ito destined pu.rporre, there must be come 

sutharlzed manner in rhloh the requlrcd oosta are to be mt, 

and t is a baa’io prlnclple of’ anr kind of texation that those 

ahw I d poy who are banaflttcd. 3~ think t.ho.t the !.ot tiuthorking the ostabllnhmant of dralnces districts contenplatea 

the lmprovemcnt of the area wlthle the drnlnago dlatrlot in 

rucb mnnor na the intorest at large within aaid district pil). 

brat be served. Article 8103 reads aa followa! 

“If &t the heorlng it ap&re to the oou.rt thnt 

the dralnoge.of such distriot’ la feosible and praotlcablo, nnd that it la needed, that tke dralnnne 

would be conduolve to the publio health or would 

bo.s public benefit,or a pub110 utility. then the 

aourt shell so find. But if .that court fl.nd8 any 

of anld lasuee in the neqatlqe, it shall dismiss 

the potltlon at the coat of the petitionera. The 

rlnblnga ohall br rntered of ~remrd .* 
Bonorablo Thos. A. ~Whhsat, pa@ #S 

‘iie think the langurge,in this artlalo Is indicative l 

of the public bonefit oontemplated by the entire Aot.. 

Article G13’? providoe : that~ tee oo~.zIssionere shall 

annuelly file a detnlled report of the condltlon of tho lmprovemcnts theretofore mada in the distrlot, ivith on astimate 

of the probable oost of mnintenanca end nccdcU repairs during 

ths onsuing Year, end hrtiole 0136 rrc8cribea tho mcnnor of 

ls~ylng, the tax for both bonded lndebtadnons rind xzalntenanoe 

ond otctos thct oufficieut ttires nhnll bo coll6ctod upon all 

such i~~roveixenta aa havu been mode pursuant to’ the r~ppa End 

profiles of drain&@ dltohee and othor improvements deoorlbed 

in Artlole 8126 and that it does not in any nmy have rofaranoe 

to draIna ditohoa construottid bp private owners in sooordsnoe with IIrtIole R153. 

Article 8154 provides that *the drainage oommlssioners 

shell keep the canals, drains, dito’hes an& levees nnd other 

improvements wde hcreunaer in repair and ~qhll hove general. 

suthorlty to -wise t1r.d ccntrol the construotlon end tilntencnce of same.” In the hot8 .cf the Thirty-soccnd Lee,islature, 

1811, this FrOVi0iOn ws.s Saotion 42 of Chaptar 118, and. the 

article next abova quoted was 3eotlon 39 of na1.d ohaptcr, and 

Seotlons 40 and 41 were FUfJtili9nt purts Of thnt Act. Thea6 

lest two sootlons wem anrrlad forward Into tho 19lJ gavlaed 

Clvll Stntuteo aQ Articles 3420 and 3426 of the Penal Coda, 

with ArtIole 3420 beine subnequontly repaoled. Article 342d 

beln6 carried forward to the 1925 rovielon 08 Article 852 of 

the Penal Code. Eaoh OC sa.@ oriqlnul oeotiona, when apenk- 

:,;go8mprovemcnte .:ithIn the dralna6e districts, used thle 

: 

aConstruoted, repaired or Improved under the prozi$y,” of’~thIe Aot, for .tha ixwpose of drcinsge 

snd from which. v.e hav6 oonoluded that hrtlole 0184, vJhereIn 

it uses the laneage “other improvements medo hereunder*, refers 
Honorable Thee. A. Wheat, page #4 

to such im~rovementa ss aro authorized by this i<,ot to ba 

msde by the distriot aa a dlatriot. It obviously naa deemed 

wise by the Le&lqture to permit privnto osnara .to oonatruot 

drain ditches to tie into the sfstam provided by the district, 

but the exercise of auoh privilege was limited by the terma 

of this article. 

It ie our apInion thot.ony of the z;nlntenanoo tax 

f&d that mnp b,e expended by the oor%iasionera for mointenence 

of u privately owned drnin dltoh would oonotltute nn unsuthorized uac of nuoh X’und. rn the f3aaa of Jc:ffurson Countf Drainage 3Istrlct ~8. XoFaddln, CO1 C.ti. 322, afflrmod Corrmiaelon 

or Appeals, 4 9.V. (ed) 33, tho!Supromo Court anid! 

Woney voted 6peoILioslly .for the purpose only 

of cdnstructiq. a~-drainagei Bystem wlthin tho 

bounds or the ,droinsgO dlstrlat, msp bo aaed only 

for that purp9ae.n 

Then in the oaae of btrroll vs. ~x’illirms, till2 8.W.B04,, by ihe 

3opreme Court, we find thla i’urther limgu2r301 

n * * *- -ha Q mMtor of common honoaty and fsir 

desllng, tax money ~tnkcn iron the pcoplo ostensibly 

for ont apeoitied ‘mrpose, : &all be expend@ aa 

needed for thnt purpouo,clone * * *.* 

Xe think the expenditure of pub110 funds, nuch as the mtlntenanoo tox.lunds of the drainage .dlatrIot, on the improveGent 

and mointenanoe of privctely oxned drulnsge dltohea would 

oonstltute a diversion of suoh f’undu under the law. 

Trusting that th@ &atIofaetorilg mnsaors~~pour pusatlcn, wo are 

Very truly fours