**OFFICE OF**  **THE AITORNEY**  **GE~NERAL OF**  **TEXAS AUSTIN** 

Nonorable Thos. A. %heat CountyAttorney 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- (rnoewith 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 whohad the aamooonetruated et hla awnexpense In aoaordanoe dtb aald artioloruEonorablo ThOEi.**A.** Wheat, page #a

It 18 ouc oplnlon that the fnalntenance of ssld private drolne roust be at the oxpenee of 

### theperson 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**  resldlngwlthln the dlatriot. In fJUpl;Ortof this cono~ueion wewish to stnto that as e qoncrsl proposition of law, a dralnnge district organized pursuant to stntuta Is Raubdlolsion.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 nspecial purpose find exaralslng only auoh po~~ra es ore expresslp grontod or which are essential ond inoidont to the cxorolse of33xprossed powara FJven. *on (Idrain8.y dlstriat is organized pursuant to,Title 120, Chnptor 7, of **the** Revised Clvll Statutes of 1925, wathink there la only one purpose Sorwhlah it 1s created, and that la to dreln the lnnd wlthln thedlatrlot, or to ereat andnnintaln 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 Idpoy whoare banaflttcd. 3~ think t.ho.tthe !.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 prao**  tlcablo, nnd that it la needed, that tke dralnnne would be conduolve to the publio health or would bo.s public benefit,or a pub110utility. 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

‘iiethink 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 madain 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 rindxzalntenanoe ondotctos thct oufficieut ttires nhnll bo coll6ctod upon all

such i~~roveixenta aa havu been modepursuant to ’ the r~ppaEnd profiles of drain&@ dltohee and othor improvements deoorlbed in Artlole 8126 and that it does not in any nmyhave rofaranoe to draIna ditohoa construottid bp private owners in sooordsnoewith 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.dccntrol the construotlon end tilntencnce of same.” In the hot8 .cf the Thirty-soccnd Lee,islature, 1811, this FrOVi0iOnws.sSaotion 42 of Chaptar 118, and.the article next abova quoted was 3eotlon 39 of na1.dohaptcr, and Seotlons 40 and 41 were FUfJtili9nt purts Of thnt Act. Thea6 lest two sootlons wem anrrlad forward Into tho 19lJ gavlaed Clvll Stntuteo aQArticles 3420 and 3426 of the Penal Coda, withArtIole 3420 beine subnequontly repaoled. Article 342d beln6 carried forward to the 1925 rovielon 08 Article 852 of thePenal Code. Eaoh OCsa.@ 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

sndfrom which.v.ehav6 oonoluded that hrtlole 0184, vJhereIn it uses the laneage “other improvements medohereunder*, refersHonorable Thee. **A.** Wheat, page #4

to such im~rovementa ss aro authorized by this i<,otto ba msdeby 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 mnpb,eexpended by the oor%iasionera for mointenence of uprivately owneddrnin dltoh would oonotltute nnunsuthorized uac of nuohX’und. rn the f3aaaof Jc:ffurson Countf Drainage 3Istrlct ~8. XoFaddln, CO1C.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 Bystemwlthin tho bounds or the,droinsgO dlstrlat, mspbo aaed only for that purp9ae.n Thenin the oaae of btrroll vs. ~x’illirms, till28.W.B04,, by ihe 3opremeCourt, we find thla i’urther limgu2r301

n * * *-**-ha**QmMtor of commonhonoaty and fsir desllng, tax money~tnkcniron the pcoplo ostensibly for ont apeoitied ‘mrpose, :&all be expend@ aa needed for thnt purpouo,clone * * *.* Xethink the expenditure of pub110 funds, nuch as the mtlntenanootox.lunds of **the** drainage .dlatrIot, on the improveGent and mointenanoe of privctely oxned drulnsge dltohea would oonstltute a diversion of suoh f ’unduunder the law. Trusting that th@ &atIofaetorilg mnsaors~~pour pusatlcn, wo are Very truly fours