Ilkr~ A-~~OMNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS R-598

Auwrnw 1% - PRICE DANIEL *TTORNBYGENERAL July 2, 1947

Honorable F. EoMitchell County Attorney Callahan County Baird, Texas Opinion lie. V-293 Res Construction of H.B.

‘

. 501, Acts of the 53th 3ii,‘tiYi’ti%i allowances of sheriffs aad their deputies. Dear Sirr Your letter requesting an opfnlcn from this Department on the above subject matter ie as Pollowsr

"House Bill No. 501,of the P¢ aessioa of the 50th LegislatuM provides8 'The County C~ssloimre Courts of thls..State. are directed to supply andpay fop transportation 

### of sheplffs of theiF respective counties and'thelr deputies to and from points withIn this state, under one OSthe four (4) followtng SeCtiOns (Alternative methods being set out In said sectlone). "The questlon has arisen tith pespeot to transporation to be allowed the sheriff of Callahan County ae.to whether or not the word *Qlreoted' used in the bill makes it arandatorg upon the court to makesuch allowanoes for such transportation. The Caption of the bill uses the word qautho~lclng , whloh might lndihate that it was not intended to be lDmaatorg. Yaw op1IWin construing the bill, as regarding whethero? not its qovls

### loas am maMatory will be appreciated. The tltle of,House Bill 501, Bate of the 50th Legielatwe, 1947, VeraonQ Session LawService, page 357, provllleB as followsr

‘ANACTauthmlclng County Commlesioners Courts to compensate sheriffs and their deputies for transporation or furnish adeqmte. .

Hon. F. 

### E.Mitchell - Page 2, V-293

transportation withlnWthe State; and declaring an emergency. The body of the Bill need not be quoted because the portions material to this lnqulrg are stated in your request.

Wequote the ‘following fr* Sutherland on Statutory Construction 3rd edition, Sec. 5003.

“Logically the events occ~?lng lnnnedlatelg prior to the enactment of. tha statute ought to be a most lucrative sowce ior ftformation Indicative 

### ofthe legislative :ntent embodied therein. Tiierefora, the hletory~of the meamre during Its enactment, that Is, during the period from its lntroductlon in the legislature to Its enactment, has generally been the first extrinsic aid to which courts have turned In attempting to construe an ambiguous act.” With,the above rule in mindwesearohed the records of the Secretary of State )a office andfound .the f0110tiag racts relative to the enactment of H. B. 501. Section 1 OSB. B. 501, as Introduced, read in part as follows :

“Th8county CommisslonePs courts or this itate are authorlsed and directed to

. . .OnApril 9, 1947, the Houseamendedthe bill by 641etlng the words "and dirroted'. OnA~F1123, 1947, the Seaafi amendedthe bill by striking out the words *are authorized" and substituting therefor the words *are 

### eir00okd.” The bill vau then adopted b$ the Senate and 

### rrentback to the House. Thr &we concurred in Senate anrenQlrnt8dprii 

### 23, 1947, ~4 xx01380 ml 501 ~88 ii104 with& the OovoPnoP'8 elgnaturr May14, 1947.

It is readily apparent that lt'was the Leglslature%4'Lntation by aaoptlag the Senate’s amendmentof A & 11 239, to ma$et% ~ovlrlow of LB. 501 mandatory. woldr direct or dlrrated" are generally construed to **be mm5atoPgs**  12Words and Phrases (Porn. Ird.) 442, 466; 26C.J.S. 1316.Hon. F. E. Mitchell - Page 3, V-293

WedeemIt pertinent to quote the following well settled rules of statutory constructiona

'+ Act should be given a fair, rational; reasonable and sensible constmction, conslderlng its language and subject matter with a view o? aoocopllahlng the legislative Intent and puTpose. In other words, construction shoti comport with ccumuonsense andjustice, ana irrational conclusions or deductions should be avoided." 173. 39Tex. Jtiup.172, "Prlmarlly the intention and meaning of the Legislature must be ascertained from the lsnguage of the statute as a whole, that is, of the law." from the entire context

39Tex. Jur. 176, 177. "Doubtless a court will have regard to the language wee in,& statute or provlslon,thereof In determining whet,her It Is mandatory 0~merely directory. Words of permissive ormandatory character will o~dina~lly be given their natural effect, but whenthere 1s room for.constructlan permissive words will be given a mandatory, significance or mandatory words will be held to be directory as appears to be necessary to effectuate the legislative intent. "The w0res Quay@and DshaPl" a~0 Zrequently used interchangeably, and the use of one or the 

### otherof these w0res in a statute la not conclusive of the question whether it ehould be construed a8 nrandatory or dlscretk8aary.~ Ordinarily, 'shall or ‘must.’ Is of mandatory effect; but a statute 1s eaetQaes held to be dlreotory notwithstanding the use of theword *ah~4ll.~ Thus

### whereno right'& benefit depbnda upon its imperative usa, the word 'shall' Is held to be merely dirsctorg 

### au4 as havUag been used in the sense of may.', Onthe other hand, 'may' oPQinaPlly conmtss diacretion or permlsrlan; and it VilL not be treated as a w@re of commandunless thereHan. F. k, Mitchell - Page 4 V-293

la something In the context of eubjsotmattep of the act $ indicate that it -8 wee in that stime. 39 Tex. SUP. 36, 37* In view of the foFegolmg It Is our opinion tint Eouee Bill 50116 mandatory, and the Comialesioners~ Couvt must determine under which subdivision of the Act 1x11 furnish the sheriff andhis deputies transporta-

. Vewish to call to you attention t&M.liouee B&l1 501 passed the lioumoriglnally April ~9 1947, by 112 Yeas and 4 Rap. It wasamendedhy the k!iate and 6884Ap~ll 23, 1947 by 24Year end 0l%ys aad the &ee 

### aoacurree zl.nSe&ate Amendnest Appll 23, 1947, by 69._rssa and 52 ISame

Article III, Saction 39, of our State Coastltutlon provldest

"Holawpaseed~bftbe Legislatum'axcspt the general approprtclation act, sha11 take 

### errectOrgointofbrcsunta aiawtt day0after the adjourmnt of tke sesslo~ at whLchIt was enaated, unless In ease of an emergency, which emergency mustAbeqpresred In a prqkmble or in the bod$ or the aat, th# Leglalatua?e 

### ahall,byavoeor two thirds a? alZ the memberselected to each Xi+e)e, othetiS6 dirdctf aaid vote to be taken b the journeLB*

y$ae and nays, and entered Won

4oil. w, 2pe;p ca&eat&rrt" Mayi l+l!l &x. CP* IL 1165, OHalar A~ealis hwld that a aubatitute bill*clWi~reBt 

### rromthe cd.@.amX bill a&b

## mot plsood w 8 record oats showing conc~Wnc0 of two-thirds of tk Legislate *be inerfectlve a8 an energency measure andthat the power to makean emergeflog meaeuPemuatbe l awlsedwhenthe Legielatrr beoomer aware of the terms aarrlta&mlin the bill a8 finally agreed uponand paseed, Wrdaven wu folluuod by the 

### Supreme court of Texar in the oan of Oeplar v9@o&a, 129 Pu. 370, 102 S.Wu2d 173, 

### wherela the suprim Corult aaldr

*In the MayOar8 the Cotrrt oi bri&lnal Ap eals held In iubrtanoe, that a substitute ME, dlfferint frdSII,the original bill, andHon. F, E. Mitchell - Page 

### 5 V-293

not passed by a PecoPd vote sho&ng ooacurrence of two-thL.rds of the 'PegfslatuPe, was lneffectlve as an dme~gencgmeasure; and that the power to makean timergamy measwe must be exerofsed whenthe Legfslatau-e becanes awaPeof the terns centaWed fn the bill as finally agmed uponand passed, The Court of Civfl Appeals follbwed the rule annimnced by the Colrpt of C~fminal Appeals In the MayCase, and hePa that the vote upon.Che amendments, andnot the vote upon the original bill, would cont;Po& e 0 0

“It is clear that the object of We provfslon of ‘the Constftutfon above quoted is that if a bill fs to take effect inmwdfately on Its passage, it must contain an emergency clause and such Mlf must be passed by a vote of two-thirds of all. the members elected to each house, an8 such vote to be taken by yeas audnays and entered upOnthe journals. Uethink the rule ploescpibed by the Conatltutlon also applies to amendmentsand repo&e of conference comnlttees

. . .” In view of the fopego Houm EM11501, Aots of the 50th &egislatuFe, 19Q70vf i become e.ffective on 9 September 

### 5*194T7,(ninety da e,afte~ date atadjou~tnent of the 50th Legfslature. 7 SW The pPotislow3 of H. Be501 (50th Leg.~, 1947, provfdfng the pIIB!meP of ooaqtensatlon to sheriffs and thati depu

### ties for transportation, @Pemandatory, 8. B. 501 not having passed wfth the necessary 

### 2/3vote of each House, will lmcome effective on September 5, 

### 1947 (ninety day8 after date of ad,journme*~ of the 50th Legislature.) truly youre GmL OFTBXAS

JR% djmrmv Assistant