Ilkr~ A-~~OMNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

R-598 

Auwrnw 1% - 

PRICE DANIEL 

*TTORNBY GENERAL 

July 2, 1947 

Honorable F. Eo Mitchell 

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 and pay fop transportation of sheplffs of theiF respective 

counties and'thelr deputies to and from 

points withIn this state, under one OS the 

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 make such 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 qovlsloas am maMatory will be appreciated. 

The tltle of,House Bill 501, Bate of the 50th 

Legielatwe, 1947, VeraonQ Session Law Service, page 357, 

provllleB as followsr 

‘AN ACT authmlclng 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. 

We quote 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 of the 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 mind we searohed the 

records of the Secretary of State )a office and found .the 

f0110tiag racts relative to the enactment of H. B. 501. 

Section 1 OS B. B. 501, as Introduced, read in part as 

follows : 

“Th8 county CommisslonePs courts or 

this itate are authorlsed and directed to 

. . . 

On April 9, 1947, the House amended the bill 

by 641etlng the words "and dirroted'. On A~F11 23, 1947, 

the Seaafi amended the bill by striking out the words 

*are authorized" and substituting therefor the words *are 

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

rrent back to the House. Thr &we concurred in Senate 

anrenQlrnt8 dprii 23, 1947, ~4 xx01380 ml 501 ~88 ii104 

with& the OovoPnoP'8 elgnaturr May 14, 1947. 

It is readily apparent that lt'was the Leglslature%4 'Lntation by aaoptlag the Senate’s amendment of 

A 

& 

11 239, to ma$e t% ~ovlrlow of LB. 501 mandatory. 

woldr direct or dlrrated" are generally construed 

to be mm5atoPgs 12 Words and Phrases (Porn. Ird.) 442, 

466; 26 C.J.S. 1316. 
Hon. F. E. Mitchell - Page 3, V-293 

We deem It 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 ccumuon sense and justice, 

ana irrational conclusions or deductions 

should be avoided." 

173. 

39 Tex. 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 

39 Tex. 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 or mandatory character will 

o~dina~lly be given their natural effect, 

but when there 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 other of 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 where no 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.', On the 

other hand, 'may' oPQinaPlly conmtss diacretion or permlsrlan; and it VilL not be 

treated as a w@re of command unless there 
Han. 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 and his deputies transporta- 

. 

Ve wish to call to you attention t&M. liouee 

B&l1 501 passed the lioumoriglnally April ~9 1947, by 

112 Yeas and 4 Rap. It was amended hy the k!iate and 

6884 Ap~ll 23, 1947 by 24 Year end 0 l%ys aad the 

&ee aoacurree zl.n Se&ate Amendnest Appll 23, 1947, by 

69._rssa and 52 ISame 

Article III, Saction 39, of our State Coastltutlon provldest 

"Ho law paseed~bftbe Legislatum'axcspt the general approprtclation act, sha11 

take errect Or go into fbrcs unta aiawtt 

day0 after the adjourmnt of tke sesslo~ 

at whLch It was enaated, unless In ease of 

an emergency, which emergency must Abe qpresred In a prqkmble or in the bod$ or the 

aat, th# Leglalatua?e ahall, by a vo e or 

two thirds a? alZ the members elected to 

each Xi+e)e, othetiS6 dirdctf aaid vote to 

be taken b 

the journe LB* 

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 rrom the 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 

and that the power to make an emergeflog meaeuPe muat be 

l a wlsed when the Legielatrr beoomer aware of the terms 

aarrlta&ml in the bill a8 finally agreed upon and paseed, 

Wrda ven 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 May Oar8 the Cotrrt oi bri&lnal 

Ap eals held In iubrtanoe, that a substitute 

ME, dlfferint frdSII,the original bill, and 
Hon. 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~gencg measure; 

and that the power to make an timergamy 

measwe must be exerofsed when the Legfslatau-e becanes awaPe of the terns centaWed 

fn the bill as finally agmed upon and 

passed, The Court of Civfl Appeals follbwed 

the rule annimnced by the Colrpt of C~fminal 

Appeals In the May Case, and hePa that the 

vote upon.Che amendments, and not 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 aud nays and 

entered upOn the journals. Ue think the 

rule ploescpibed by the Conatltutlon also 

applies to amendments and repo&e of conference comnlttees . . .” 

In view of the fopego Houm EM11 501, Aots 

of the 50th &egislatuFe, 19Q70 vf 9 i become e.ffective on 

September 5* 194T7, (ninety da e,afte~ date atadjou~tnent of the 50th Legfslature. 7 

SW 

The pPotislow3 of H. Be 501 (50th 

Leg.~, 1947, provfdfng the pIIB!meP of 

ooaqtensatlon to sheriffs and thati deputies for transportation, @Pe mandatory, 

8. B. 501 not having passed wfth the 

necessary 2/3 vote of each House, will 

lmcome effective on September 5, 1947 

(ninety day8 after date of ad,journme*~ of 

the 50th Legislature.) 

truly youre 

GmL OF TBXAS 

JR% djmrmv Assistant