OFFICE OFTHEATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS


### AUSTIN

HonorableAlfred N. Steinle CountyAttorney Ateacoaa County Jourdnnton,Texae

Deer Sir:

06, attorneys* iser th6 84x10

and

01:not pmit 

## adrad .fr0mparre-lnvestnrent

of the oa8h la 'the s8h001

## ma or the wqtnty 

### sh0uiabboma the Permanent hrnd or the hw!llable



## TOamwer your fir6t i+WtlOn we deeatit neoembary that we 

## review the oon6tltutionblprovlelon anb laws unUer whiah the countiqs or thle State hete been apportioned land for schoolpurposes. By virtue of-an Ad approved January 28, 1839, oertain leaguea cr land were granted to W&Y~.X&~~OWJ oounties of the State **rt3r** 

### purposesof eaumion.HonorebleA$fred .R.Steinle,page #S

was enlarged upon by the Act of Jenuary 16, 1850. At en election on August 14, 1883, Section 6, Article 7, was adopted end became s !art of our present Constitution. This provisionreads, in pert:

"All land heretofore or heraaiter granted to the several counties of this State for educetionalpurposesare of right the property of said counties,res?ectlvely, to which they were **granted** end title thereto la vested in said oountlee ena no adverse poasea8lon or Mmltation ahall ever be availablea'gainstthe tltle,of any ooutlty

* l ***** **Eac~coQnty may**  **Sell or**  **aiSpOSt# or**  **Ii8** lend inwhole or In part 1i1 a manner to be provided by the COlIEUi88iOnerS': oorirt OS the ohlllty. Said laid and the procee& thereof when cold 8hal.l

be held byisaid countle8~a~onea8 a true% for .thebenefit o$ pub110 school&therein; said proceedstombe .inYe!sted in bonds of$h8 **u&tea StCIte8,**  **the 8tat&@f**  **‘ f8ZWOr**  **Caadti88 h**  **8aia Stite,**  **or In**  **SUch if&her**  **8eOUriti88~ and**  **under** atch re8trlatlqn8~as~i+ybe pre8Oribed Iiy **law; aaU.the**  **counties ehall**  bk.res mlble for

- *ozIic.r~ all investments;the lntemst .$ereon an revenue, eroqit the princ+l,':<~8htil be available fund~..~ .~

F%W5Uant t0 this COIIStitUtlOndl pr&l8iOn the La&Slature enactedArticle 2824, **OS** then Revleed.Civil **Statute8 ore.**  1925, whioh prescribe&the type oftinda in whloh the uo11opieoloaere* court8 of the varlouS.countlq8~+8re authorized to invest the proaeeda

## or the sale of the land granted to them for educationalpu.rposeS.This **artiole ’** **?$ikerriee** re+IIplV38i8eS thatprovision of the Conatltutlonrelating to the **Use8 of**  **the** income derived thererrdm. It etattd In clear language that *only the interest thereon to be ueed end.expsnded amllY*" iYethink the questionwell nettle 8 unused, and that only the that the FOrpQa of%he Soho' fund must remain Intact an earnings *herefrom shall ever be expended.

The returns from the investment of the Permanent SchoolFund become the "avalfable fundN end the manner of expending such income is limited by the provision of ArticleHonorable Xl?red N. Steinle,psge#3

2827 CP the Revised Civil Statutes or 1925. We think **there** Is no westion but thet the interest collected on the 

## ~ador's lien note retainedby Atescoaa County beoame a part of the Xw:lleble Fund.nnd, as such fund, it passed from the jurisdictionof tie Commissioners*Court of the county and subsequentex-pendltures therefron can be made solelyupon the outhorlzationof the County Board of Trustees and the County Superintendentacting as their agent. See the oa8e of Oge et al vs. Froboese et al, 66 S. **W.** 6138,(rehearing denied). In our opinion this preoludes the CO!mi88ioner8* Court or the ccunty from ra8ortingto the Avallabl8Tund Sol:the payment of ooste, expenses,attorneye' iserr and taxes whichmay have accrued agalnclt~the land heretofore granted to the county

### for educationalpurposes.

Article e951,Sectlon0, of the Revieed Clvl& Statutes of 1925, read8 as fOllw8:

BohoolS."

We, theretore, think that it beoame.the duty-o? tbo ~IsIIIIb8iOn~8'

Court to bring suit to reaover the land ln queatlon, and thatany expense incurreda8 a re8ult +r*? 8houldbe borne by the oounty. In SUppOrt Of thi8 cOnClll8iOu

we cite from the case o? Toml$naon Ys.~Ropkin8,Coopty$-reported in Volum& 

### 57 of the Texa8 Reports, at page‘.ElR, wherein the courtspeaking throughAssociata.Justice

### Bohnersaid: *The whole policy of the sereral acts, both of the Republlo and or the State of Texas, lti granting land'for the eatablishment~o? a general systemo? educatfonWa8 to make the land thus granted an availablenet ?und for this purpoee; ana it was not Intended that any part or it should be 

### diverted to any other purpose, not even to the expense of lccating and surveying it.* These lends

### were granted to the 

### VEiriOU8 counties in trust ?or the benefit of the schools of such counties, and the countieshave been made responsible ?br the sefeguerdfng

## of such tunas aa may hsve been derived 

### rrcm the sale of the land granted to it.HonorableAlfred K. Steinle,page ,&

"All agricultural or grazing school lend mentioned in Section 6 of this article owned by any county shall be subject to taxation except for State purposes to the same extent es land privately owned.*'
Therefore, we think that if the lands of ktascosa County lying Within LaSalle Countyare 8lassi?l,ed as either agrioutural or grazing land, then it must follow that Ataaoorra Caunty la liable for the taxea'dueLaSslle County, Pn the
ease 0s~

Childress CountyYS. 8tate"etal, reported in 92 s. w. (2d) 1011, the Supreme Court said: *Where agrloultural school. land was soldby counties to individual8who failed to comply with contraots of sale,whereup0n title to lands vverted to oounty; such land wuia not be burdened with ,taxee 

### duethe State during time landwa8 pri*atelp owned,* a$ the.same wQrt, speakingiurther, said4 aOqtire title 

### ~tosgrlcUlttlra1 ?A 

### wuxttywhich 

### did noere80hool land situated in anoth8b oountyuntil February, 1933, 

### .r&acqulrsdlandm@jeot to taresdue ench other aaunty ?or the years 1951 8x@ 1992, anl the county re-aoquirlng laad hed:.optiono?pfiylng taxee to proteat Its Interest or let land **be** 

### .a01d@r.such taxe8 * *". In other word8, the courthela that a judgmentr0r tare8 aoly ad lawfully 1eYled agfiia8t88hOOl land could not be.en?oroed against the carnty to whom euOh~landa&.dbeen gra8ted, but this, in our opinion,.doeenot relleYe‘~the..respoQaible oounty &? liability to the Penmnent Sohool l%nd o?‘it8 county.

summing up these opinion, the expense8 of the land belonging to the countymust be pald~from the that the taxes duly and law?ully Isvied agblnst such~lsndby &&lle Countymay be paid out of the revenue derived from the u, but that in the event there is no suchrevenue tmsuch taxes shall be paid from the @eneral.tid. See A,tlcie Ylnoa, Revised Civil Statutes of 1925.

To answer your second questionprerefer you to the last sentence of Section 6, Article 7, o? the Conetitutfon, which provides: iHonorable Alfred N. Stelnle,page #5

"Interest thereon and other revenue, except the principal, shall be available funds." We think the expression "other revenue" Is intended to cover any revenue earned by the Permanent School Fund as a result of the investment of theproceeds o? the sale of lend grantedby law to that county for educational purposes. Then it necessarily ?ollawsthat our conclusion is that any profit earned by this fund should beoome a part of the Available Fund.

**very truly**  **pUr8**

i?TORWEYGENKRALOFTEXM

JyL-4 &---+-

Clarenoe B. Crow

**A88i8tMt**

.APPRovJm: OPIWIOR COlIltamm BY B.W.B., Chsirmsn