**OFmOE OF**  **THE ATI** **’ ORNEY**  **GENERAL OP1MA6**  AUSnN



### Hamrable Murphytile County**Auditor** 

### Libertycouflty **Liberty,** 

### TePam


## Dar sir:HonorableEurphy Cole,pege ,#2



### The broad generalpurpose or House Bill JaSS is to essist the counties and derined rosa distriots 1s the retirement or obligations ore&ted for 

### the aoastraatlos of roads,whiah function has been deolared to be.one resting upon the State, and became of whioh, there now restsupon the State both a legal andmoral obligation to oompensate and rehfhurse au& countlee and uerfned road dietriot ror having performed such iunctions and to that extent the funds providedby this Aot shall ooastitutsralr, Justasa equitable coszpensatlon, repayment and 

### reimbursement to sald countiesand dellned road dlstriots, ana i'ully dlsaharges the legally impliedobligations of the State to so compansate, repay and reimburse suoh agencies of'the State.

Two methods hare been devisedunder thisAot by whloh said obllg5tloneare to be dlsoharged, the rlrst 

### being
a ab55t psrtloipatfoa in the one-oent gasoline tar **0r** obll

### gstlonsthe prooeeds or nchich have aatually been expeadsd upon State deslgaateahighwsysand by inaired partlal~tlon in meld one-oent gasolinetax through the *LateralRoad AooouIlt~ , to whiah aaoount is oredltedany exoess fundsromalning after all primary obligations hare been 

### alscharge&. This moon& method la designed to distrlbate such exsoss was equitablyand ratably to all or the aountlesana 

### definedroad distrlotsor the Stats or Texas in aooordanoe with the ratioprovided.

It will be noted that the entire hat treats of the 

### rstlrementof obligationsalready areated, theproseeds of 

### whlohhave been expendedupon State deslgnsted highways. It cont~plates asaiatiug the counties and derinea ma aimtriets in retiring,paykg.off ana dimsbarging suah obligat%ons, and that the rurther oonstmetlon at highways,UeSlgnated as State highways, rests exaluslrelyupon the State Hi&hway Commlsslon,and the bounties are forbiUdenby the prorlslon5 or seotlon 3 0r'Houme Bill #6SS to sake any rusther lmproremeuteor 

### saidhighway88x55ptby the aoquisltlon 0r rlgbt.5-or-mythereror.

The racts which gtre rise .to your rest questfon 

### are,briefly, as follows: In 1952 the DaptOn-Cleveland Road in Liberty county was 8 part of the State Righrar Systm and was designatedas State Klghway #l46, and later

### 586

Honorable EburphyCole, page 1$'3

this designationwas llf'tea or abandoned end said designation applied to another road. Subsequently, that is, betreen Septeuber 27, 1932 and prior to January 2, 1939, Liberty County construoted the Deyton-ClevelandRoed v3th bond fun&. To 

### mummmrlze,it must be noted that such designation~55 abandoned and the State Rlghway number which had been applied to the Dayton-Cleveland Road was applied to another mad, namely, the Liberty-LivingstonRoad. Further, it 15 admitted that therewas no debt existing at the time said mad was abandoned as e pert of the State Highway System,whioh, la
our opinion, excludes from partiaipation in the one-oent -5 tax the obllgetlons subsequently created for the aonatmotion or,auoh roads, except in such proportion 55 the obligations laay participate in any run65 accruing to the county throngh 

### thewLateralRoad Acoount?.

Cur construction of paragraph 3, Seotlon 2, fs that only 

### muoh roads as had tormerly oonstltutea a 

### partor the State Highway SyatesI

and whose status had been lost through change, relooatlon or abandonsent, that bed been aonatructed ulthbond tPnd8 and the obllgatlOn8 issued to secure swh funds sare outstandingat the time the 

### road vas a part or the Syeta, aad whloh bonds **or** obligations hfid 

### not been dlseharged or 

### retired at the time such road lost its designation either throwhF ahanus, relooatloa or abandonment, asn prtlolpate 55 aa mellgible issue* under the tez%s and pmvieions or House 'Bill #6-. We oannot aonceive that the Legislature intended tie pexwlt bonds, the pmcesds or which are to be expended oa a roaa formerly oonstitntlaga part of the State Highuar System, to pertloipate la the primary benerite of the one-oent gasoline tax ii'snahbonds are issued aubsequsnt~tothe abandonseat or such road as a part of the State High-y SystSr. Further, there being no evident intention by the HleIhuayComm.l55lon or reaeeiguatlng suoh road as a part or the Hi systes, we think the exoeptloa provlasa in 'aabseotioa a) F % seotiOn 6, paragraph 2, lnappllcable to this issue 0r bonds.

Themrore, **we** conaluae that your rlrst questloannst **be** answered in the negative.

The raata underlying your 5800na q~estlon are, briariy, that in 1929 bonds were voted ror the eon5truatloa 0r 5Xonorable Murphy Cole. page #4

road then known as Liberty-LivingstonF&ad, and that in 1932 said road was deslgoetedas State Highway #leg, b&, to date, the bonds have not been issued or the road eoustruotea.



### In orderthatsuohbonds may now 

### be issuedand be eligible for pertlolpatlonin the one-cent gesollne tax as Provided la 

### HouseBill #aSa, said raats must comewithin the apparent exceptionprovided la paragraph 

### 3, subseotlou 

### (a), ;iectloa

0, of said bill. This exception reeds, in pert:

*In addition to and regardlessor the other provi5lon5 or 

### thisAot.all bonds voted by a county prior to January 2, 1939, insofar as amounts of saxe were ox siay be issued end the prooeeas aotually expenaea 10 the constmotion
or roads Welch area part or the designated System or State highways, shallbe allglbls in the 

### dletrlbution of themoneys coming into emid County sad~

Road District Highway Fuud, the 5am5 as provided ror other bonds under this Aot, and 8~8of the date of the aeslgsatlon of said made as a part of the State system **l

ì.

When a statute expre55e5 5 general intent or purpo50 and afterwardsan iacon5lsteat~ertlcnler latent, the latter 15 to 

### be regarded as an exception to the former an&~&Ah ars permitted to stand. 

### Also,where one 

### sectionof~anAotprs; scribes a general rule which, without qualifloatlou,Would embraoe an entire class oi subjeote and another 

### pressrlbes
a different rule for lndlvldusl subjeots or the 5amo ela55 ~51atter will be ooustruedas an exodption to the ge5Srii

See 39 

### TexasJurlsptidence;iSection 101; also milker
vs. &or, 

### 266S.OF. 499,Cameron ~5. city or Waoo, 8 S.

## w. (26) 249. mrther, it has been held that a genercilprovision or a statutenust yield to a speclal one so rar as 15 

### necessaryto give errect to the partioular subjoot of the speolal provision. See'Clty or Austin vs.~Cehlll, 88 9. W342, rehearing asnled, 

### 89 S.W. 552,also 

### Csllaghaavs* H*m, 90 S.X. 319, error 

### ratneed, In the 

### case of Stevensvs. 

### Stats, 159 s. w. 305, the court 0r Crlmlml 

### A~peslsheld thatchessHonorable Murphy Cole, page #3

two previsions of the snmw law are in oonfliet, the last
one controls. The weight or authority seem8 to be to the effect that In case of conilietbetween the genwraland specie1 provisions 0r a stetute,th* apealal one shall prevnll. And even when e statute expresses a general intentlon end likewise 6 plrtlcular intention lnoompatlble \ath it, the particular fntentlonmay be deemed an eroeption to the general one. See Hwlem vs. bells Fargo k Corapaay ExpreQs# 177 s. u:.134.

Section 3 OS Rouse Bill #688, atate8, In part:

*All further improvementaof said State Blghway Systcn;shallbe xsde under the exclusiveand direct control of the StatW Highway Department, and tith np roprlotlonsmedw by the Legislature out or the 8tnte Eighway Pund. lfofurther lriproverrentor.sa,id system shall be made with the cid of or with any money furnishedby the countlea except where the aoqulslt~on or rights-of-way which nay be rurnlshed by the oountles, their subdivisiona, or def~iaedroad Uistrfots.”

St is'obvious that paragraph 3 of wubeeotlon (a)of Se&ion 6 is in confliotwfth thw'provfsionabove quoted, but **by** the very languagw~oi this paragraph, the Legislatureha8 attempted **to** mike this provision an exowptioa, suah lamgmage being - "In*a$dipon to endregardle?e or other provialonr

or this Act wrhleh, in our opinion, brings t&da within the purview of the'holding in the oaae of Holrord va. PatterSO~, a40 s. W. 341, whichwas atflrmwd in 257 S. w. 213, Marein the oourt stated that "when a statute firat expresaea a general intwnt.snU arterwards an fnoonsiatentpartleular intent, the latter will be taken as an wroeption **to** the **rormer** and both will stand."

In view of the autborltfsa quoted above, which, when read in connection with the language wmploywd in the Act, we reaeh the conolusion that your seoond questionmust be ana- ~tipd in the errirxatfve, that is, that euoh bonda when issued shall be elLgiblo for pertlolpstion in the primeryHonorableWrphy Cole,page #6

benerlte 0r the one-cent gasoline tar es provided in House Bill &88.

Yours very truly

ATTOPSIX CS?ZRALOF TEXAS

%&zs- ~.+------

Clarence 3%.Crone

Assistant

cm-e