OFFICE OF THE AmORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Benorable Cbarlrr H. Theob6Jd 

06unty Attornay 

06lreat6n county 

Oalvrsston, Teua 

D6ar 61r: 

Your requret to 

ouofullj oan~idoro6 bp t 

request a6 folLat 

tabar requoddd me te 

r spielon oa th le 

yeu h a r e h o Ad Ewe. 85 

60 of tho ast ataa68, 

et that theso i6 LIB mlrt~ 

~pr+wtahg th6t ii 'urp %0ti0n 

d wocrmtitutioa&l that the 

b0 l fr00ttvO.* fBnak6t Iasutloa 
Honorable Uharles K. Theobeld, Page S 

TWction,RS of Article 5 of our State Conetitt&on. gm%Qts authority to thn legislature 

to inoreaae. dio&nlah or chance the civil and 

criminal jurlediotlon 6P county aourte by elt%er 

ha1 or saneral la w. Sections 1 and E’ 01 the 

above auoted sot are themrore valid. 

*Howover, Section 5 of the aot PrOV~diQg 

addltioual oompensation for the County Clerk 

and County Judge, and providing for the eppoiQtmnt of an additional daputy clerk and the payment of a salary to eucb deputy, is clearly usonQstitutional as a looal or special law ettemptin& to regulate the effaira of a county, anG 

whsra a Sensral lcw oan be labd~e a;iplicable. 

Al!aost the idantieel prooedure was aondemcd in 

the oaee of Duclos vs. Ebrlja Couuty, 251 6. #. 

569, Effi~bd by SupM!N GOti iQ S&5 5. 1c'. S62. 

Ale0 see the aese8 OS Altgelt ve. Gutzeit, 1SV 

5. R., ESS, affirmed by Suprem Court in 201 

S. Vi. 400; *ara vs. Harris Ccirnty, E00 S. W. 

794; and the reevnt case of Ulller et al vs. El 

Paso County, 150 8. X. (2d) 1000, (Empreme Court 

or %x&s--0pin4on delivered by Ctiiarf' Justfoe 

Alsdmndsr I.* (Unhrscfning ours ) 

$eotionr 55 end 66, Constitutional Sew, Vol. 9, pp. 

4voe, 473 and 474, Taw~ JUrlsprudunOe, r8ad aa fOihVSJ 

“1. 86. &3QUR~~y - A legislative maatment may be unaonetitutional and therefore invalid aa to aem of Itspprovisionr, and Valid 

ae te cthera. Indeed, lt ie elementary law 

tbat a statute will elways be sustained a8 to 

portions wbleh Rre not ufioomtitutlonal, unlese 

the UQ43OQSfi~kd~OQSl gOrtibQS @Qd the WQstitutional portlo~s are so intsrminglrd that they 

oamot be severed. The eonstitQtloQal 8,Qd UQaOQBtitUtiOQa1 prOVit8lOQl3 IBay bVBQ be OOQtaiQed 

in the same section, and ret be perfectly diatinut end ee~rable, so thet the first miy 

stami though the ti6t fa~L1. The point is. Qot 

bheth& they are NJQt0iEOa in the sdDl6 seotioQ, 

fo- the dietributloa into aactidns is au~ely 

artitioial, but nh:?+har they ere as6sQtlally 

and Inrreparably aonneoted in substanea. If 

the two parts tin be possibly ieparatad, the 

OOti srhotid d0 60, aI%& QOt p%~&t the IQVrrlid 

part to dfmtrey the whole law. 
Bonorable Charlea H. 'phrobald, Page 6 

Thaw an aat he1.d unaeaetftutlonal aontains a prov+.on for the rapeal of prior law, 

suah provision is al8o unooastitutioaal. If 

the statute in qusrtion operated as.an amendnmnt of an earlier law, ths effect of holding it 

to be unabastitutional is to lsata the orlgfnal 

anaatmsnt in full tame and offeat. 

"I 68. Ssvsrabllit~ of Part8 of Aat - A8 

to whether eonntitational psrts of the statute 

must bo held to be invalid or inoperatira baasusa 

of concroeia.tion 18 dependent upon the objeot of 

the law, and the manner and extent to whioh 

ths unoon~titutional portion affeots the remaina~r. It is mid that tho aburt aray not d4- 

elare the whole to be invalid unlsse a11 the 

grovi4ionm aro connsated in subjsot mattex, dependent on each other, Qpemtlng togother for 

tb lvaw r=po8o 

6l' Oth8X'W144 00 COIlMQtti 

together II asadng that it eaanot be preapacld 

that the laglalatura would.havo psaed ths one 

without the otbu. 

**It ir a roll-settled xulo that, if Ohs 

*ore41 pro~irioa4 of a le&slatire aat 

are 40 mutually emmated with aA depaadeat 

tm eaoh other aa conditions, oonotderatioo~ 

6r oompaaabioa fer aach other am to mwmnt 

the belief fbst the Legirlature intanAa$ 

them a8 a uhclo, and would not hare 6aaaCe4 

one or mire of theai ii' the others ~0~14 not 

br jotid and oarried into effest, than all 

th4 pro*lrion* mlut f411.' 

non~the othrr hand if the unOo46titutkoMl 

portion of the mtatuto 1s rtrioken out, a08 that 

which rmalnr la oompletr In Itself and oapabla 

of bring l xsouted l.n aOoordaPor with t&a ameat 

lagf*lativa infant, rihelly imi4~4adent of t&4* 

whlah is rsjeotaa, it Lust be 4u8taiwL" 

Zt is our opinion that Seatiarw 1 anO 2 of th* aot 

PFB elear2y severable aa aonstitutional. 

Xt is 001 fwther 6gfnio5 that the partial tmaon5titutmmlify or the sot [ta wit, aeohion Ss aa point44 eta% 
Iionorablo Chsrlss Bi Theebald, Page 4 

in oplniou No. O-3722) wkll &at aifeet the other motiona 

0r the aat.