&norable Fred Erlisman

Cr:ninal

DistrictAtiprnsy GreggCOUnty poo~v~evr,

Texas
I)e6r KrP Erisman:

.c\

.

Opinion.No,OCl.560 Whether the,E&&&done*s~ Court

What persons meaning of *the
s used in Arti~cle ivil Statutes?

iole 6228 of is the Comto arbitrarily ssistancowhere been a full oompliancewith the ts set forth in said article?

ns cow wit& the meaning of

n Article 2351 evioed Civil Statutes?"
The material portions of Article '622S, Revised Civil Ststutes,

1925, as amended by the Acts of 1931, 42nd Leg*, c&L 256;‘provideo:Ilonorable Fred Erisman, Page.2

"Any widow who is the mother of a child or childrenunder sixteenyears of age, and who is unable. to support them and maintain her home, may present to the Commissioners*Court of the county whe'roln

she has .rc.siaed.

for -theprecedingtwo years a sworn petition for aid shOv;ing:
Virst: - Her.name, time and place of her marriage,date of the death of her husband,or date of his confinementin the penitentiaryor in an insane asylum, or date of his abandonment of her; nemes, sex, and the dates and places of their birtho.
"Second: -Her length of residence in the State, her present residence,and her residence during each of the previous five years, WThira: -All the prop-ztybelonging to her and to each of her children, includingany furure or contingent interest she or any of them may have,
"Fourth: -The effortsmade.by her to support her children.
!'Fifth:

-The name,.relationship; and address of each of'her husbands relatives that may be known. !3y 'widow',as used herein,means a mother who is widowed by death or divorce, or whose husband has abandonedher for more than two preceding years, or whose husband is confined in the penitentiaryor in a State Hospital for the insane.

"A copy of said petition and a notice of the time and place it will be presented to said Court shallbe served on or mailed to the County Judge Of said county at least five days before the time the court shall be requested in said petition to hear the same0 When service is complete said Court shall examine under oath those who desire to be heard,and may subpoenawitnesses; or the Court or the Court may refer said matter to a Commissioner to be appointedby it to hear said witnesses. SuchEonorable Fred Erisman, Page 5

commissionershallmake a report to the Court stating the facts as proven before him0 It the Court concludestint unless relief is granted the widow will be unable to properly 'support

and educate herchildren, and that.thoy may become a public' charge, it may make an order directinga monthly payment to her, out of the County Fun(ls,

for the support of such children, not more than Fifteen ($15.00)Dollars for
one child, and Six (&,OO) Dollars additional for each other ohild, Such alloviance shall be discontinued

as to any such child who reaches the age of sixteen0 The Court shall have the right to refuse any such petition, and its action in so doing shall be final, The Court shall see that any widow receiving such aid is properly.caring

for hex children0 Vhen ,itis fount3 t&t she is not properly caring for her children,or that she is an improperguardian for them, or when the Court finds that she no longer needs such aid, it shall thereuponrevoko at'any time with or without notice any order ma&pursuant to this Article.lf

It is said in 21 R,C.Lo, p0 701, that:

Ware of the state for its dependent class& es is consideredby'all enlightenedpeople as a measure of its oivilization, and the care of the poor is generallyrecognizedas among the unqU8stionedobjeots of public duty, buttin spite of this, the duty under the oofpgon law was purely moral and not legal, There is, therefore,no legal obligationat common law on any of the instrumentalities

of government to furnish relief to paupers. The obligationto su port such persons results GiT~Eorn s atu-0

. o -A-.~ *If

Our Legislaturehas, by statute,made it the duty ar the Commissioners( Court to provide for the support of Nupsrs or look after the welfare of the poor and indigent cf the county. (Article 2351, N'er and duty, however, Revised Civil Statutes),Such is not to be confusedwith the operdtionof the statutes in question0HonorableFrea Erisman, Page 4

AHd.c?le 6228, supra, being a special law, was intended apparentlyas but a step tovzara advanced social.reform, following in tho wake of many of the states that have. enactedwhat is knovjn as %othersX*lPensionAct, yet this statute is msterially different,and it is to be presumed tha~t 'the

Legislature-intended such statute to fit in and blend ivith

our constitutional and systematioform of government.
The sole question confrontingus in examiningthe foregoing statute is whether or not the intent of the Legislature is expressedin plain an.i unambiguous.language, and whether or not said statute is a permissiveone rather than .msndato.ry'on

the part of the Commissioners' Court.

"In construingstatutes, courts look at the language of the vrholo act, and if they find., in any partjoularclause an expressionnot so large and extensive in its import as those used in other parts of the statute,if, upon a view of the vrhole aot they can collect from the more large and extensive expressions- used in the other parts, the real intentionof the Legislature,it is their duty to give effeot to the larger expressions.'V $$herland on StatutoryConstruction,Sec. 245, p. 0
Sutherlandon StatutoryConstruotion,Section 460, p. 594, further states that the rule that %aytl is to be interpretedas '!.sl~all~r or "must

I1is not by anyneans uniform; its applicationdepends upon what appearsto be the true intent of the statute. ~See also, Sedgewickon Constitutional and StatutoryLaw; Rains vs. Herring, 68 Tex. 468, 5 S.W. 369, Examining the larger expressions~includecl in the languageused in the last paragraph of said statute, it will bc seen that the Legislaturehas delegatedto the Commissioners1 Court the power.to concludeupon v;hat conditionsand under vrhat circumstanoes

relief may be granted anil that this court is to determine

whether or not the widow will be unable to properly supportand educate her childrenann&?%rther fact as to vihcther

they may'becomea pubJ.ic charge. The court is further given the right to refuse any such petition,and its action in
so doing is by the provisionsof the Act made final*HonorableFred Erismn, ~Page5

That the Le&slature so construed said act to be permissiveand not mandatory is aifiOl0sea in section 2 of the 1931 amendment,containingthe emergency clausewhich reads as follows:

. "The fact that the present lavi as to mothers' aia requires a residenceof five years before hungry, children.can

be fed or furnished clothing
or opportunityfor educationby aid from the county, while no other State requires suoh long residonoe; that the Statute is not mandatory,but that this amendmentvii11 q0ra an opportunityto give aid when needed,and will enlarge the needy class of children to whom aid can legally be given, and, will give to some vridoxed mothers the great privilege of rearing their' children in their own homes, creates an emer&ency,and an imperativepublic nec.essity

that the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended,and said Rule ishereby suspended,and that this Ac't

take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.t'
hit is, therefore, the opinion of this departmentthat the.Commissioners' Court, under the provisions of Article 6226, Vernonsc'Revised

Civil Statutes, is granted full and oomplete authorityto pass upon.suchapplicationsas duly presented thereunder,

and such statute being a permissiire one, the court's actionthereuuderis not subject to review.

As to your second question,. the term "paupeP is too broadand comprehensive as would permit an opinion from this departmentlaying down any specific formula for determining what persons are or may be includedwithin its meaning, For a eencral rule covering same, however,we refer you to 21 RulingCase L&r. 4 5, ppO 704.4:

"The. viords'pauper'and 'indigent' convey the meaning that the person has neithermoney nor estate is without credit and is unable to maintain hbsclf because of ikhility to work or to obtain employmen$,and a person who has property immediatelyavailablefor his support is not a paupex, and is properlyrefused public aid as such. Rut a personmay be a pauper though he has property of his own, if it is not availablefor his inmiediste

relief, or is manifestly disproportionatez0norabl.e &red Erif.&&, Pa&.6

to his needs, Though a person.maybe poor and without property, still if he has credit,-and by his own promise to pay, or request, can have his conditionrelieved,he is not a person entitled to relief uudt& .the poor laws. The questionas to the suffici.&ncy of a,mon's property or.aredit to take him from tl= pauper class is for the jury2
'J%ustin&ttd:

above answers your request,we are

.Yours very truly

ATTOKNM GHU&'AL Ol?' TEXAS

Assistant 

### PfiJRIc:o

ATTORNEY GELKERAL OF TEX@

APPROVED .opinion.

committee BY BWB chairman