, _I 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Yay 89, lPS9 
Hoa* John t. Feylor, My 29, 1939, Pare Z 

tc publie inspection, then tbe questiod muat be deteralned 

- _. m-. . _ e r .__ 

open 

by the QOLI'OII MU. 

at al. 172 L. 

in.mn4 CBSO or m~ac~otk, es ai v. Lcrbe~t, 

L. 777. decided by tte Court OC Clvll ,iDWeie of 

%I: Aitonlo cud iu si:lch a wit-of error ree rerused &j the 

Suprem court, the CozInon laW ae applied in. '~CXaB SaB eXprBBBed 

by the cart v&ich icliowed an opinion of the Suprxse Court of 

Tecne6ase: 

‘Tb4r8 beicg 50 d~OiSl~B of our own OoutB upon 

this latter, BO.far ~8 me have been able to asoertaln, 

we hate &ad r4acurae tc the deal8lonB of the'oourt~ of 

other aoamon-law states, and oonclude that the oplnlon 

or the hpreaa Court of 'hnnaesee, iu the aa6a of State 

es 2741. Welford v. ~illians, no TOM. 549, 7s 23. a. 

946, 64 L. 8. A. 45s. cosiatltuterr tha beet otataaeat 

or tba rulaa of law whioh shoti be applied to this 

oluraoter or case. h4 quote from BBid opinion a8 $01.. ' 

low8 : 

"*In thsory the right of esaalnatdon Is absoluio, 

but In pradtlae it i8 at last only a matter oi dlmret%on, beaame aucb application tB likely at any tti to 

be rel'used on the part ol' the CMtOdiBB of the boo&~ 

ana papera sought to bo exaaioed, and tbsn tlm right 

8m8t be foreod by auuXem18, and thi8 writ IS not or Sbsolute right, but aamly of dfsentlon, to be awarded 

only 1st a proper aa8e; tbe faOt8 alam em l Ut&rfriy 

it8 iasuanoa Co be Indged of in era.ky ease by.$he aourt, 

aA the writ to be amrdsd or withheld upon a aoarlderrtlon or all tha oirommatanoes preaantad. So, wh1l.q tha 

right ir, in theory, absolute, yiat it 1s in praetioo Bo 

Umltea by the remedy nnoeasary for It8 eatoraemeat aa 

that it uan be denoainatal only a *qualified rlght.a The 

right to an esamlnation ror a apeofal purpoao, as, ror \ 

esemple, to obtain qwitia inform&ton to ama in a 

Utle;ation'betueen.ths appUo8at ana third parUeS, or 

between the applleant and the aorporatlon, and tha like 

oamse, while not, in prinaiple, standing upon higher 

grounds, yet is the mom eaally grantable, bemuse it doeB 

not ~AZYC~YO BO much tim, and so muah inUOnV4RieBOe t0 tha 

ou8todlan of the books and papera, and so muoh fnkrrt&g~ 

tioa of buaineaa, am %.a acme or a ganeral rtuipaticm. 

Yet it o&mot be doubted, under a atate of fa8ta showing 

it ,to be frportaat to the publla iatersot that the general 

uaainatioa or the books ot a mniaipality should be had, 

that the court should allow auoh errrrrination at the 8uit 

of one wbo is a altlxsn~and taxpayer of the oorQwation; 
Hon. John x. Taylor, &By 29, 1939, Page s 

The right resta, not ou;y on the grouud ttet the booka 

art pub110 booka. but aleo on the s-8 primi;? that 

authbrlzes a taxpayer to enjoin the cntoroeaent of 

illegni contractc entered into by ttic muicipality, 

aounty, or stats, for the ;roteation of t!ie ap;tlicant 

and ell other taxpayera frog illegal burdens. da it 

is obvious that, In uaking.end euforoing auah applioatlon, the tarpayer acts, in a very real sense, net only 

for himself, but for all other taxpayers, and aats, 

therefore, in the capacity, aa it were, of a trustee 

ror ill. It lzust be admitted, alao, ihat the rerala4 

of such power, if prudently and oarattdly gua rx ed, cannot 

be otharuise than salutary, beoawe the knowledg4 t&t 

it oaa be sxeroised by a citizen and taxpayer, aud my 

be exerclmd when ths public good Bhsll 114em, on sound 

masow, to dswnd lt, oanuot rewlt otherwise than in 

produalng an added serve or reapctnaibility in those 

who admlnister the affaira of muuiolpal aorporatlona, 

and In inducing a greater oamfulness in the discharge 

0r the trust8 iBlpOB4d upon th4m by their reihf oitlaeua 

under the sanafionrr OS law.** 

On exauhation of the etatutea of the State oft Texan, we 

are of the opinion that the.aoxmon law as expressed in the above 

ease applies to the reports inquired about: Artiole $044 ot the 

kevlsed Civil Statutea ot xexas, wh%ch artlo1.e wea originally 

enaated in 1917, provide8 aa tollowa: 

"The Comlsslon ohall repulre ot such oom& oarrler 

pipe llnef~ duly rerlried numthly mports Ot the t&al 

quautltiea OS crude petroleum ouned by suoh pipe line8 

and ot that held by them in BtO~O tar othera, au alao 

ot their untilled storage oapaaity+ but no publialty 

shall be riven by th4 Commlrslon BB to stock ot,crude 

petroleum on hand of any particular pipe line; but tha 

Comaitiaion in its diBOretiou amy make public the aggregate amounta held by all pipe lines slaking ailch report*, 

and of their aggregate storage aapaslty." 

Artiole 6044 does not eee1p to aover the reljorts nmntioned 

in your request, but we wish to point out Seotion 6 of Artiols 

6MPa of the bevised Civil Statute8 of T~SBB, which is as amended 

in 1931 and thue being a later sot would control over Artiole 6044 

wherein they seep to be in oonillet; 

"Sec. 6. .very corm411 oarrisr Or orude petroleum 

within this State as defined by law and every public utility 

as detlned herein ehull on or betore t&a twentieth day of 
Bon. John X. Taylor, Lay 29, 1959, Page 4 

eaob oalendar uonth tile with the Railroad Comulsslon 

of Texas, and post In a con83lououa plaoe, acceaslble 

to the general puhllo, in eaob of Its dlrlslon ofrloeu, 

and In Its principnl offIoe In tbls ttete, a statment, 

duly varifled, containing the tollowlng lnforzatlon 

concerning its buelnees during the preceding calendar 

month: 

"1. How n?ucb petroleuu, orude or refined, was In 

the aotual and lumsdlate custody of such carrier or 

pub110 utlllty at the beglnnlng and alone of such 

uouth, and where eaue waa looated or held, lnoludlng 

the location and deslgnatlon of.each tank or place ot 

deposit, and the naue of it6 owner. 

-2. How much petroleum; oruaecc refined, was moelred by such oarrler or publlo utility during auoh 

ronth. 

'3. How uuoh petroleuu, crude or refined, was dellrered by such carrier or publlo utility during euoh 

month. 

.4. *bet quentlty of such petroleuu, crude or 

rerlned, is held by It Sor the aooount of ltaalr or 

parent or airlliated organlzatlons. 

‘5. The available eupty #torage ouned or oontrolled by it and uhem looated, 

"6. The foregoing lntoruatlon 'shall be set but In 

eaob statement separately as to crude;;~ytroleuu and eaoh 

mrlned produot thereof.n 

:..;.i'. 

Es also v;Ish to oal.1 to your attention to the provialona 

of Article 60490 0r the herleed Clrli:Statutea, and partloularly 

the rolloulng quoted portion tbemor: "The oouuleslon shall bake 

the power to.mquIm all such persona to make end file with the 

oolgnieslon e*rorn atateeent.8 or mports as to facts ulthln their 

knowlodge or poeseeslcn pertalnlng to the reasonable uarket denund 

for crude petroleuu 011 and to the produatlon, storage, tran8portatlon, refining, realaiming, treetlng, ~rketlng or prooeealng OS 

arude petroleum oil or nature1 gaae and producte ot either Including 

those iaots enumamtarl herein." The pre6ent statute la es auended 
Bon. Job0 E. Taylor, Va7 29, 1959, Page 5 

by the legislature in 1955 by the 44th Legislature, p. 180, Ch. 

16, SC. 5, which amend8 Ch. 45, H. B. 99 of the 2ud Called Seaalon of the 49x-d Leglalature, 1934, end etruok fro& the 1936 mendsent tbe following sentenoe: "The data, reporta and InformAlon 

obtained and received bureuhder aball not be avellable fsr any 

private use or public circulation but shall be available to any. 

state governmental age~oy.~ Tbue by Striking this provision out 

by the 1935 ~endmnt, the Leglalatum lndloate~ t&t such report6 

should be open to public inspection. 

'rie oell your attention to the faot t&t the Legislature 

by such prorlalooe as containad in Artlole 6013 of the brlaed 

Civil Statutes end Article 60668, Sao. lob, muat have oontemplated 

that tbe various reports to be filed with tbe hallroed Coa&aalon 

would be open for public lnapeotlon. It la provided by Artlola 

6015 that any oltlzen ma7 file a petition to restrain waate,~of 

natural gas wltbout any ilnanolal lntenat other than he poaaeaaea 

in ooasaon with all oltlxena of the State and under Artlole 6556a, 

Sec. lob, it la made the Attorney (Ienaral*a duty to bring a suit 

for the oooflaoatlon of unleuful oil or unlawful produota when advised oi its preaenoe from any aotuee. We merely point these 

protiaiona OS the statutes out in addition to the language used 

la the above quoted case, to show mora olearly why our answer to 

yoiu first question ie In the aftlreutl~er 

Yours very truly 

mTomil!3 o-1, OP TXAS 

D. Uahon, Sr. 

&3alatant