Hon. Joe L. Cox 

County Attorney 

Hale County 

Plainview, Texas 

. 

0pini011 NO. v-1085. 

Re: Thk authority of the 

Commiss$onersl Court 

to give a veterans 

service organization 

a long term lease on 

: a portion of real property origlnallg ac- 

'qtired for road purDear Mr. Cox: poses. 

Your request for an opinion is as follows: 

?!he:,Conm&sioners Court of Hale County, has 

asked me to seek the opinion of the Attorney 

*. ~General to the following question: 

.%any years ago, the County of Hale acquired 

the title to certain real property in Rale 

Comty, by deed, for t1Tz purpos,e of public 

: roads. Subsequently, rhanges In the roadway 

were made, leaving a tIeact of land, triangular 3.n shape and belng"?bout two acres in 

size. The County still has ownership of 

L this land and has made no use of it for a 

number of years. The VFW Post, of Hale Center, Texas, is trging to gain title to this 

land. I have advised the~court that, in my \ opinion, the only way the County may divest 

themselves of title is In accobdance uith 

Artidle 1577, VCS, 1925. 

'Some members of the Court are of the opini.on that the county may make a valid lease 

of this property for a tern of forty (40) 

years, at a ground rent of $5.00 per year. 

I have not found any authority in a Comnis- 

~sioner's Court to take such action, and the 

Court has tistructed me to seek an oplnion~ 

of the Attorney General as to validity of 

such a lease.* 
622 

Hon. Joe L. Ccx, Rage 2 (V-1085) 

: 

part: 

Section 1 of Article,l577, V.C.S., pr0vides~'i.n : 

.'The Commissioners Court may, by an order to be entered on lti minutes, appoint a , " '- 

commissioner to sell and dispose of any real 

estate of the county at public auction. The 

deed of such commissioner, made in conformity 

to such order for and in behalf of the county, 

duly acknowledged and proven and recorded shall 

be sufficient to convey to the purchasers all 

the right, title, and interest and estate which 

the county may have in and to the premises to 

be conveyed. Nothing contained In this arti-‘~ 

cle shall authorize any Comvissioners Court tom 

dispose of any lands given, donated or granted to such county for the purpose of education 

in any other manner. than shall be directed by. 

.law.' 1 

The authority of 'the Commissioners' Court to 

sell real~propertg is strictly limited to the modes and 

metttods.set out in Article 1577 of Vernon's Civil Stat: 

nteijl, and the court is unautborised to sell real property 

except in the manner provided therein, for'when,a right. 

or bower is nranted and the method of its exercise is 

prescribed, %he preqsrlbed~method excludes all others. 

Ferguson v. Halsell,: 47 

v~~(1.8 

421 (1877); Cit of Br n 

iF= 

Foster v. ci t3 

ex. 352, 255 S.W. 1104 1923); Slate?? V. Ellis Co&t= 

,L&ree Improvement M"trict, 120 Tex. 272; 36 S.H.2d 1014 

!.193lJ ' 

We,,therefore, agree with your conclusion that 

the only way Hale County may divest itself of title IS 

in accordance with Article 1577. 

Article 157'7, V.C.S., further provides: 

. 

. . . the Commissioners Court of any 

county in this State having a 

7 

opulation in 

excess of forty-five thousand 45,000), according to the last preceding or any future 

Federal Census, which said county borders on 

the International Boundary between the United 

States of America and the Republic of Mexico, 

may elect, in the manner hereinafter provided for, to sell or lease any real estate, together with any improvements and appurtenances 

thereto, said procedure therefor to be governed 
. 1 

. 

Hon. Joe L. Cox, page 3 

.: 623 

(V-1085) 

by the following provisions: e -. .(I 

Since Hale County does not fall within the. 

above classification, the authority to lease real estate,set o':i in Article 1577 is not applicable to this 

county. Ue know.of no other constitutional or statutory authority which would authorize the Conmissionersf 

Court of Hale County to lease the property of the county to the Veterans of Foreign Uars, 

The CommisslonersB Court is a court of limited jurisdiction and has only such powers as are conferred unon it bv the Constitution and statutes of this 

State, either by-express terms or by necessary implication; Tex.Const. Art.V, Sec.18; Von Rosenburg v. 

Lovett, 173 S.U. 506 (Tex.Civ.App.1915, error ref.7. 

Galveston H. & S.A.Ry. v. Uvalde County, 167 S.U.2d'305 

pex.Civ.App.1942, error ref. w.o.m.1. 

It was held in Attorney General's letter opinion to Hon. George T. Avery, County Attorney of Fannin 

County, dated February 17, 1948, that Fannin County did 

not have the authority to lea,se property belonging to 

the~county for the purpose of erecting a radio station. 

Since we fail to find any authority authorizing the Commissioners" Court of Rale County to lease them 

property in question, you :are advised that the Court does 

not have authoritytogive aveterans service organization 

a long tern lease on such.property. 

SUMMARY 

The Commissioners' Court of Hale County does not have authority to execute a lease 

on a portion of real property originally acquired by the County for road purposes. The 

authority of the Court to dispose of such real 

estate is limited to the modes and methods 

authorized by Article 1577, V*C.S. 

APPROVEDZ 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

County Affairs Division 

Everett Hutchinson 

Executive Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

JR:mw 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

John Reeves 

Assistant