OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AlJsmu 

e c. MAUII 

-.- Eay Sl.. 1939 

L!ocortrble T. 1.. Trhible 

Titet !.ssisraut titate SPperfatsndant 

Austin, %xar 

Dear Sir: 

30 are in reseipt of 

you m&bait the latter ot Y 

be0 S&oole em4 request 0 

prmmtsd. 

Ur. Edeter* part a6 r0l;i0m 

oax~ legal3.y be &oM.~ 

19217, the oountg board of of UoLerrma County 

attempted to oreate M independent ewhool distrlot out of the 

)Dst&odkat Sioee territory irr *am %y reaolutlon. 

Vie bare been unable tQ find any at&t&to authorh,iag a 

eouaty board ot sdwol trwteee to orests bl), ini\rpeaQant 8eZmc~l 

dtetrlot aa distingubhed rrem the iorrorporet~on 0r fk tbt3a arfst- 
Bf~n. T. Y. Triable. May 51, lOSO, Page t! 

ing oonnop crohool dlstrlot sroept Article e74Zf, uhloh requires 

a vote of the orlglnal dletrlot to be divided, a vote 1x1 the 

district to be oreated to assume a proportionate part of the 

lndebtedmes of the orielnal dletrlot nnd crleo require8 a ralldatin& sot by the Legielature before suet lndependent distrfot 

shall be valid. It further provlderr thct a dlstriot shall not 

be oreated oontainlng leas thannine square mllee. Ho ahowing 

ha8 been made that there wa11 any attmpt to oomply with the prorlciolra ot Artlole 27&Z, but we will aaaume that any validatlw 

aot paseed by the bgimlature and l pplloable to the aotlon of 

the @our&y board of trustem in this instanoe would tallbate such 

t;tz whether the provlslons of M%iole 294.W were oon@led with 

. 

Acts lQS7, 4Sth Legislature, House Bill 1091, Ch. &, 

0. 696 (nor 00diried a8 &tlole 88l&-li) pmoidaa aa r0um8: 

*An hot validating the ore&on and organization of 

indapaudent sohool distriota; val%emtlag the aatloxu oi 

any County Board of Trustees with nroronoe to, the arutl0n 0r 80hool dl6triot8 out or uurthm sndependent 

sahooldietrlot: making thla Act applloable to oertaln 

eountleo'aoeordlng to the last preoedlug l?ederal Cexu~us~ 

pr~rfdiag that no part or thla Act mhan arr0ot any <lg&ion now pending, and that oalr aota pas&ted by fm 

rirth8 *joray or the county Board or Trtm+rr ahti bg 

valid, an4 deolmrlng an emargenoy. 

l3?3 IT EffACTi#l BY TfIg LXGISTATURX OP TEE S'fATX OF Tl%AF: 

wSsotlon 1. That the aotlona of any County BOUTI or 

?kuatees in'thic State for the pupoae ot oreatlng indopendant eohool distrlate am hereby in all things ralldated 

a~ though they had been duly ub Iem11~ established in 

the iirrt lnstanoe. 

'sea. la. This Aot shall ap~1.g only to thoie'aouuU.eshaving a population or ninety-eight thousand (88,000) to 

one huudred.thousand (lOO,OOO), aooordlng to the last preceding Pederal Cenou8, and that no part of this dot &all 

arteot any litigation oi any dlstrlot now peudlnig. 

%eo. lb, The act8 or the County Board of TmNttem 

shall not be vall& exoept those a&s that are pa8sed br 

iour-rirths 26i3i)ority or-the Board itk3dr. 
., ,_. 

l+a. T. Y. Trimbld, 2iay 31, 1959, P8ge S 

An exminatlon or the ?ederal Censua of Texas counties 

as published Iti Xezas Almenao 19340 dlsoloses that the only 

county in zexae having a population wlthlnthe brackets la the 

above statute ie b:cLeznan County whloh had a population In 19X.1 

car 98,682. it Is interesting to note that the Gemus report8 of 

1920, 1910, 1900 and I090 as published in the texas Almanac doerr 

not show that any othor oounty in this atate hte ever had a population between iQB,OOO end 100,000 except L!cL%nnan County. 

It is roll eatabllahed that when a law le 80 drawn that 

it applle8 only to one oounty, an6 can never apply to any but thir 

one oouuty in any possible event, the law 18 BpeOial and not general 

although enacted 1x1 the form of a general law. 

V. Bobbltt (Con. or h p. 

City oi 7t:uorth 

1931) 36 S. b. (2d) 470; Bexar Couhty 

v. Tyaan (T.C.A. 1.834 P 69 S. aq. (2d) 193. Ordlnarlly curative 

.statutes are by their very uature intended to act upon past tranaactions and are therefore wholly retroaotive. Hunt County t. Rains 

County (T.C.A. 1925) 9 9. K. (&%I 64% Slnae E. B. 1091 oan only 

apply retroaotivaly no other county oan ever oome unbr it8 tam, 

and it la therefore a speolal sot. Staoh was the hold 

. Court or Civil Appeal8 In Brownfield v. Tongate (lOS9) 9

or JIB 

09 S. K. 

(26) SW, with mmmemc0 to a 6imllar validating l ot. 

The legislature is without authority to oreate a 8ohool 

dlstrlot by opeoial law and Is therefore without authorIty.to 

valleata an Qrder of a oounty so&o1 board orcutlng a 88hool di8triot 

by a speolal aot. Const. hrt. 7, Sec. 3; Coast. Art. 3, Seo. 86gFritter v. West (T&A.) 65 S. 2'. (24) 414; Brouniiel4 va. Tongat 

(T.C.A. 1937) 109 S. ii. (Ed) SSS; Wood v. Uarfa Independent Sohool 

District (T.C.A. 1QSS) 123 S. W. (2d) 429. 

tjnder the r&established authorltlen of this %ato, we 

have conoludea that the action oi the oounty board of 8ohool 

trustees at Lolannan County In oraatlng the Llethodlet Orphanego 

into en Independent Sahool District was wlthout authority in law 

and therefore void,and the aotlon of the Legislature in l tteuptiBg 

to validate such aot is unoonstltutloua1 end thererove void. 

krtiole 2901, ilevised Civil Statutea, 192l5, p;ovldea 

rdi0ws: 

"Bvory child in thie Stete of schoiaaatlo age shall 

be pexmltted to attend the pub110 free sohools of that 

district or independent dlstrlot in whloh it resides 

at tho tine it applies for adalaslon, notwitbrw 

t&&it has been enuusratsd elsewhere. or may have 

ettanded school elsewhere part of the year.” 

as 
Bon. 2. r. Trlmble, biay 51, 19S9, Pa&e 4 

Other statutea provide that 811 Ohlbben or 6OhOlaQtiO 

age ahall be enumwated in the soholaetlo oenaue itithe diatrlct 

in ;.hich they reside,.and we are lnfonmd that the ohildren of the 

Letbodlet 3rphanago in ;.aOG have heretofore been enumerated aa 

rckidlzig in the .ieoo Indepcndeut Lot001 i&trfat except for the 

na?;ool year 193+39. 

ire have been unable to find acy case8 In 'ieras passing 

upon the question of whether a ohlld living in en orphans home 

In a reeldent of the sobool aistriat fn which the ho&e Ie loaated. 

Other &rIsdIotiona have niade dI8tlnotIon8 depending upon whether 

the lnstltutlon or orphans home oaring for the oblldbren le maintained by the Stats or raoeives an appropriation Sron the State 

I-or that purpose. se do not undarotand that suob Is the case with 

refsrenae to the &et&odist Orphanage in &ago. 

We think the weight of authority and better rule i6 that 

ohlldxw lItIn in an 0iphuu home within the limltl) ot a 60hool 

dlctrlct are real~ents or that distrlot 80 as to entitlo them to the 

benefit of a publio free sobool education in the aoboo& or.auab 

dlatrlot. Suoh uas the holding in elrtz vu. hard OS Eduoatlon 

0r Setiermm county ~(xp. 1935) 90 a. if. (t!dl aAt; Grand Ledm xooF 

of W. Va. v. Board of Eduoatlon of Independent tohool Dietriot 

ot El&n, (198E) 90 W. Va:8, 110 S. t. 440 SO Ad..& 1098, &!!a. 

1098; CxnIn va. Balker (gY. 19243) 2 S. yi. (id) 654; Salem In&. 

Sob. Dia. ve. Klol (Iowa 1928) 22lw.o, 619~ hmhby vq Board or 

Eduoation (Su 

Ct. Ill. 1924 f ’ 

Ct. Ill.~XQl5) 114 19. I. 201 Logrrdon t. Jonea (Sup. 

143 ii, 8. 5b. It Is not matorlal that the property 

of the home may be exempt from tax&Ion. 

~8. Board of Mucation or Ina. 

Grand Lo&p IOOF of RI. Va. 

Zoh. Diat. of itikine (1928) 90 V. VI. 

5, 110 b. E. 440, 18 A.L.R. 10.002~ Logston v. Sone8, 135 FZ.E.'56. 

Xo raota have been presented whereby we Illight determlno 

just bow It is contemplated that the equlpnrsnt referred to In your 

letter is to be turned over to the Viaoo Indepandent Sohool Diotrlot 

or what irrangnment or agreement may be under ooneIderatlon by the 

board oi trustdee. Ke, therefore, exprese no ppialon upon this 

phase or your guestion. 

Vie are of tbe opinion that the lmatee ot the Itethodlet 

Orphanage in rSaoo reside in the Waao Independent School Dlstrlat 

and l uoh ohildren a6 reeldents are entitled to reoelve a public 

free sohool eduaatfon In. the schools maintained by tba.W’aao Indopmdent School Distriat. 

Yours Very truly 

ccc :E - ATT.CRNEY OgEX'J. OF T'!ZAS 

COMMIITEE 

~ATT0XW.Y GE-NEFihl 01 

CnAWyI”