Hon. Rowe11 E. Cobb oQiniOl3 Ro. V-1306 

District Attorney 

52nd &dicial Dlatrict Re: Inclusion of a public 

Comanche, Texas auction barn within the 

terms "public stockyard 

and shipping pen" wlthin the contemplat$on of 

the Rules and Regulations 

of the Livestock Sanitary 

Dear Sir: Commission. 

You have requested the opinion of this office 

as follows: 

"Please advise If in your opinion a 

public auction barn where livestock of all 

kind IS sold weekly and a large number of 

people gather weekly fOP the purpose of buying and selling livestock of all kinds, Is 

a public stockyard and Shipping pen as contemplated by the Rules and Regulations of 

the L;vestock Sanitary Commission of Texas. 

. * 9 

The regulation of the Livestock Sanitary Commission to which you refer is found in the Qubllcation 

by the Commlsslon entitled 'Rules and Regulations and 

Sanitary Laws of the Livestock Sanitary Commlsslon of 

Texas, 19,46, " at page 62, and being Dlvislon III, Chapter XIII, Se,ction I, which reads as follows: 

"All public stoc.kyards and shipping 

pens of said yards in the State of TeXa6 

are considered Infected with Hog Cholera, 

and are hereby quarantined Tar said Infection.” 

Specifically, you Inquire whether a public auction barn ins a "public stockyard" within the foregoing 

rule, and, if so, is it quarantined within the contemplation of the rule. 
Hon. Howell E. Cobb, page 2 (v-1306) 

The authority of the Commission to promulgate 

the rule in question is found in Article 1525b, V.P.C. 

Upon Inquiry, we have been advised by the 

Director for the Livestock Sanitary Commission that 

the only "public stockyards" in Texas are the Fort 

Worth Stockyards, the Port City Stockyards in Houston, 

the Union Stockyards in San Antonio, and the Texarkana Stockyards, and that the Commission has never attempted to apply the rule in question as to any other 

types of stockyards or sales barns. 

The term is evidently used in the rule as 

deSCPiptive of those establishments subject to regulation by the "Packer's and Stockyards Act of 1921" 

as amended (9 U.S.C.A., Sec. 181, et seq.) whereby 

the United States Secretary of Agriculture designates 

what stockyards are subject to regulation. 

lic stockyards" 

Such "pubare comparable in many respects to a 

"common carrier" or "public utility" in that they are 

charged with special duties to the public in the furnishing of their facilities. They are intimately connected with common carrier transportation and usually 

maintain trackage and other shipping facilities. They 

are, In other words, of that class of businesses which 

have been legislatively determined to be affected with 

a public interest and which have been subjected to special legislation regulating their powers and duties. 

See Delaware, L. & W.R. Co. v. Central Stock-Yard & 

Transit Co., 43 R.J.E. 71, 10 Atl. 490~(1887) considsering the duties imposed on a stockyard corporation 

organized and operating under a statute granting spe- 

~,~cial powers to such concerns. 

We find no Texas statutes which attempt to 

classify "auction barns" 

ly as "public stockyards" 

or similar facilities generalor to regulate them as such. 

The fact that federal regulation has not been imposed 

thereon indicates that they do not fall within such 

classification under federal statutes. The Livestock 

Sanitary Commission, under the facts stated above, has 

interpreted its rule as not including "auction barns" 

within the term "public stockyards." The Commission 

has authority to interpret the rules which it is authorized to promulgate in the first Instance. West --- 

Texas Compress & Warehouse Co. v. Panhandle & S. F. 

R-i, 

l5~S.W.2d 558 (Comm. App. 1929). Fole 

55 S.W.2d 805 (Comm. App. 1932~;X&iii%ur. 
7.. . Hon. Howell E. Cobb, page 3 (v-1306) 

392, Public Administrative Law, Sec. 77. The interpretation of Its own rule by the administrative body to 

which rulemaking power has been delegated becomes a 

part of the rule. In view of the construction placed 

upon the terms by the Commission, as indicated, we conclude that the term "public stockyard" refers to only 

such"stoc ' as have been classified as "public 

stockyards 'azdfsregulated as such. Unless such "auction barns" are so classified and designated, we conclude that they are not "public stockyards" within the 

meaning of the rule. 

SUMMARY 

A public auction barn is not a "public 

stockyard" as that term is used in certain 

quarantine regulations of the Livestock Sanitary Commission. The only "public stockyards" 

in Texas are those designated as such by the 

Livestock Sanitary Commission.~ 

APPROVED: 

Jesse P. Luton, Jr. 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attpr\ney Gexral n ,. 

5aniel 

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