R-404 

April 30, 1947 

Hon. Claud Gllmer, Chairman 

Appropriation Connnittce 

Rouse of Representat lves 

50th Legislature 

Aust In, Texas Opinion NO. v-172 

Re : Constltutlonalitg of H,B. 

Dear Sir: No. 779, 50th bgislature. 

We refer to your letter of April 23, 1947, 

wherein you advise that the House Appropriations Committee has under consideration the matter of making 

an appropriation of $30,000 for the relief of the Centerville Common School District No. 42, in Trinity 

County, Texas. The proposed House Bill No. 779, as 

amended, recites that the school buildin 

trlct and its facilities have been f 

of that dlstotal J destroyed 

by fire, the insurance recovered from the destruction 

being wholly Inadequate for the replacing of sams, the 

property values of the district renders it impossible 

for the tax payers to increase the bonded Indebtedness 

in an amount sufficient to replaee said school, and 

that the cum which can be raised by the district together vith the insurance monies recoverad by the district are wholly insufficient for the replacing of said 

school district. Said bill also contains the following 

public calamity clause : 

“Sect ion 1. The destructive and dlsastrous fire that occurred on or about March 17, 

1947, aad which resulted in the comp,lete destruetlon of the sohool building of C&@tervllle 

Coranon Schoal District Iie, 42, Rural Route 1, 

Qroveton, Trinity County, Texas, Is hereby 

found aad declared to be a great public calamity in such school district, as to require 

and authorlee the axpeaditurs of public funds 

for the purpose of aiding hnd assisting the 

population of said school district in the replaoiag of said schoal house; and there la 

hereby appropriated out of the Qeneral Revenue 

Fund of the State, not otherwise appropriated 
Hon. Claud Gllmer, Page 2, V-172 

the sum of Thirty Thousand ($30,000.00) 

Dollars, or 80 much thereof aa may be necessary, for the purpose of assisting said 

Centerville Common School District No. 42 

at Groveton, Trinity County, Texas, in cond.;u;;~gna school building and equipping 

. 

You ask to be advlssd concerning the coastltutlonallty of the proposed bill. 

Article III, Sect ion 56, Ooastltution 

as, provides, In part, as f’ollowsr 

%he bglslature shall not, except as 

otherwlss provided IA this ConstitutiaA, 

pass any local or speolA1 law, authoricing 

the building or repnlriag of schcol 

~o~A&J, aTd the raising of money for such 

purposes. ’ 

Article III, Seotloa 51, Oonstltutlon 

arr, provldoa, In psrt I 

“Thr bglslature shall Inave no power 

to mak8 a&g grant or l uthorlAe th8 making 

of any grant of public money to any lndlvid-ual, aaroolatloa of bdlviduals, munlclof Texof TsxPal or other oorporatioar whatsoever; , , . 

and provided, however, that the provlaloncl 

of thl8 8eotlon sha,ll not be oorrrtrwd 80 

a8 to proveat thy, grant of Ald in 01000 or 

PUbliO OAlAlllitf, 

In Opialoa No, V-111 thin D8 

thAt Artlola III, 8Aotlrn 56, brtlolr V r 

rtmeat AdVlOed 

brotlon 5, d 

the t?o~rtltutlor A8d tb rtaablla lrglrirt 1Qn provldod 

la Art lo18 27848; 2706 ARd 2788, 6. 0, be, ooatrmplrto 

that the rehrol d.lrtaiote Ai TIXA8, Vhf1 YillAflOiAlly 

OApAbk of dOi&g 89 Ah@Uld WeOt And brAr tk@ .Xp~nlO 

of thr errrtiou of hrlr own relPoo1 bulldlngm And froi%itkr, And thAt th0 ~gi8~AtW0, OXOOpt i8 01101 8i 

pub110 orlralt 

III, Soot loa 5 I 

Ao8Mg wlthlr tb rxorptlor of hrtlolr 

, of th aart it ut lon, 10 wlthout Authority to ~mlg am approprlat16n frt, the oan8truotioA of 

o(811811on or lade~adomt dbtrlot sohoel buildlag or fro1U.t 10s. IA that oplnlra, we wor8 ooaelderlng 8, B, 

60 OS th8 50th LgllllAtUr8, whloh COntAilPod no roOltAtlons of pub110 oalamlty, And la thAt respect H. B. 

60 and our Opinion V-111 Are clearly dlstlngulehod from 

the present P. B. 779 and thin oplnlen. 
Hon. Claud Gllmer, Page 3, V-172 

Under the provisions of the proposed House 

Bill No. 779, as amended, there Is an expressed legislat ion declaration and finding that the disastrous 

fire which resulted in the complete destruction of the 

sohool building of Centerville Common School District 

No. 42 is a great public calamity In such school dlstrlct, and that the property values in said district 

render It impossible for the tax payers thereof to lncrease the bonded indebtedness in an amount sufficient 

to replace such school. 

In Martin vs. Hldalgo County, 271 S. W. 436, 

writ dismissed, wherein was considered a public calamity enactment coming within the provisions of Article 

VIII; Section 10, of the Constitution, it was held that 

the Legislature alone has the authorIt to de~cide the 

public calamity matter, and, having decided that the 

emsrgencg existed, no Court oould assail such determination; that the Constitution permits the Legislature 

to grant aid in cases of public calamity to subdivisions 

of the State government, and that to the legislature Alone is confided the power of deciding If such public 

calamity exists s It was never intended that the propriety of such legislation should be the subject of lnvest igatlon and attack by an individual. On the other 

hand, it has been held that a Court may go behind a 

legislative iinding or declaration of public calamity 

In those cases where as a matter of law the facts found 

or considered by the legislature do not oonstltute a 

“public calamity”. Jones vs. Willlams, 45 9. W. (26) 

130. 

Under a former administration, this Department 

held In Opinion No. O-941, June 12, 1939, that a similar 

Bill to replace a school house destroyed by storm was 

authorized under the public calamity clause of 940. 51 

of Art lcle III of the Const ltution as an exception to 

the provisions of ~ec s 56 of Article III. 

Our Opinion No. V-111 holds that only in cas4s 

of public calamity can the Legislature make an appropriation, and even then there is still the question of 

whether its enactment by special law violates Sec. 56 

of Article III of the Coast ltut ion. Frankly, this offloe is, sharply divided on two questions relating to 

the oonstltutionallty of Ii, B, 779, and they are aa 

follows : 
Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 4, V-172 

1. Whether, as a matter of law, the 

burning of a single school house can constltute a public calamity within the manlng 

of Sec. 51, Art. III? 

2. Even if such facts could constitute 

a public calamity, do they constitute an exception to Sec. 56, Art. III, forbidding special Acts for rebuilding and financing school 

houses? 

The courts have not passed on these exact 

questions, and In view of the division of opinion within our own office on the subject, we elect to follow 

the former opinion of this Department (O-941) and the 

Leglslatlve Interpretat ion placed on these provisions 

of the Constitution in at least thirteen Instances. 

See : Acts 1929, 41st leg., 2nd C S., 9. B. 195 Acts 

1929, k&t,Ls,p., 3rd C. S., B. B, 6; Acts 1931, 42nd 

w.9 9. B. 8; Acts 1931, 42nd Iag 3rd 

9. B: li: 9. B. 12 and H, B. 62; Acts i$35, 

B. 510, H. B. 763, 5, B..309, 

Lag., R. S., B. B. 

and H. B. 576; Acts 1941, 47th 

In those Instances, the 41st, 42nd, 44th and 

47th Ieglslature passed similar Bills for the rebuilding of school houses destroyed by fire, storm, hurrlcane, earthquake, etc. Departmental and Leglslat lve 

Interpretations of constitutional provisions are always 

given due consideration by the courts, and doubts are 

resolved in favor of the constitutlonalitg of an Act 

of the Legislature. 

Based upon such previous constructions, we 

find that H. B. 779, if enacted as amended, would not 

violate the provisions of the Constitution of Texas. . 

Based upon former Departmental and Legislative interpretations, H. B. No. 779, 50th 

kg., a special law providing an appropriation 

for the erection of a school house for the 

Centerville Common School District No. 42, 

Trinity County, if enacted as written, with 

bgislat ive f lndlng of “public calamity” 
. 

Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 5, V-172 

(fire) causing destruction, would not be 

unconstlt ut Ional. Sec. 51, Art. III, Texas Constitution; Opinion Ho. O-941, June 

12, 1939, distinguished from Opinion No. 

v-111. 

Very truly yours, 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By e--PChester E. Ollison 

Assistad 

CEO:djm:mrj 

Enclosures ATTOREi'EY GENFUL