I_ 

OFFlCE OFTHEAmORNEY--GENERALOFTEXAS 

AUSTiN 

Honorable R. C. Wilson 

county Aualtor 

',a: '. 

Gray County 

FaRpa, Terns 

A 

Dear sir: 

Your reoent 

partmf& on the above 

requ ion OS this deatat been reoeivd. 

ureau and a park.* 

*s Amotatsti -Civil State Bate OS pamsage 0r 

issionera Oourf8 in all Nmnulation at not less than tweatyarty (%%,050) and not more 

thoumad (%3,000),~ ~aooording 

ealng Federal Census shall 

nd autb0rify to provi&e r0r 

faoillt$es antl such tlmmslal aid af8 tie satd 

ComRlasioneP~ eourta may lle%a~mboess~ry to Pedera1 or stats governwmnt agenolee and bureaus 

having adtivftiee or mintmining p8?ojeots wlthf.n the bounty 5.n whiah the rsald Cormisaione~s 

court is louated. 

#PSO, % 1.r 

iietrr 1939, 46th &ar&, H. B. 
Roonorable Rv C+ Wil'aoh, page 2 .' 

tion 

be enaots8;:p~o~idO4,.~that.,nothing hereinoontained:ehdU.be‘,aolwtrgeb.,tO.prOh~bit:~the;~legls- 

. . . "lature' ;bonr~~paasing-.spea~~l;la*rs, fOr :thepreservatica~.o~~ganrs anil.fleh.Of this State in ': 

certain l.OoaUties.~~-. .~:' :~ + : ~- .I',-'.:- .; :: ',~ ~. 'i' ,, 

..,,_ ~, ..:.:~,.~ 

?&is: &ie.of, ~Saith~,~s~i,Sta~& &.m,ed 739;. ~.heids 

in eireot.'.t~~.'.if'~~ub~tantiel~reason roi-'olassifgl&g muuicipalities by~,~pdLatioa;appeara, suuh ~Olaa~ifioatlon and 

legislation apg~ioable~to~snOh~~Ol~s8fficatfon legenerally 

sustained..,'~Ro~ever, the constitutional prohibition ageinst 

,%peciaL lati~.Oannot be:.e%adOd by maldng laws-~applioabls to 

a pretend& ~Olass, and-that a statute olassifying muniOi-. 

palit~es~~by~populatio~-~-ia~.:~~p~Oirt~~~.~-it.th~ populatfon~doea 

uotafford,a fa~~basis,:-ior~,Ollassiiioation; Li:the.statute 

nerelg 'dea$gnatea-a sfnglsmania~~~3ity.~er~~tha guise or 

classifging:bp~pogulation;, and that a valid alasaification 

of municipalities by population must not exOh.lde other 

muuiaipalltie~from enteriug~.sue~h~OlasS~~~~Oat~On,~~O~ 

lug the epecified .populationti i. ,: ;' '. .....; ~,:. 

attain- 
ionora& R. c; Wlson, page'3 

.n*in so'far as.the courta which u&ztake to define the basis uRon which the 

~blasslficntionust rest how that the Legislature cannot, by a pretended classification, 

e7ade a.consiLtuti0na.l restrictioa, we fully 

ooncur with them. Rut ii" they hold ,that a 

olassificatioa which does not manifest a purpose to evade the ConstLtution_is not~suffi- 

,oient to support a statute as a.general law 

merely because, in the co*urt's opinion, the 

olasslfioation is unreasonable, we are not 

prepared to,concur. To what class or classes 

of persons or things It should ep-~ly Is, as 

-a general~rule, a legislative question. When 

the intent of the Legislature is clear, the 

policy of the law is--a matter which Oo&s not 

conaern the courts.' 

- 

-Xf.the classiflcation~of titles or couu- 

;ties:is based on population, whether an act is 

regarded as-special anii'ichether its operatio,n 

is uniform throughout the State, depena upon 

whether popupulation affords a fatr basis fox 

the classification with reference to the matters to which it relates, and whether the result it accomplishes Is in fact the real classirication u?on that basis, and not a aesignnstion of a single city or county to which alone 

Yt shall agplg; under the guise of suoh olsssifioatlon. parker-Washington County v. Kansas 

City; 73 Ken. 722, 85 F. 781." (Also see the 

oases of 3x purte Sizemore, 8 3% (2d) 134* and 

Randolph v. State, 38 SYJ 2d 484). 

'The"%se of,Hexar County vi'Tynan, et al, 97 SW _ _ 

26 467; holds in effect that the LegZslature may on e proper end reasonable olassfflcation enact a general law which, 

at the tLne of f.ts enactment, is applicable to only one 

oounty, provide& the application is not so inflexibly fixed 

as to prevent It ever becoming applicable to other countfes 

md that the Legislature mey~cl3s3ify counties on basis of 

population tor purposes of fixins compensation of county 

and precinct officers, but such OlaSSifiC3tiOA must be based 

.on real distinction and must not bo sn arbitrary device to 

give what is in substance a local or special law, the form 

of a general la;v. And the case furthm holds thst the courts 

in determi&n2,r~hathor a Law is public, ganerti, Spociel Or 
. . 

hnorable R..C. Wilson, page 4 

. . 

looal, Will look to the substance snd practicgl operation‘~ 

rather than t0 its title, SO?%, phraseology, sinae other- 

.v&so a prohibition OS the fundmental lari against speoial 

legislation wild be nugatory; ana t0 jirstffg pmiq 0110‘ 

county in a very linited and restricted classification by. 

'the Legislature,~there nu.st be soze reasonable relation 

bdsieen the situation of the counties classified and purposos~ and objectsto be attained, au& classitication cannot be cdoptsd~arbitrcrily on a ground v&ich has no foundation in differonce of situat.Zon or circ~xzstsncss 0S'countiss 

placed in.different classes. The act reducing salaries of 

officers in counties of'over tvm Rundred and ninety thousand 

end less than three hundred and ten thousand population vxas 

held unreasonable hnd arbitrary in its clossifdkation and 

void as a special law. 

: 

Wi Quote fro= the above mentio~ed,opinion aa,follo=: ~. ,. : ., .: 

aThe rule is that so clakification can- . .x i- not.be adopted arbitrarily upon a gro~und which 

has no Soundation ind5Sforonce of situation 

' or circumtances of the nunicipalitles placed ~.::~

.5.n the different classes. There ml5t be SOi9D 

reasonable relation between the situation of 

nuuicipalities classified in the 3urgose and 

tie object to be attained. There must be sane-. .. 

thing..,. which in sop1e reasonable dqree accounts for the division into classes.** 

Article CZilb-Z,'supra,'applies only~to counties 

having e population of not les s than 22,050 and not mre 

than 23,000, according to the last preceding redera census: 

The object and purpose of the statute under consideration IS 

to pernit ccxxissioners~ court of the counties co* xithin 

the above designated population brackets to provide for 

facilities znd such financial aid as the said oozxissioners* 

cotit rxiy deeia necessary to Federal or state governsxent 

agencies and bureaus having sctivities Or riaintaining projects within the oountg in which the fmnziissioners' Court 

Fs locztted, h natural class, xould include al.1 the CountieS 

in "de state. The above m3ntiomd statute authorizes the 

qp&ssioners’ court in counties having a population of not 

less than 22,050 and not zaore than 23,000 the additional 

p&or and authority ra set out in the statute. Ths number 
Rotiorab1e.R; C. Wilson, Rage 5 

. . 

of inhabitants residing within the ~county, alone, c¬ 

serve in my reaSon&bh or natural cmner to indicate the 

necessity or desirability of Remitting such county through 

its coimlssioners* court to exercise the power and authority 

8s provided in reticle 2351b-2. Ue think that the above 

classification is a mre designation vihich is no classification at all, but,.on the contrary, as inverted and discrim.i'- 

natory as the law considered by the Supreme Court in the case 

of Rexar county vs.~ Tynan, supra. .' ,~ 

AS above 'stated we have'here '& -tatice of arbl- 

‘. . 

trary designatioa, rather than classification. The above 

quoted statute.attenpts to regulate the afSa$rs of those 

omutles cozuing within the~above designated Ropulstion brackets in a'mamer violative of Article ITI, Section ,56, of the 

State Constitution. Thtii last r,entioned section of the Constitution, is designed, in part, to insure that the system 

of comty~gmermeot shall .be as unifom as is possible. It 

is intended to.prsvent then passage of laws which discrinlnatc ' 

betvveen the counties of this state:without adequate am.l substantial difference in the qha,ractsristics of the individual 

_ cotities indicative, rationslxy, of the necessity for,the' 

discriminationi 

In view of the foregoi=, you arerespectfully 

advised that It is the opinLon of thin deRart:zmt that the 

law under consideration clearly violates the provisions of 

mtfcle III, Section 56, of the State Cocstitutlon and its 

miifest spirit and~purpxe, and it is therefore UUCOn6titu- . 

tional and void.. 

Trustin that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry, we remin 

Yours very truly 

d?T?o;rn GIxERhL OF Tzxtss * 

s.9 : jm APP OVEDMAY 23, 1940 

J5LA-uz.Ld