OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Bonorablo Thomas A. k’hmat 

Oountf Attornel 

Lfborty County 

Llbortr , Tsrar 

IMar Sir r 

oarcfully eonrl 

stat4 in JOur 

P, or IR thb d.WrnaQltr &see 

fry part of the rxpwiro of bulldlng aaao. 

*In 0n8wc to p,w quertten at ffrrt t,toM 

fou In an sit-hand oplnlaa that I t&l not FhWc 

that th6 Oosmi86~~nsrs~ Mart ha4 tiu autherlty 

to a0nrtruat said Lwy beeauae It 4X&l a0t ia Uy 

wry pwtaln to OounfiJ %miRorr. rsmrsr, sine0 

324 
Honorable Thomas A. Wheat, Pace 2 

that time, I have ha& the opportunity to briei 

this gueotion and my opinion ;e still the earn0 - 

that ie tbo County would not have the power or 

authority to oonetruot or pertly oonetruot or 

proolde funds for the conetruotion of a levy as 

deearlbed In your queetlon, unless tkere Is 

oreated a &ry Ioprorement Dietriot under end 

by virtue of Worielone of Chapter 6, of Title 

128, of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 

providing for the cetablleiment and oreatlon 

of Levy Impror*meat Dletrlote. In other worde, 

the kgielnture has invaded thie field and provided under what oondltkme euah pub110 funds 

m~y be used for She purpose of crerting lerlee 

along nerlgable streams and Ln add.itlon thereto 

in Chapter 1, of Title 128, we find Artiolo 802a, 

whloh provides : 

ulUFon mA after the taking effret of this 

Aat (epeik:ng mbmt the Letry Iaaprorelneot Dietrlot Aot) it ehall be unlavful for any person, 

oorporation OF Levy Improvemeat Uietriot, without first obtaining approval of the plane for 

the same by the 8tnte ReolamatAon Engineer, to 

aoaetmot, attempt to oonetruot, oauee to be 

conetruated, aatntnin or oauee to be malnBlned, 

mylevy or other euoh improvement on, along or 

near, any stream of this State whiah is eubjeot 

to floods, freehuts, or aver-floue so fa r l e to 

oozitrol, regulate or otherwise ohnnge the flood 

water o f l ueh rtresn; and any p weo n, corpor a - 

tlon or Dletrlot violating thla l eotlon or this 

Act em11 be deemed pulltr OS a mledemeanor and 

upon oonvlotlan ehall be punished by a fine of 

not ex0eeaing 6100.00. . .I 

*Then the Aot (toes en and provides that euah 

Illegal oonetruotlone am be an)oined by the Attorney Oeneral. 

gf think that eny inqlriauale who may aeetre to have the levy oon~tmroted 00uia only 

conetruot it out af tholr private funds, after 

they have first obtained the approval of the 

plane for same by the State Reolametion FtnnlnOOP. 
Honorable Thomee A. #heat, Page J 

And after thle 1s done, I am still of the opinion that the County oould not have any authority 

to appropriate money for the oonetruotion of 

same. The only way they oould partlolpate in 

the same la by creation of a Levy Improvement 

llletrlct. It Is the law o? our land that Counties and Oome&eeionere9 Court only have euoh 

powcre as are l peoIally oonrorred upon them, 

and unleee there 1s a provlelon in our Oonetltution or Wiatutee provldbg for then to have 

a oertaln power they do not have It. 

“I have aleo studied Chapter 6, Title 22 

o? our Satutce and I do not tnink it throws 

any light upon the Iml)Jeot. 

*Llkcwlse, ArCi 6830 of our Statutes 

providing thnt County Coeueleslonern Court may 

build lcvlce or seawallt but it only appllcs 

to County Comm~eeLoncr Court of ~luntlce and. 

muniolpality authorities a? our Cltlee boracrlng on tfre aoaet of the @ulf or Hexloo. OS oouree, 

tLlc would not apply to Liberty County.* 

Artlole 8028, vernon’e Annotated Texas Clvll atatutee, reads am rollowe: 

*From an6 after the taking effcot of this 

hot it shall be unlswful for any pereon corporetion or levee Improvement dietrlot, wI{hout 

flret obtalnlnq the approval of plane for the 

eeme by the State keolamatlon EnKinecr, to oonetruot, attempt to oonetruot, oauee to be aonl truutea, -2ntain or oauee to be mclntalncd, 

eny levee or other euoh improvement on, along 

or near eny etreRe of this State vbioh Is eubjeot to floods, frcrhete or overflcve, so aa to 

oontrol, regulate or otherwise onan(jc, the flood 

waters cf euoh stream; an4 an? person, oorporatlon or dIetriot vlolatlng this eeotion of this 

Aot shall be dceemd guilty OS a mle6emeanor, and 

upon convictlou shall be punlehed by a line of 

not exoecdfq one hundred dollars. bnd in the 

event any euoh etruoture 3.n about to be oonetruotcd, 1s oonrtruoted, or mcIntained by any pereon 
Ilonorablo Theam A. Uhbat, PagO 4 

or sorparr6lon vithout approval of tho plner by 

tho State Roohutlon Eztginrrr, it rhall bo tho 

buxFy oi the Attorney @moral, on the nquort of 

Oh0 s'ate Faol~mation Enguaror to file ru3.t in 

one OS tho dir8riot courta al barlo Couet~y, ia 

uhlch the oonur of such oultr lr hereb? fixed, 

to .nJolo the conrtruotion or emlntomoo OS rueh 

rtmoturo. Proridod, that the prvrlrionr of thlr 

erotlon chall not apply to dama, oanals Or other 

lmproromonts satlo or to be mdr by lrrlgation, 

vator impcorenents or irrigation lmprotemonte 

made br ind%ridualr or oorpo~a1;16n~.' 

Ye have oanfully o o eo ldetr ohe dl Oatuter poiatti 

out by JOU; WI harr aleo beoa \rmblo to ?%ab W,~etatutory 

authority vh%oh rould authoriso thr '@ma%8rloaer8' QQur8 

t0 l xp0ab 00unty mtbf0r th0 prvp0000 inpuma Ob0ut. 

It io l ettlod l&V t&alt the o o m4 iso ~o a r reosí ur s 

bar only onoh power ml authorit;g atI tho rtatutra sld %artitutlon oonfo~ upon it, oithor oxpreml~ 88 br nrsoaauy 

kBpl~oatlon. 

It is ow cplnlon that yor harr aornotly.aemwr04 the quort1on. 

Your8 very tm1y 

Am’QnxET - OF ¶mM 

Pr /eiP-;d 

Wm. J. Panting 

Irosirtant 

UJPIwl 

*='RO'JEDMAR .28, 1941 

-d-dATTORNEY GENERAL OF ~~~~