Honorable J. C. Zbranek 

Chairman , Committee on Counties 

House of Representatives. 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion NO. WW- 665 

Re: Constitutionality of 

certain provisions of 

Dear Mr. Zbranek: House Bill 31. 

You have requested our opinion with regard to the 

constitutionality of House Bill 31. This Bill provides 

for the creation of a County Building Authority, in counties where applicable, primarily for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, improving, equipping, furnishing, 

maintaining and operating a county building to be used 

principally as a County Courthouse. The Bill is made applicable to: 

If counties having a population 

in exceis'oi 600,000 according to the last 

preceding Federal Census and which have 

not constructed a county courthouse within 

the last ten (10) years." 

You have expressed particular concern as to the 

constitutionality of those portions of the Bill which delegate powers with regard to county business now exercised 

by the County Commissioners Court to the County Building 

Authority in counties where this Bill would be applicable. 

Before considering the constitutionality of granting the powers with regard to certain county business to 

the County Building Authority, we feel constrained to point 

out the following objections to tne Caption and Section 1 

of the Bill as now written: 
Honorable J. C. Zbranek, page 2 (WW- 665) 

CAPTION 

Section 8 of the Bill provides in part as follows: 

"The authority is created primarily 

for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, improving, equipping, furnishing, maintaining and operating a 

County Building. . . ." 

That portion of the Caption of the Bill which refers 

to the gowers of the County Building Authority reads as follows: authorizing the creation of County Building 

Authorities'& acquire, own and operate a public building to 

be used principally as a County Courthouse; . . .' 

We would here point out that there is a variance between the powers given the authority in Section 8 of the Bill 

and those enumerated In the Caption of the Bill. Therefore, 

in our opinion, the powers contained in Section 8, particularly 

the power to construct, which are not also contained in the 

Caption are subject to being held Inoperative. We, therefore, 

suggest that the Caption be changed to include all those powers 

set forth in Section 8 of the Bill. 

SECTION 1 

The first sentence of this Section is subject to a 

construction which would make this Bill a local or special 

law prohibited by Section 56 of Article III of the Texas 

Constitution. 

We say this due to the fact that t$e portion of the 

first sentence of Section 1 which reads: and which 

have not constructed a County Courthouse within the last 

ten (10) years," can be construed as fixing a period of ten 

years which dates back from the effective date of the Bill. 

So construed, this Bill would be invalid under the 

holding in City of Ft. Worth v. Bobbitt, 121 Tex. 14, 36 

S.W.2d 470 71931) because it would appfy only to those 

counties wherein a County Courthouse had not been constructed within the ten years immediately preceding the effective date of the Bill and would, therefore, be a local 

or special law. 
Honorable J. C. Zbranek, page 3 (~~-665 

In order to remove the posslbil ity of such a construction it is suggested that the first sentence in 

Section 1 be changed to read as follows: 

This Act shall be applicable only 

to counties having a population In 

excess of ~OO,~OO according to the 

last precedlng,Federal Census and 

which own and use, in conjunction 

with other structures, a courthouse 

which is more than ten (10) years 

old. 

The Caption of the Bill should be reworded to confrom 

to this change. 

We pass now to the consideration of the portions of 

the Bill which delegate powers relating to county business 

which have heretofore been reposed in the Commissioners 

court. 

Article 2351, Vernon's Annotated Texas Civil Statutes, 

provides in part as follows: 

"Each Commissioners Court shall: 

I, 

. . . 

“7 . Provide and keep in repair court 

houses, jails and all necessary public bulldings." (emphasis ours.) 

Under the decisions of the Texas courts, it is well 

settled that the Countv Commissioners Court has no Dower 

except that specially conferred by the Constitution*or 

1936, writ refused). 
Honorable J. C. Zbranek, page 4 (WW-665) 

However, Section 18 of Article V of the Constitution 

of Texas, which provides that Commissioners Courts shall 

exercise such power and jurisdiction over county business 

as is conferred by the Constitution and laws of the State 

does not prevent the Legislature from committing any county 

business to some other authority, nor does any other provision of the Constlt ti hiblt the exercise of such 

legislative power. C~ar?v?inley 93 Tex. 181, 54 S.W. 

343 (1899); Garrett v. Commissioner; Court of Limestone 

~~~i;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'~~~~t:'~~~~:';.~~~;~~:' %8 

Sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Bill set forth the 

powers and purposes of the County Building Authority. We 

find nothing in these Sections which is inconsistent with 

the efficient and effective conduct of county business in 

relation to county courthouses. 

In view of the last cited authorities, it is our 

opinion that the Legislature may properly delegate to the 

County Building Authority the powers conferred b,y Sections 

6, 7, 8 and 9 of this Bill in counties where this Bill 

shall become effective and where such authority shall have 

come into being in conformity with the provisions of this 

Bill, without violating any provision of the Constitution. 

Section 4 of House Bill 31 requires the "qualified 

voters of the county" to vote on the questions of the creation of the County Building Authority and the issuance of 

bonds by the Authority in the same election. 

It is our opinion that Section 4 of this Bill is 

unconstitutional in that it allows voters other than those 

who own taxable property and who have duly rendered the same for 

taxation to vote on the issuance of bonds ana tnus violates 

Section 3a of Article VI of the Texas Constitution. 

Carlton Independent School Dist., 156 Tex. 365, 295 S. Y?FF . d 

408 (1956). 

We find no other provisions of this Bill which are 

unconstitutional. 
Honorable J. C. Zbranek, Page 5 (w-665) 

SUMMARY 

The Caption of House Bill 31 does 

not conform with the powers delegated to the County Building Authority in Section 8 of said Bill; Section 

1 of said Bill is capable of being 

construed in a manner which would 

make It invalid as a local or special 

law under Section 56 of Article III 

of the Texas Constitution; Sections 

6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Bill, in which 

powers relating to county business 

are delegated to the Authority, are 

constitutional; Section 4 of the Bill 

violates Section 3a of Article VI 

of the Texas Constitution; all 

other portions of the Bill are constitutional. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Lo, 

BY 

W. 0. Shultz 

Assistant 

WOS:mfh 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

H. Grady Chandler 

J. Milton Richardson 

Leonard Passmore 

BY 

Howard Mays 

Assistant 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: W. V.'Geppert