R-233 

Hon. Claud Gilmer, Chairman 

Committoe on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-207 

Re: Construction of Section 

17 of Article III, of 

the Texas Constitution, 

relative to adjournments 

.~ Dear Sir: of the Legislature. 

Pour request for an opinion is as fellowo: 

eSection 17 of Article III of the 

Constitution provides 1 neither House 

shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days 

nor to any place than that where the 

Legislature may be sitting.' All of 

the precedents of the Houae.count an 

adjournment from one day to the next 

as a one day adjournment. In other 

words, if the House adjourns on Thursday to re-assemble at a definite hour 

on Saturday, it is-a two day adjournrent. 

eRecently, the presiding officer of 

the Senate haa interpreted the above quoted constitutional provision aa only meaning the intervening day, and excluding the 

day upon which the adjournment is taken 

and the day upon which the body would reconvene o 

"It is considered that this difference between the House and the Senate 

should be reconciled. Another,question 

also arises in this connection, and that 

is whether or not the tconsentl in the 

above mentioned provision can be given as 

a blanket proposition for the entire eesrion. 

"1, therefore, request your opinion 

upon the following questions: 
Hon. Claud Qilmer, Page 2s V-207 

“1, Is an adjournment or recess 

from Thursday until the following Monday, 

of either House or Senate, without the 

consent of the other, violative of Section 

17 of Article 3 of the State Constitution? 

“2 ” May the consent for aajouramat 

‘for more than three days”, of either 

House to the other, granted by coacurreat 

resolution, be made as a blanket and contlauing authmlzation throughout a session; 

or must there be a single and specific 

grant for each aaa every recess or adjournmebIt o” 

We ‘shall answer your questions la the order 

In which you state them. 

10 You are correct in stating that aajournment from one day to the next has long been considered 

as a one day adjournment by both the Texas House ard 

Senate and The United States Congress. All of the 

precedents we have been able to find are in accord on 

this point, Therefore, the constitutional adjournment for “more than three days” must take Into the 

count either the day of adjournin 

ing. (Texas Legislative Maaual, & 

or the day of maet9th bglahture, 

page. 180; Hinds? Precedents, V, 6673, 6674.) 

However, when Sunday ia one of the days 

within the period of adjourument, that da7 is aot to 

be counted, This is coatrary to the interpretation 

made by both you ana the writer of this opinion dur; 

ing the time we served ae Speaker of the House of 

Representatives and it Is contrary to the interpretation geaemlly made by other Presiding Officers of 

both the House and Senate duriag recent years. A 

careful study of earlier Texas legislative and congressional precedents reveals that the correct rule 

is to exclude Sunday from the count. It is the same 

rule which excludes Sunday from the constitutional 

provision that without a quorum, neither House may 

adjoura except from day to day. The long established 

practice allows adjourn8ient from Saturday until Monday without a quorum, arid this practice has been approved by former opinions of this office, (Texas Legislative Manual, 49th Legislature, page 179) 

. 
Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 3, V-207 

We find no written precedents in Texas bgislative Manuals directly holding that Sunday should 

be excluded from the “three day” period mentioned ia 

Sect Ion 17, Article III of the Texas Constltut ion, 

but there are precedents in point In the proceedings 

of Congre 88, which are governed by a slrni~~f~~~vision in the United States Constitution. 

Article 1, Sec. 5, Clause 4 of the Constitution if 

the United States Is the apparent source of our own 

constitutional provision, eua it reads as follows: 

“Neither House, during the session of 

Congress, shall without the consent of the 

other, adjourn for more than 3 days, nor to 

any other place, than th$t in which the two 

Houses shall be sitting. 

The abolrr? provision was inserted in the Texas 

Constitution of 1845 and vas carried forward in subsequent Texas Constitutions. From Honorable Sam 

Rayburn, former Speaker of the Texas House and former 

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United 

States, we learn that Sunday has always been excluded 

from the “three day” provision in the liational House 

and that the same interpretation was followed by earlier Texas Legislatures. 

In Vol, V, Sec. 6674 of HIHDS’ “Precedents 

of the House of Representatives”, ve find this language : 

“On Nay 29, 1850, the House aajoumea 

over from Thursday until Monday witho’.@ any 

question as to Sundig being included. 

In the sams publication, Vol. 8, Sec. 6673, 

we find the following: 

“Sunday is not taken Into account in 

making the coast It utioaal adjournment of 

‘not more than three days I. 

“The const ltutional adjournment for 

not ‘mope than three days’ must take into 

the court either the day of adjourniag or 

the day of meeting. 

“On Saturday, December 28, 1895, Mr. 

Nelson Dlngley, of Uain, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, asked: 
Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 4, V-207 

“My parliamentary inquiry is whether 

under the Constitution a receee can be 

taken from to-day until next Thursday 

or whether that vould be an adjournment 

for more than three legislative days. ’ 

“The Speaker said: 

‘Sunday is not taken into account in 

these cases, but the Chair thinks the 

adjournment can not be to a later day 

than next Wednesday. 1 ’ 

Accordingly, In answer to your first question, it is our opinion that either the House or Senate may adjourn from Thursday until the following 

Monday without the consent of the other, such period 

of time, counting the day of adjournment or the day 

of reconvening, but excluding Sunday, being for not 

more than three days, 

As to xour second question, we are of the 

opinion that no blanket” consent may be given for 

the remainder of the session for either House to adjourn for more than three days. The Constitution 

contemplates consent of the other House on each separate occasion when one of the Houses desires to adjourn for more than three days. The obvious purpose 

of Section 17, Article III, was to avoid the po!%lble 

Interference with the orderly functioning of the Legislature as a dual body in rvklng the laws, by adjournment of one of the bodies essential to such funct ioning for a longer t S.me than three days D The time 

end circumstances of any particular recess adjournment IS clearly a matter of discretion of both Houses 

as of the tipm when the question arises. This Is expressly recognized in the Constitution In perntlttlug 

the consent of the “other” House to an adjournment 

for a longer time than three days. It ia sound legal 

reasoning, we think, that neither House may by its 

act of passing a blanket or continuous authorization 

throughout a session, abdicate its power and duty under the Constitution to act upon such adjournment 

from time to tills as the request therefor arisen. To 

permit such a practice would ln effect nullify Section 17 of Article III, 
Hon, Claud Gilmer, Page 5, V-207 

SlJJMARY 

Section 17, Article III, of the Texas 

Constitution, prohibits adjournment of elther House for more than three days without 

consent of the other House, 

"three days", 

In calculating 

the day of adjournment or the 

day of reconvening must be counted, If a 

Sunday is within the period of adjournment, 

It should not be counted, Therefore, either House may adjourn from Thursday to Monday 

without the eonsent of the other, since the 

period is not for more than three days, excluding Sunday. 

A "'blanket" consent of both Houses for 

adjournments of more than three days at any 

tlms during the session would violate Section 

17, Article III, of the Texas Constitution, 

since it contemplates separate and specific 

consent of the other House each time one 

House desires to adjourn for more than three 

days D 

Very truly Yours, 

PDswbsmrj 

Price Da&e1 

Attorney General