R-233

Hon. Claud Gilmer, Chairman Committoe on Appropriations House of Representatives Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-207

Re: Constructionof Section 17 ofArticle 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 Constitutionprovides 1neither House shall,without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days nor to any place than that where the Legislaturemay be sitting.' All of the precedentsof the Houae.countan adjournment from one day to the next as a one day adjournment. In other words, if the House adjourns on Thursday to re-assembleat a definitehour on Saturday, it is-a two day adjournrent.eRecently,the presiding officer of the Senatehaa interpretedthe above quoted constitutionalprovisionaa only meaning the interveningday, and excludingthe day upon which the adjournment is taken and the day upon which the body would reconveneo
"It is consideredthat this difference betweenthe House and the Senate shouldbe reconciled. Another,question also arises in this connection,and that is whether or not the tconsentlin 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 ‘formore than three days”, of either House to the other, granted by coacurreat resolution, be made as a blanket and contlauing authmlzation throughouta session; or must there be a single and specific grant for each aaa every recess or adjournmebIt o”

We ‘shallanswer 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 precedentswe have been able to find are in accord on this point, Therefore, the constitutional adjournment for “morethan 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 Representativesand 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 legislativeand congressionalprecedents 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 untilMonday without a quorum, aridthis practicehas been approved by former opinions of this office, (Texas LegislativeManual, 49th Legislature,page 179) .Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 3, V-207

We find no written precedents in Texas bgislativeManuals directlyholding that Sunday should be excluded from the “threeday” period mentioned ia SectIon 17, Article III of the Texas Constltution, but there are precedents inpoint In the proceedings of Congre88, which are governedby 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 constitutionalprovision, eua it reads as follows:

“NeitherHouse, 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 shallbe sitting.
The abolrr?

provisionwas inserted in the Texas Constitution of 1845 and vas carried forward in subsequentTexas 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 “threeday” provision in the liational House and that the same interpretationwas followedby 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 untilMonday witho’.@ any question as to Sundig being included.

In the samspublication,Vol. 8, Sec. 6673, we find the following:

“Sunday is not taken Intoaccount in making the coastItutioaaladjournmentof ‘notmore than three days I.
“The constltutionaladjournment for not ‘mopethan three days’ must take into the court either the day of adjourniag or the day of meeting.

“OnSaturday,December 28, 1895, Mr. Nelson Dlngley, of Uain, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, asked:Hon. Claud Gilmer, Page 4, V-207

“Myparliamentary inquiry is whether under the Constitution a receee can be taken from to-day until next Thursday or whether thatvould be an adjournment for more than three legislativedays.’
“TheSpeaker said: ‘Sunday is not taken into account in these cases, but the Chair thinks the adjournment can not be to a later day than nextWednesday.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 secondquestion,we are of the opinion that no blanket” consentmay be given for the remainder of the session for eitherHouse to adjourn formore than three days. The Constitution contemplates consent of the other House on each separate occasionwhen one of the Houses desires to adjourn for more than three **days.** The obviouspurpose of Section 17, Article III, **was** to avoid the po!%lble Interferencewith the orderly functioning of the Legislatureas a dual body in rvklng the laws,by adjournmentof one of the bodies essential to such functioning for **a** longer tS.me than three daysD The time end circumstancesof 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 continuousauthorization 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, ClaudGilmer, 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, "threedays", In calculating

the day of adjournment or the day of reconveningmust be counted, If a Sunday iswithin the period of adjournment, It shouldnot 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 bothHouses 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 contemplatesseparate and specific consent of the otherHouse each time one House desires to adjourn for more than three daysD Very truly Yours,

PDswbsmrj PriceDa&e1 Attorney General