THEATTORNEY GENERAL 

WI& WILSON 

ATTORNEY OENERAL 

Honorable Charles 

Criminal District 

Harrison County 

P. 0. Box $949 

Marshall, Texas 

Dear Mr. Allen: 

OF-TEXAS 

Ausnlv .a*. TEXAS 

March 29, 1961 

A. Allen Opinion No. NW-1029 

Attorney 

Re': Whether, under 1 > . . 

the manaatory provisions of the 

Harrison County Road Law, 

the Commissioners' Court 

of Harrison County, Texas, 

is required to employ and 

have in Its constant employ a "registered professional" civil engineer? 

In your letters of March 7, 1961, you request the __. opinion of this office on the following question: 

"Under the mandatory provisions of the 

Harrison County Road Law is the Commlssioners' Court of Harrison County, Texas required to employ and have In its constant employ 

a 'registered professional' civil engineer?" 

In Opinion No. V-1407, to which we adhere, this 

office expressed the opinion that: 

"House Bill No. 812, Acts 42nd Leg., 

Special Laws R.S. 1931, ch. 156, p. 303 

(Harrison County Road Law), makes It mandatory for the commissioners' court of 

Harrison County to employ a county engineer 

and to have a county engineer in constant 

employment with Harrison County." 

Section 4 of House Bill No. 812, Acts 42nd Lee;., 

Special Laws, R.S. 1931, ch. 156, p. 303 requires that 'Said 

County Engineer shall be a qualified Civil Engineer and a 

resident of the State of Texas; . . . ' The question thus 

evolves : Must the "qualified Civil Engineer" required by 

Section 4 be a "registered professional" civil engineer? 
Honorable Charles A. Allen, Page 2 (w-1029) 

The duties of the county engineer are set forth in 

Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Harrison County Road Law, providing in part as follows: 

"Sec. 2. The Commissloners~ Court 

of Harrison County is hereby authorized and 

empowered to employ a County Engineer, whose 

duties, compensation and liabilities shall be 

such as are imposed by this Act. The said 

County Engineer shall devote his entire time 

to the construction and maintenance of the 

county roads. 

"Sec. 3. That said County Engineer 

shall be appointed by the Commissioners' 

Court of said county within ninety (90) days 

after the nassage of this Act at a Regular 

Meeting or-Called Session thereof. That he 

shall have charge of all public road construction and public road maintenance, together with the building of bridges and culverts, in his County except as is otherwise 

herein expressly provided. . . . 

“Sec. 4. Said County Engineer shall 

be a qualified Civil Engineer and a resident 

of the State of Texas; . . . That said County 

Engineer shall subject to the orders of the 

Commissioners' Court, have general supervision 

over the construction and maintenance of all 

public roads and highways of his county, together with the building of bridges and culverts; 

he shall superintend the laying out of new 

roads subject to the orders of the Commissioners' 

Court, and shall forthwith make or cause to be 

made a road map of the county showing the location, mileage, and classification of the different roads and highways in said county, . . .' 

(Emphasis added throughout) 

The pertinent sections of Article 3271a, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, defining and regulating the practice of professional engineering in the State of Texas, provide in part: 

"Section 1. That In order to safeguard 

life, health, and property, any person practicing or offering to practice the profession 
Honorable Charles A. Allen, Page 3 (WW-1029) 

of engineering as hereinafter defined shall 

hereafter be required to submit evidence that 

he is qualified so to practice and shall be 

registered as hereinafter provided; and it 

shall be unlawful for any person to practice 

or offer to practice the profession of engineering In this State, . . . unless such 

person has been duly registered or exempted 

under the provisions of this Act. 

"DEFINITIONS 

"Sec. 2. The term professional engineer 

as used in this Act shall mean a person who, 

by reason of his knowledge of mathematics, the 

physical sciences, and the principles of engineering, acquired by professional education 

and practical experience, Is qualified to engage in engineering practice as hereinafter 

defined. 

'The practice of professional engineering 

within the meaning and Intent of this Act includes any professional service, such as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, 

designing, or responsible supervision of construction in connection with any public or private utilities, structures, bulldlnsts. machines. 

equipment, processes, works, or projects, where: 

in the public welfare, or the safeguarding of 

life, health or property is concerned or involved, when such professional service requires the 

application of engineering principles and lnterpretation of engineering data. 

,t 

. . . 

"Sec. 19. After the first day of January, 

1938, it shall be unlawful for this State, or 

for any of its nolltlcal subdivisions. for any 

county; city, or town, to engage in the construction of any public work involving professional engineering, where public health, 

public welfare or public safety is involved, 

unless the engineering plans and specifications and estimates have been prepared by, 
Honorable Charles A. Allen, Page 4 (WW-1029) 

and the engineering construction is to 

be executed under the direct supervision 

f a registered professional engineer; 

zrovided that nothingln~ &isAct shall 

be held io apply to any public work wherein the contemplated expenditure for the 

completed reject does not exceed Three 

Thousand ( $ 3,OOO.OO) Dollars. Provided, 

that this Act shall not apply to any road 

maintenance or betterment work undertaken 

by the County Commissioners' Court." 

(Fmphasis added throughout) 

The term, "public works" is defined In Volume 

34 of Texas Jurisprudence at page 731, as embracing "all 

constructlorsand improvements--ordinarily of a fixed 

nature--designed for public use, protection or enjoyment. 

Clearly included among public works are bridges, school 

buildings, waterworks, dams, sewers, canals and channels, 

levees and seawalls, wharves and piers, irrigation, reclamation and drainage projects, and highways and streets. 

Indeed, every work undertaken by the State, a county, 

municipality, or other public agency Is necessarily, in 

the broadest sense, a 'public work.'" The term "public 

welfare" is defined as "the prosperity, well-being, or 

convenience of the public at large, or of a whole community, 

as distinguished from the advantage of an individual or 

limited class." Black's Law Dictionary. 

It is the opinion of this office that the duties 

imposed upon the county engineer by the Harrison County 

Road Law are encompassed by the definition of the practice 

of professional engineering contained In Section 2 of Article 

3271a. 

In response to a request from the County Auditor 

of Harrison County, relative to the authority of the Commlssioners Court to appoint a person not possessing the qualiflcations of a "professional engineer" as a superintendent of 

maintenance and construction of county roads and other public 

works, this office expressed the following opinion: 

"It is the opinion of this department, 

under the facts stated, that Section 19, 

supra, does not prohibit the Commissioners' 

Court from appointing a person not possessing the qualifications of an engineer as 
Honorable Charles A. Allen, Page 5 (WW-1029) 

defined In Article 327la, V. A. C. S., 

as a superintendent In the construction 

of public works where the contemplated 

expenditure for the completed project 

does not exceed $3,000.00; nor does said 

section prohibit the Commissioners' Court 

from appointing such a person to supervise any road maintenance or road betterment work undertaken by the county Commlssioners' Court. 

"Where, however, the county Commissioners' Court engages in the construction 

of public works wherein the contemplated 

expenditure for the completed project exceeds $3,000.00, and such work involves 

public health, public welfare or public 

safety, and also involves professional 

engineering, it is the opinion of this department that, while a non-engineer could 

be appointed as general supervisor of such 

construction, Section 19 requires the 

county to employ a registered professional 

engineer to prepare the engineering plans 

and specifications and estimates, and the 

engineering construction, likewise, must be 

executed under the direct supervision of 

such engineer. 

"Whether the construction of a particular public work involves 'professional 

engineering' and whether 'public health, 

public welfare or public safety' Is involved, are questions of fact, and consequently 

not subject to being ruled on by this 

department." 

Copies of this opinion, No. o-3505, and of Opinion No. V-1407 

are enclosed for your information. 

SUMMARY 

Under the mandatory provisions of the 

Harrison County Road Law and the provisions of Article 327la, Vernon's Civil 
Honorable Charles A. Allen, Page 6 (NW-1029) 

Statutes, the Commissioners Court of 

Harrison County, Texas, is required 

to employ and have In Its constant employ a "registered professional" civil 

engineer. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

BY J+&A&-yd.b 

Dudley D. McCalla 

Assistant 

DDM:hmc 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Jack N. Price 

John Reeves 

L. P. Lollar 

John Leonarz 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Morgan Nesbltt