E OIZNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS

Bnmreble c. I<.

Ford countyAttorney San Saba County ssn Sabs, Texas Dear sir: op-i,nion -y4F,i: IS!: Establishment of hospital by precinct
We have received

your letterof October 6, 1946,which we quote, in part, as follows: "The Commissioner's Court and CountyJudge oi‘ this countyhas requested that I send you my opinionon the question

of a precinct

of ttiis

county establishing, equiping,

maintaining,

and operating

a hospjtzl thr::u&

a vote on bonds and a tax for such purposes; and ask that you Give me EI~ opinionon the matter."

"The <commissioners

court of eny county shall have power to esttikLish

8 countehospital

and to enlargeany existing nospitsls

for the care and treatment of personssuffering :'rom my illness,

diseaseor injury,subjectto the provisions

of this chapter.

At intervals

of not less than tweLvemonths,ten per cent of the qualified property

tax >ayin:; voters of a county may petition such court t3 :~rov',9e

?or the establishing or enlarging

of a county hospital,in which event said courtwithin the time 4esi~wte.5

in such petition

shall submit to such voters at a specialor regularelection the proposition of Issuing

bonds in such aggregate amount as may be desisated in said petitionfor the establishing 01 er,largIng

of such hospital. Wheneverany such proposition

shall receivee majority of the voters cf t2e qualified

propertytax payersvoting at such election, said commissioners court shall establish and maintain such hospitaland shell have the following 2owers: 7,

. . .Hon. C. K. Ford - page #2 O-7458

"4. To issue countybonds to providefunds for the establishing, enlarging

and equipping

of said hospitaland for all other necessary

permanent

improvements

in connection

therewith; to do all other things that may be required by law in order to render said bonds valid. *

. . . * (Emphasis

added)
It is evidentthat if this articleauthorizes the establishment

of a hospitaland the issuance of hospital

bonds by a precinct of the county,then the word "county"includes"precinct."However, we believe it obviousthat this was not the legislative intent.
It is well-settled

that the power to issuenegotiable bonds is beyond the scope of power of a municipal corporation

unless it is specially

granted

by law, and that any doubt as to such power will be resolved

against its existence. City of Brenham v. GermanAmerican

Bank, 144 U. S. 173, 549; Peck v. City of Hempstead,

65 S. W. 653; 30 Tex. Jur. 402.
In the case of Eellv. Pulte, 10 9. W. (2d) 694 (Corn. App.), the court had the following to say: *The power to issuenegotiable paper for public improvements, or for money borrowedfor the purposeof acquiring such improvements,

is a powerwhich is regarded as being beyond the scope of power of the governing body of a city or county unless it be specially granted. This extraordinary power, when granted,

can be exercised

only in the mode and for the purposes

specified

in the grant. Fosterv. City of Waco, 113 Tex. 354, 255 S. W. 1104."
It is clear, upon a readingof Article 4478, et seq., and the original act as passeaby the Legislature in 1913 (Acts 33rd Leg. Ch. 39), that only a county-wide

application

was intended. Nowhere in the act is a precinct

authorized

or empowered

to establish

a hospital.
It will be noted that in Article 752a,Vernon's Annotated

Texas Statutes, authorizing

the issuance

of road bonds.,

the words "county,

or any political

subdivision

of a county"

are used. If "county'included its political

subdivisions,

then the inclusion of "or any political subdivisions

of a county"

would have been pointless. We hold, however, that the political

subdivision

would not have had that powerwithout the specific

authorization.

The authorities

cited above amply support this concltiion.. . ,I

Hon. C. K. Ford - page #3 O-7458

You are advised,

therefore,

that Article 4478, authorizing counties to establish,

etc., a countyhospital and to issue countybonds for the establishment,

enlargement, and equipment of said county

hospital, has no application to a precinct

of the county as such, and that the precinctis without corresponding power. You are furtheradvisedthat an examination

of all other applicable statutes

fails to reveal any law empowering

a precinct

to establish

a hospital

and issuebonds therefor. It follows, therefore,

that no such power exists. Very truly yaws, ATTORNEY GIcNmAL OF TEXAS s/ George

W. Sparks

BY George

W. Sparks Assistant

A.PPROVE!D

OCT. 22, 1946 s/ GroverSellers A'ITORNEX

GENEP&OFTEKAS APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE BY B. W. B. CHAIRMAN