OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

April 28, 1939 

Hon. Porrester Hancock 

Criminal Distriat Attorney. 

Wexahachie, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

lQS9, in wbioh you ask 

for the erao- 

. Among other 

is a etetesllla county, Texas 

$7!KLoo 4tl%riuel 

tion of $750.00, rhlch library a&L whiah Boar& 

of Trustees are not under the supertision, 6011-~ 

trol, or jurisdiction of the looti Comzuisaioner@. 

court." ?r$ 
Hon. Forrester Hancock, April 28, 1939, Page 2 

Your attention is directed to aertain provisions 

of the Constltu$ion of Texas which appear to have a bearing upon this question. 

follows : 

Article 16, Section 6, reads aa 

"No appropriation for private or dndivldual purposes shall be made. A regular etetement, tindew oeth;end en eooopnt or the reoelpta 

and exptmdlturea of all publlo money shell be 

publfahed annually, in suoh mmner es shell be 

presaribed br. law.* 

Artiole 5, Seotion 50 o? the Con6tltiktlon road8 

es tollowsr 

The Legis3aturash~lhavo no.pmw to-.' ,' 

&lve or to lend, or to authorise'%h~.gIvIa&~ ~: .;: 

or landLug, a? the oredit of'the~state ln &i(L 

_ 

or; or to any parson, esaooietlti~ or oorpora~ 

.~.~ tloa, wheth-ar manlolpel or other, or to ple&a 

the.,oredlt of the State in any manner khattmever, ror the payment bf the U.ab3.lttia8, propent or ~pospe&ive; of any lndlvlduel.. M 

.a 

aoge- ... 

tion ot Lii e.fiduela, munloipel or'othar oow 

poretion' : tso dvt3l r 

Artiole S, Seotion 51 oi'the 4aonetitutioa reed8 

ee followzt, . 

9fhe' Legisieture shall have no.power to 

zuike any grant 'or eittborlze the making of any 

grant qC pub&lo money to any iadirtdnal, associatkon or lndivldnals, mtmiolpal ore other 

oorporationa wbat80ever....w 

Artic$S, Seotlon 52 of the Cdnsti&ion reed81 

as follows: 

*The Legislature shall have no power to 

authorize any ccmnty, oltp, tom or other 

polit&~cel oorporatlon or sabdiviaioa OZ the 

State to lend its oredit or to grant pub110 
Hon. Forrester Hancock, April 28, 1939, Page 3 

money or thing of v&LLue in aid of, or to 

any individual, association or corporation 

whatsoever, or to become a stookholder In 

such c?rporation, essocletion or ooa?pany; 

. ..." 

Article 11, Section 4 of the Constitution reeds 

as follow%: 

*No oountp, city, or other smnloIp&l 

corporation shell hereafter'beoomo a subSerIber to the oepltal o? any private uorporatlon or assoolatlon, or make any epproprietion'or donetton tqthe same, or in 

anytiles loan Its &edIt$ ‘but t&s shall not 

be oonstrue&to.in any way e??eot any obligation heretoiore undertaken pursuant to 

law.* 

Artiole 8, S&,Ion S of the C&tItutlon4rsads 

e ~~ipo18? 

Vaxes~ ehsll be levied and oolleoted 

tiy general lairs and ?or publta purposes 

on4. St 

The Commissioners* Court Is meeted by the Constltutlon.and 1s.a body exeroIsIng delegated powers. It 

hda no authority exoept that oongorrod upon It by the aonatltution and laws of th5.s steto. (Bland vs. Orr, 89 sll 

558;lU.l~ C0untJr~~.L8mpe8es 00~1ty, 40 SW401;Beldrln 

va. Travis County, 88 SW 484 and Art. 5, Sec..18 o?.the 

Gonstitutlon or the State o? Texas). 

The question es to ubat extent oan publio f’unds 

be used by governmental bodies for charitable pnZIQose5 

has aaused aonsidsrable coniliat in the deoisloni3 o? the 

dirrerent courts, and the courts have made the ?urthsr 

distinotion as to the authority o? the partfcular body 

to esjtpend public mone~&¶ as to the purpose tar whhicrh 

the money was appropri&ed ?or e public purpose. 

In Rulfng Case Law, MO. 7, page 936, we rind the 
. stltutsd 0KI~\ers,~an4, generally, to manage 

all the'business affairs of the oounty;:' Xa 

general, the pow& to inour obligetSoons, ita& ' 

to lcmy taxes onthe peaplo of the ~wmnt~.and 

on their property, is given ts poun~ie~ br ~. 

s$etutq but this Is a power that must be ,' 

exerolsed onlJ.111 the rtu-theranoe of OOwty 

or pub110 purpo~." '~ 

Hon. Forrester Hancock, April 28, 1939, Page 4 

following statement: 

"Counties being created for purposes 

of government, and authorized to exeroise 

to a limited extent a portion of the power 

of the state gooverument, have always been 

held to aot strictly within the powers 

granted by the legislative aot establishing 

them. hccordlngly, the statute is to them 

their fundamental law, and their power is 

only coextensive with the power thsreby 

expressly granted, or ne~essarlly or reasanably Implied tram Its granted powers. Al2 

the powsss with whiah the sountr Is intrustsd.: . 

are the pswsks a? the state, a@ all tho 

dutIes,wIth whIoh they are ohargod sro the 

duties o? the state, and honoo these pmsrs,. 

and pririleges ma7, In general, be ohan@," I 

Bodi$ied or taken away. Perauent to mxoh, ~1 

gsnerel purposda a? govorapmt a rc.oovAatf ia+ :,:,. 

power to reoslre sad hold prope~,'~?&iaour ' 

debts and lIebIlifie8 wIthid statutory Umits, 

tq make sontracts through its lew?ully oonThe publId purpoee.?or whiuh money may be reined 

oomes up in a vsrlety of ways; and will be bristly rotiewad. Uesury w. City af Laredo, 66 Tes. 406, the City a? 

Laredo passsd an ordinsnoe giting exolusire 0cmtroL otdr 

sohools wIthIn its limits. ~ssury signed a contreof with 

the trustees that were appointed by the County Judge, and 

on request for psyment'aad refusal brought 8uIt for amis. 

The Supreme Court deslsd his claim and held that the.method 

by whloh publia schools are oreated was not followed, and 

thatthe public sohool ?uad aould be used only for the 

publio sohools of Texas. 
Hon. Forrester Eancock, April 28, 

Attorney Genersl Looney 

an opinion to the county judge o? 

1939, Page 3 

on Map 19, 1913, gave 

Shelby County, Texas, 

that an appropriation by the Commissioners' Court to aid 

a county fair or to make an exhibit at the State yai.r 

was unauthorized in Texas. 

In Bennett vs. City of Lafmange, 112 S? 482, 

the Supreme Court of Georgia held that au appropriation 

of $75.00 per month to the Salvation Army to be ased in 

the public oharlty of the oity and. eooounted ?cs mcmth4 

wss a vIolatIon of the Constitutional provision that 

*no money shall ever be taken from the publI% *eastmy, 

direatly or Indlreotly, In the aid of any charah, seat 

or denomination or my s%otarisn Institution. 

The osse of St, Yary*8 Soh001 vs. Brora et al, 

45 Md. ?ilO, was e ault by a tayp&yeir to res~rbt the 

mey%r and oItycounsslo?~t~%fiosagr~tibgappropsiatlons to serre~ohsrltsble Institutions. Then oou?t‘ 

said: .~ "

*It Is oertsin, we suppose, that the' 

oity~oounsel shmld bate %o power to mske 

eppreprIetions to these institutioas simply 

es suoh, not baoause memAy of the very 

humane end leudlble obj%ots and purposes 

for which they are or%at%d by .th%Ir founders 

and propoters; it is beoausg of the a&v31 

serrloe as benofI.8 render the olty that 

any alaim oould.be urged ior their support 

from the city treasury.' And If this be so, 

what guarantee has tha'eity that s~errices 

are benefits will aoarue, aosmensorate dth 

the appPo$rIations that sre g!id%? The same 

principal that n%uld sustain appropriations 

of every private ah3001 and -ohsrity In the 

ci);Y** 

Taking oognizance of the prohibitions Of o~3T 

Constitution, aad recognizing the raot that the C%xaissionem* Court has only suoh~powers as the statutes pe?'uIt, 

It is our opinion that the CoamIssioners~ Court is without 
Hon. Forrester Hancock, April 26, 1939, Page 6 

authority to make appropriations of publia money to any 

library controlled end operated by private individuals 

however worthy the cause might be. 

Very truly pours 

ATTQENXY GENISRAI, OF TEXAS 

BY ,@&&‘= 

)~ ~W. P. watts Assiistant