OFFLCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Hon. Homer Oarrleon, Jr., Director Departmentof Public Safety Camp Kabry Austin, Texas
Dear Sir:

This will aoknow *Ootober

19, 1939, wherein partment upon the r0mwti Y of your 19 ter or in1011 of this der this Department sion guards aa the Forty-sixth expensesoi the

n made by the 46th Leglelae Departmentof Publlo general heading “Texas elon guards at #1,200.00 low Immediately

afterthe

, one sergeantand twenty-five foroe, and lmmeblatelypreorlmlnal investigators under

d of the appropriation made Sor the maln epartment of Pub110 safety, there appears, ng %alntenanoe end Mlaoellaneoua,~ lten NO. 5, whloh reads as i’ollows!

Voetage , supplies,equipment,arms, wire comnunloatlone,

printing and contingentexpenses; hoapltallaatlon

end medloal aervloeswhen injured in line of duty, antI funeral expenseswhen killedHon. Eomer Garrison,Jr., Page 2.

in aatlon; surety bonds, books, ail necessary expenses of operatinga police training sohool at Camp Fabry for trainingpeace officers ge&erally, and members of this department,end any other necedsary.departmental expenses, lncludlng initial equipment,"the Legislature having provided $37,150.00per annum for this purpose. It was apparentlythe intentionof the Leglslature that the four mansioh guards authorized should be commissioned

as Texas Rangers, for certainly it was contemplatedthat the mansion guards should have and be vested with suftlclentauthority to enable them to effeotively serve 88 suoh guards, and the fact that provision is msde for these poaitlonsunder the general heading "Texas Rangers" is lndloatlveof.the legislativeintent that these men be oomm~asloned

as Texas Ransers. The first questionto be determined,therefore, is whether;theauthority of the Department to provide unlforms for these men is &overnedby the provisionsof Articles 6567 aad 6568, fl.C.S., 1925.

Artlcle~6567reads as followe: YEaoh oriicer!',pon-corFslssioned officer, and private oft

aald'forceshall furnishhimself with a suitablehorse,,,hor.se equipment,alothlng, etc. If hla horse ls~kl&led~ in: action,lt shall be paid for by the~'3tate

ata fair market value at the time when killed;" Arti&, &a&s as follows: "The State~~~sndll

furnish eaoh member of said force with one lmpraved~carbine and pistol at oost, the prloe of-whldh ahall be deductedfromthe first money due suoh~offlc,er or man, and shall furnish said foroe with ratlone of subsistence, oamp equipage, and ammunition for the officers and men, and also forape for horse&. of. these ArtieJes'cere.stilJ in full force and effect, the Le,partment cri Public Safety Would lack the authority, neoessarlly,to ,$urnlsh these mansion Wards, sa Texas Rangera,u-lth uniforms. i?owever, in our opinion,Fan. Eomer Garrison, Jr., Page 3.

these Articleshave been repealed by Aots 1935, 44th Leglalature, page 444, Chapter 181, Seohlon 10, Section ll,and Section 25.

By Sections 10 and II of Acts 1935, 44th Leglslature ,. page 444, Chapter 101, the ‘Legislature provided that the.DepartEent

of Pub110 Safety should be composed of three dlvlsions,the Texas Rangers, the Eeedquarters

Division, tha .Texes Eilehwey

Patrol, and end audh other divisionses the Commissionmlght,deemnecessary. By Seatlon 11 the ‘Texas Fianger force end its personal property, equipmentand reoords were 'expressly

transferred to end plaoed under the jurls- &lotion of the Department of Public Safety, and was expressly mentioned es constitutingthe iiex&s &an&era Division of said Department.

Seotlon 25 of se%& Act provides as follows: "The State of Texas sball provide the neaessary buildings,offloes and quarters for the department and it8 officers and employees in the City of Austin, Texas, and in such other places in the State ss dlstrlot headquartersshall be established,

and it shall also provide, for the equipmentof the departmentend the divisions, bureaus and branches thereof,with the furniture., fixtures,automobiles, motorcycles,horses, flrearms, ammunition, uniforms,appllanaesand materials neceesary to the proper functioning and operatlonthereof." (Article4413 (25) Vernon’s Seyles iievfsed Civil Statutes.) Section 29 of aeld Act provibes: “All laws or parts o? laws inconsistent or confllotlng

with the provisionsof this Aot are hereby repealed."
In our opinion, there 1s a direot oonfllctbetween the provisionsof Section 25 of the Aot, and the Artloles of the neviaed Civil Statutes of 1925 above referred to, and, therefore,said Articles of the 1925 Revised Civil Statute8 were expresslyrepealedby the later enactment.

Sinoe, under the law ea it now exists, the maINiOn guards~as 'i'exas

Rangers may now be providedwith uniforms, it bsoomss necessary to consider the second questlon,thatHon. Romer Garrison,Jr., Page 4.

is , whether an appropriationis available to the Department Of Public Safety which may be used for that purpose. Vie are Of the opinion that item 5 of your Kaintenanceand Misaellaneous appropriation,

above quoted,may be used to defray the expenses of purahasinguniforms for these mansion guards, in the event the Departmentdeterminesthat it is necessary and advisable that these men be uniformed.
Yours very truly

BY /s/ R. x. Fairchild

Assistant R%F:pbp

/a/ Gerald C. bfann

hpprovea Opinion Committee By: B.W.B., Chafrman