OFFLCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Hon. Homer Oarrleon, Jr., Director 

Department of Public Safety 

Camp Kabry 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

This will aoknow 

*Ootober 19, 1939, wherein 

partment upon the r0mwti 

of your 19 Y ter or 

in1011 of this der this Department 

sion guards aa 

the Forty-sixth 

expenses oi the 

n made by the 46th Leglelae Department of Publlo 

general heading “Texas 

elon guards at #1,200.00 

low Immediately afterthe 

, one sergeant and twenty-five 

foroe, and lmmeblately preorlmlnal 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 contingent expenses; 

hoapltallaatlon end medloal aervloes when injured 

in line of duty, antI funeral expenses when killed 
Hon. Eomer Garrison, Jr., Page 2. 

in aatlon; surety bonds, books, ail necessary 

expenses of operating a police training sohool 

at Camp Fabry for training peace officers ge&erally, and members of this department, end any 

other necedsary.departmental expenses, lncludlng initial equipment," the Legislature having 

provided $37,150.00 per annum for this purpose. 

It was apparently the intention of the Leglslature that the four mansioh guards authorized should be 

commissioned as Texas Rangers, for certainly it was contemplated that the mansion guards should have and be vested with suftlclent authority to enable them to effeotively 

serve 88 suoh guards, and the fact that provision is msde 

for these poaitlons under the general heading "Texas Rangers" 

is lndloatlve of.the legislative intent that these men be 

oomm~asloned as Texas Ransers. 

The first questionto be determined, therefore, 

is whether;the authority of the Department to provide unlforms for these men is &overned by the provisions of Articles 

6567 aad 6568, fl.C.S., 1925. 

Artlcle~6567 reads as followe: 

YEaoh oriicer!',pon-corFslssioned officer, and 

private oft aald'force shall furnish himself with a 

suitable horse,,,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 deductedfrom the 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 Articles have 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 divisions es the 

Commission mlght,deem necessary. By Seatlon 11 the ‘Texas 

Fianger force end its personal property, equipment and reoords 

were 'expressly transferred to end plaoed under the jurls- 

&lotion of the Department of Public Safety, and was expressly mentioned es constituting the 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 headquarters shall be 

established, and it shall also provide, for the 

equipment of the department end the divisions, 

bureaus and branches thereof, with the furniture., 

fixtures, automobiles, motorcycles, horses, flrearms, ammunition, uniforms, appllanaes and materials neceesary to the proper functioning and operatlonthereof." (Article 4413 (25) Vernon’s Seyles 

iievfsed Civil Statutes.) 

Section 29 of aeld Act provibes: 

“All laws or parts o? laws inconsistent or 

confllotlng with the provisions of this Aot are 

hereby repealed." 

In our opinion, there 1s a direot oonfllct between 

the provisions of 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 expressly repealed by the later enactment. 

Sinoe, under the law ea it now exists, the maINiOn 

guards~as 'i'exas Rangers may now be provided with uniforms, 

it bsoomss necessary to consider the second questlon, that 
Hon. Romer Garrison, Jr., Page 4. 

is , whether an appropriation is available to the Department 

Of Public Safety which may be used for that purpose. Vie are 

Of the opinion that item 5 of your Kaintenance and Misaellaneous 

appropriation, above quoted, may be used to defray the expenses 

of purahasing uniforms for these mansion guards, in the event 

the Department determines that 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