OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Eonorable Tohn C. ?Aarburger 

county Xttomey 

?aystte county 

La cNn&3* Tsxaa 

ublic road. 

,301~ roquset 

gr?Av81 oompany us 

been reaeiYed by 

letter is th 

of land leased 

the omsr Or t 

1 ooapaay, end 

e truoks of thla 

e pub110 roads ham 

etsted in your 

hrou& the traot 

gravel pit, and that 

6 to UW hia tNOk8 t0 

without wgistering 

ole 6675 or the 3erioed 

Wan to tha definition OS 

evised Civil Statbiidgo, oulvert or other necessary struature appertaining thersto.R 

~rtlole 704 of the Ponsl Code ot Texas reads a8 

rollow6r 

Vhoever Bhdl wilfully obstrust or 

injure or oauw t0 be obetruoted or in- - 

jured in any manner uhatwerer any pub110 

road or highway or any atreet or alley in 
pi 

tE 

r 

. . Hoaorable Joha C. Ysrburger, Page 2 

say tom or city, or any public bridee 

or oeuseway, within ttis Nate, shall 

be fined not exaeeding Tao huadred dal1Rrs." 

The powern of the Conmissionrre* Courts la Texas 

are t3triCtly ComtNed. 21 Tex. Jur., p. 704, says that: 

"The Comlasioncre' Courts‘have 

oaly tiuc?. retgulatcary powers over highwayb as have been exjWetisly grfmted 

them. " 

There is ao statutory authority for the Comuisaionerb* Court 0r ywr cmnty to eater Into a contract or 

10ese between the gravel ocqany und themselves, en& we 

think that Al%iO?a 784 of the Fenel Code, quoted above, 

aleerly disclomen the .jnteation of the iagislature that 

the COmuibsiouere* Courts may not. pomit any ObetNCtiOn, 

nor themselves obstruot the highway in any way. %ie,believe that the grsnt+ns of a lease in this instauce,to 

pennit the armsing or gravel tnlakn iron one elde of the 

highway to another muld oiTer a serious traffio hszsrd, 

cad there is-no doubt la our miads that the courts wuld 

consider this sc act of ObstNOtiOn of the public highmy. 

b‘e call your attention to the cam or El Paso 

Electric Compeny tb.'Leeper, 42 S.ti. (2d) 863. In this inrtauce the Coamissione~~ Court had permitted the placing 

Of ea eleotrio wire pole on the right-of-way 0t the reed 

near the boundurp line, sad the eyidenee shone4 that thare 

was. maple room oa both sides or the pole for the passage 

of vehicles, sad t&et the looation of the pole did not laterfere with or impede the traffla. The court held that 

although the Corrmievioaere * Court aould open and close E 

road when the roe d wss abandoned, it had 110 authority to 

pennit sny obstruotion to be &&seed upon a right-or-way. 

The Opinion iJldicbted that 80. y obstruotlon or thing aonstitutin& e present source or' dawer was within toe ooatemplation of Article 7G4 al' our Penal Co&. 

_ Article 6675a-2 requires that: 

%%ery owner of IS motor vehicle, 

trailer or semi-trailer used, or to 

be used upon a public higawey in t&is 

State, and each ohauffeur, shsl3. apply 

eaoh year to the Etate .uighway Department.thri%@ the Couaty Tsr Collector 
Honorable John C. Marburger, Page 3 

of the county in whioh he ._ . - . resides for 

tm reglstratlon or eacn such vehicle 

rmned or controlled by hln. . . " 

._ . 

This particular Article erenpts fro% reglstration lm9leoents of husbcndry, farm ticotors, Pam trc%lera, 

farm semi-treilers operated or moved temporarily upon the 

hi@ways of this State. These ere the 'only cxoc)tlons made 

to this statute. Thcr~s being no cxes?tion for a gravel 

truok that passes only temynorarily across a public highxay, It must necessarily, by foroe of ler. be registered 

as required by our statute. 

Xe are 8nclosinS a copyof an opinion of this departmnt, written to the Fionorablc George il. She99ard on 

January 23, 1939. Xe belicvvo this opinion -i~lll be of some 

assistsnoe to you in the solution of your problem. You are 

hereby advised that tha county has no authority to enter 

into the contract considered, a&Z that ths gravel tNCkS 

operated on or mross the highxaya of this State as that . 

term has been defined by the statutes must be licensed as 

required by lawI 

YOU-8 YSl-y tNly 

ATTORBZY GEiJZl-iAL OF TSXAS