EATTORNEY GENERAL 

.CD,PTEXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

AUSTIN ~~.TEXAS 

January 28, 1948 

Hon. Sam Lee, 

County Attorney, 

Brazorla County, 

Angleton, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Opinlan ,Mo. v&38 

Re: Construction and constitutionality of R. B. 665, 

50th Legislature, conceming group #wurance for 

public employees. 

We refer to your letter of Bovember 26, 1947 

in which you startit the rollowing quesltionsr 

1. “Does H. 1). 665, as passid by the 

50th Legislature, apply to the counties 

of the state as well as to the. state and 

the specific governmental agenc%es mentioned III Section 1 of said b,lll? 

2. “If H. B. 665 does app,ly to counties, Is it constitutional? 

3. “1s Broztwia County, Texas authorized to pay the prani(laa or any part 

thereof for the benefit of its empl 

for the insurance available unc?er 88 T-* d 

bill? 

4. MIs there any authority for this 

county to obtain wo~knea’s compensation 

lneti&nce for its employees in lieu of 

thr health and accident insurance as provided undsr said bill?” 

. 

8. B;~ 665 now appears in Vernon’s Civil Statutes as Art, 5053a. It reads:~ 1. .~.~ 

“Sectton~ lL. ,Tbe State of Texas and 

each of its political 

~dqbirrlratfte subdlv~s r 

vemmental ana 

ens depastuats~ 

~agtiaeles, as~swiatlon dptkic errployeos , 

and the omrning beards and authorities 

of each it tate university college, coWa 

and fndependekt school districts ar, of an$ 
Hon. Sam Lee - Page 2 (V-488) 

other agency or subdivision of the nub11~ schoel sybtem of the State of Texa8 

are authorized to procure contracts Insuring their respective employees or any 

class or classes thereof under a policy 

or policies of group health 

accidental death and 

accident, 

dismem 6 erment, and 

~hospital, surgical and/or medical expense’ insurance e The dependents of any 

such eaployees may be insured under.group, 

polic%ea which prwide hospital, surreal 

and/or mdical expense insurance. 

l mployeesl contributions to the premiums 

for such insurance issued to the employer 

or to an assoalatlon of public employees. 

as the policyholder may be deducted by 

the employer from the smployessl salutes 

when authorized in writing by the respective, employee’s so to do. 

*Gel 2. All group insurance contracts erfected pursuant hereto shall conform and be subject to all the provisions 

af any existing or future laws conoernlng 

groups lnsurance,n 

It is elementary that a county is a political 

subdivision, of the State. 

81 w. 915. 

Robblns v. Limestone County, 268 

‘We are of the opinion that c&Me8 are lnclud~ 

ed ln the authorization ivea in Article 5053pj therefore 

cur answer to your Quest f on No. 1 is in the affirmative. 

The ~language of the Article Is that the enunier-: 

ated employers “tie authorized to procure contrc)cts insuring 

their respective em#loyees or any class or claasra there&f 

under a policy or,policies of group health, reel&ant, ace& 

dental death and dismemberment,, and hospital surgical and/& 

medical expense fnsurance. . . It is provided that upon wrftten consent of employees deductions may be made by the employer from their salaries to pay “‘employees contributions.” If 

then quoted language means that pubU.c money may be used,, to pay 

premium or, any ex ense 

void, as was held ii 

Incident to such insurance, the Act is 

y,this Department in its Opinion No. V-l&C?, 

a copy of which Is enclosed for your information. H. 3. 665 

was amended in House Committee,, after that o 5nion was written. 

If it merely means that, group insurance pal B ties may be issued to the indicatsd groups~of employees without the use of 

‘.. ,‘. 
: 

Hon. Sam Lea - page 3 (v-488) 

public money, the XCt is valid to that 

lit money has been lawfully paid to an 

to be public money. 

oxt ent . When pub; 

employee, It ceases 

We are of tbe opinion that the law authorizes 

the issuance of group insurance policies to groups of employees in the,classes indicated in the law, and it does 

not authorize~ths Use of any public money to pay any part 

of any premium or incidental expense concerning it. 

.Our aimter to your Question No. 3 is in the 

negative. 

Answering your Question No, 4, ,there is no, law 

which authorizes a county to ‘obtain workmena’ ~compensation 

insurance for its e%ploye,es. See Attorney Ganeral,@s Gplnion No. V-381, a copy of which is enclosed. 

County employees are lncluded,in the 

class of employees for whom group health, 

accident, accidtrntal death’ and dismembermenkand hospital, surgical and/or ~medi-, 

cal e,xpen$* ineur~ce may be issued under 

Art. 5Q53a, V. C. S, County funds may not 

be used to pay premiums or incidental expense for such insurance. Counties are 

not authorized to obtain Workmens’ Compensation Insurance for county employees+ 

Yours very truly, 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

WTwtwb 

Encls. 

W. T. Wllliano 

Assistant 

APJ’%OVkD:. 

p&Jl&$f 

ATTDRI’SISY GERERAL