ENERAL. 

Aun-ra~.T~xas 78711 

December 29, 1971 

Hon. F. B. Lloyd, Jr. 

District Attorney 

P. 0. Box 965 

Alice, Texas 78332 

Opinion No. M- 1030 

Re: Do the provisions of S. B. 

132, Acts 62nd Leg., R. S., 

1971, ch. 831, p. 2535, 

which authorizes various 

Dear Mr. Lloyd: 

courts to punish for contempt 

of court, apply to Commissioners Courts? 

Your recent request for an opinion asks for an answer to the 

following question: 

Do the provisions of S. B. 132, Acts 62nd Leg., 

R. S., 1971, ch. 831, p. 2535, which authorizes 

various courts to punish for contempt of court, 

apply to Commissioners Courts? 

Your attention is direct to the caption or title of Senate Bill 132 

(Article 1911a, V. C. S. ) which provides as follows: 

“An Act relating to the power and authority of 

certain courts, to punishment for contempt and 

to powers of justices of the peace; amending 

Article 2386, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 

1925; amendi Article 45. 12, Code of Criminal 

Procedure, 1 5; repealing Articles 1736, 1826, 

1911 and 1955, and Section 2, Article 4.04, Code 

of Criminal Procedure, 1965; ~ * . ” (Emphasis 

added) 

Section 4 of Senate Bill 132 amends Article 2386, Revised Civil 

Statutes of Texas, 1925, which confers upon justices of the peace certain 

powers including the power to punish for contempt; Section 5 of the Bill 

-5025- 
. , 

Honorable F. B. Lloyd, Jr., page 2 (M-1030) 

amends Article 45.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1965, which authorizes 

a recorder of a corporation court to punish for contempt; Section 6 of the 

Bill repeals Article 1736, which authorizes the Supreme Court to punish 

for contempt; Article 1911 which authorizes the district court to punish 

for contempt; and Article 1955 which authorizes the county court to punish 

for contempt. Additionally Section 2 of Article 4.04, Code of Criminal 

Procedure, 1965, which authorizes the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas 

to punish for contempt was also repealed. 

It is noted, however, that Section 2 of Senate Bill 132 provides in 

part: 

“(a) Every court other than a justice court or 

municipal court may punish by a fine of not more 

than $500 or by confinement in the county jail for 

not more than 6 months, or both, any person guilty 

of contempt of the court; 

“(b) A justice court or municipal court may punish 

by a fine of not more than $200 or by confinement in 

the county or city jail for not more than 20 days, or 

both, any person guilty of contempt of the court; . . . ” 

(Emphasis added) 

Article 2351, Subdivision 13, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, expressly 

authorizes a Commissioners Court of any county to: 

“Punish contempts by fine not to exceed twentyfive dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed 

twenty-four hours, and in case of fine, the party 

may be held in custody until the fine is paid. ” 

It is a well settled canon of statutory construction that when the 

caption or title of an act specifies the nature of the amendment, the body 

of the act must conform. Likewise, the body of the act cannot contain 

an amendment to a section of a previous act where the title omits any 

mention of that section. 53 Tex. Jur. 2d 111-112, Statutes, Sec. 61, and 

cases there cited. 

Applying these rules so as to harmonize the title and the body of 

the act, we conclude that the “certain courts” referred to in the caption 

-5026- 
Honorable F. B. Lloyd, Jr., page 3 (M-1030) 

that were the subject of amendments or repeal were only those courts 

exercising strictly judicial powers as distinguished from a county 

commissioner’s court, which is primarily an administrative body, such 

as a city council. We note that the statute dealt with “municipal courts” 

but not the city councils. 

The Act in question contains no clause of general repeal but only 

clauses of specific repeal, which ‘lr ~ D constitutes a declaration that 

other acts and provisions shall remain in force on the theory that the 

legislature would have also mentioned them had it intended their repeal. ” 

53 Tex. Jur. 2d 142, Statutes, Sec. 96. The question presented is whether 

the Act impliedly repeals Article 2351, Subd. 13. Implied repeal is a 

matter of legislative intent, and an act is not deemed to repeal a statute 

when the legislative intent is to the contrary, even though its words 

would have that effect if taken strictly and grammatically. 53 Tex. Jur. 

2d 147-148, Statutes, Sec. 100. 

The applicable rule is stated as follows: 

“Repeal of statutes by implication is never favored 

or presumed. A repeal by implication will be adjudged only if this result is inevitable or was 

plainly intended by the legislature, and if the implication is clear, necessary, irresistible, and 

free from reasonable doubt. If by any reasonable 

construction two acts or statutory provisions can 

be reconciled and so construed that both may 

stand, one will not be held to repeal the other. 

. e * ” 53 Tex. Jur. 2d 152, Statutes, Sec. 102. 

In view of the foregoing considerations, we have concluded that 

Senate Bill 132 did not impliedly repeal Article 2351, Subdivision 13. 

Therefore, your question is answered in the negative. Since Senate Bill 

132 does not amend or repeal Article 2351, Subdivision 13, contempts 

before the Commissioners Court are still controlled by the express provisions of the latter article. 

SUMMARY 

Senate Bill 132, Acts 62nd Leg., R. S., 1971, 

ch. 831, pa 2535 (Article 1911a, V. C.S.), which 

authorizes various courts to punish for contempt 

-5027- 
Honorable F. B. Lloyd, Jr., page 4 (M-1030) 

of court, does not apply to Commissioners Courts. 

Contempts before the Commissioners Courts are 

still governed by the provisions of Article 2351, 

Subdivision 13, V. C. S. 

D C. MARTIN 

Prepared by Bill Flanary 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Austin Bray 

Kenneth Nordquist 

Robert Lemens 

Sally Phillips 

John Reeves 

SAM MCDANIEL 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant 

-5028-