OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Joe C. Gladney 

Criminal District Attorney 

Rusk County 

Hendrrson, I'exas 

Dear Sir: 

OS thia'apecial tax. 

The following qnesti~ons neeessarilf ariee: (1) After 

the Bederal cemms is a&pleted and the figures are ~alearred, ana ass~ng tlhilat the populatfen of Rraak county 
Eon. ;oe C. Clndney, .2ril 20, 1030, ?age i: 

wiii tc beW;tec :'il'Sy thousend acd sixty-f,lra thousand, 

xiii kale County bc: crenpt from the acti (2) if the first 

(;mstlozi is answered lu 'the afrirmtive, cm the 1940 

t&Xe.P, urhich wili br- tissessaa before the census is taken, 

be coliooted;" 

Article 2744e, i)ernon's ¬ated Civil Xetutes, Ineofar 

hs pertinent to your c;ue?tions, provides in Section 1 thereof as 

follo!%s: 

"Sea. 1. All counties In this State havlnf! a 

population of not mo:;e t,ian thirty-two thousand five 

Hundred (31?,500) nor lese then twenty thousand (20,000), 

eooordiag to the lest praoedihg Federal Cenmw, and 

oontelning a valuation of Seventy-Slva Yllllon Dollar8 

($76,~00,000) or mom, are hereby orwted into oountywide equallzatIon eohool diatriotr, end.seoh suoh oounty 

shall have the oounty unit aystam or oduoetlon to the 

axtant.apeoiflad In this Aot and may erarelre tha taxing 

power oonrerred on eohool 618trIot8 by Artlalo 0, 6oation S of the Cohatltutlon to the extent hanlnef’ter 

provlded but auoh taxIn& pow& ahall not be ~&~olw4 

uutll and uhleas ,authorIzed by a madorlty of the quaI.- 

.Irled property taxpaying voters ralrIdIh& therela at ah 

elaotloa to be held.ior that purpoea a8 hareinaitsr 

provIde4.W 

Ineuauoh ea the applIoabIlIty OS &tIoti.2'1448, +brIIOIl’a 

imuotated Civil Statutea, 16 not llmltad to oountlds~har~ a 

population of not more than S2!,500, nor lam than 20,000, aooordlng to any apaolflo or desIgnate IXaoenhlal Bcdderal Cbnmm, but 

WaooordIng to the lent pmoadl~ Federal Uanneua~ it 10 oUr opinion 

that Rusk County Will be taken out or tha opore0Irb efreOt of thl8 

hrtidle In the event your aaatmptIon8 rhould bs v$ndloatad by the 

orriolel Federal Cenaua ror 1940, end it should appear therefrom 

that Rusk County will have a popuXatIon of gram M),OOO to 45,000 

inhabitants. 

But the removal of Rusk County from tne aoope or Artlole 

2744c, Vernon's Annotated Civil Stetutas, will not ooour until 

the population of Rusk County for the year 1940 has baan offiolally 

d&&reined, ascertained and publiehed by the Bureau of the Censu8, 

in eccordenoe with the provisions and requirements of Title 13 

u. s. C. A. sectiqn l-112, end:.emendments thereto, Insofar es euoh 

congressional sots are psrtln&nt to the taking end publication OS 
?;on. JCP L,. Clr:dney, i.or2i 29, 1939, ?age 3 

the Cece.2.ioi~ ::e-lr;us of 1SCC. .Lhe rect that i!usk County now 

tccrsts 53 pcpulatior? in excess. of the statutory brackets fixed by 

,.rtic1c 274&J, Yernonts ihnnotated Civil :'tatutes, does not render 

,.ucii statute ixmedietely inoperative, nor will the official determination e3d ,promulgation of thi.s fact by the Bureau of'the Census 

relate beck so as to render the stetute inoperative as of the date 

of the teking of the census+ 14 c. J. 

iackaxanna County, 50 ktl. 162. 

yecundum p. 103; Lewis v. 

it is generally keld that in the absence of a statute 

providing when the census Shall go into legal effect, it beoomes 

official and effective as of the date of the publloation, by a 

bulletin, oertitioata sto. or the Dlreotor or the‘Censu6. 14 

C. J. .~eoundua p. 103, Holoo6b V. Spikes, 252 5. W. 891. It la 

then but not until then that the oourta will judlolally notlob 

the population of a given county so a6 to pernit ohahgaa In ol.saalticatlona based thereon. Smith v. Petteraan, 24B S. u. V49. 

ApplpIng thla datannInetIv4~4ets to your asoond quaatloa 

mgsrdlng the oollaotabIlity of the'taaba In quaatloh for the 

year 12940, it la the opinion of thla Dapartaant that your oorroluaion is again oorreot, and that aal4 oounty-wlda aquallaatlon taxes 

levied by Article 2V;Us, Veraon*s Annotated Civil Statutea, may 

lawrully be oolleoted. 'We Art1016 apeoitioally~pravl4ea that 

the taxes thereby laviad-shall be oolleoted by the aaae OfrlOor6 

and under the same laws es oounty~ad valoramtaxaa. The tax levied 

by Artiole 27448, Vernon*8 Ahnotated Civil,Statutea, havlw bean 

duly easeaaed prior to any posalbla erreotlve data ot the 1940 

Federal Cenaua, will, under governing statute8 ahd the ~pl6I.n prlnolpl

or.taxatIon, be subjeot to oollaotlan. 

Yours very truly 

OF. !CEXAS 

BY 

A66i6t6lIt 

APPROVITD