May17, 1%

Honorable Joe Resweber County Attorney Harris County Courthouse Houston, Texas 77002 Opinion No. M- 76 Re: To what extent maythe Harris County Commissioners Court regulate the construction and location of.,flre-fighting facilities andequipment installed andoperated by,a water control and improvement district or a fresh water supply district whenit is proposed to locate such facilities and.equipment in the area1 confines of HearMr. Resweber: Harris County roads.

In recent letters to this office you have requested an opinion In regard to the above referenced matter.

Theanswer to this question is dependent uponwhether water control and Improvement dlstrlcts or fresh water supply districts are authorized to acquire andmaintain fire-fighting facilities and equipment. While this authority wasgranted to such districts by statutory enactment (water control and improvement districts - Article 7880-1, et seq., Vernon’s Civil Statutes); e;zhs;;;;;,u ply districts - Article 7881; et seq., Vernon’s

? the Texas SupremeCourt has held that those port&s of the &tutes granting such authority are unconstitutional as regards water control and Improvement districts.

“Section 52, Article 3, speclfles that’ water control and improvement districts may Issue bonds for certain purposes. Thepurposes,enumerated do not include the right to purchase, ownand operate fire engines, flrefighting equipment and appliances.

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Hon. Joe Resweber, Page 2 (M-76)

‘Section 59(a), Article 16, the other constitutional amendmentinvolved here, contains no language which would support aholding that the people In enacting the amendmentcontemplated that a water control and Improvement district created for the purpose of conserving anddeveloping the natural resources of the district would have the power to provide fire-fighting equipment andappliances for a townwithin said district.

“Both constitutional amendmentsspecify the circumstances andpurposes for which water control and Improvement districts maybe organized andthe Legislature is without power to add to or withdraw from the circumstances and purposes specified. II Deason v. Orange CountyWater-Control and &r&ement Dlst. No. One, 151 Tex. 29, 35; 244

. * 81, t14 152. TheDeason case was cited with approval In Harris

Theholding In the Deason case, supra, is equally applicable to fresh water supplydistricts. Inasmuch as water control and Improvement districts andfresh water supply districts do not have the authority to acquire andmaintain fire-fighting facilities andequipment, the question as to the extent of the authority of the Harris County Commissioners Court to regulate such dl8trictS as regards the construction and location of such facilities and equipment is not reached.

Theterm “fire-fighting facilities, and equipment” as used In the above holding Is limited to fire engines, fire stations and the necessary andusual equipment andappliances therefor. Such districts have the power to erect and operate a sewage disposal plant. Parker v. SanJaclnto CountyWater Control andImprovement District No. 1 154Tex. 15 2-W 2d 586 (1954)

. . Tfth dltlt In puisuance to Iti express and implied * power:, d&&z ti

t”A?$ F!ter lines, install outlets for dispensing water and other necessary appurtenances, to be located within the area1 confines of the county,roads, the Commissioners Court may require that the plans and specifications relative thereto, be submitted to the County Engineer prior to the construction thereof. Attorney General’s Opinion No, ~-56 (1967), mailed to you onApril lo, 1967.

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SUMMARY Water control and Improvement districts and fresh water supply districts do not have the authority to acquire andmaintain fire-fighting facilities and equipment and thus the question as to the extent of the authority of the Harris County Commissioners Court to regulate such districts as regards the construction and location of such facilities and equipment Is not reached. The laying of water lines andnecessary appurtenances, in carrying out Its express and implied powers, within the area1 confine8 of county roads 18controlled by Attorney General's Opinion 

### M-56 (1967). truly yoursI

Prepared by Lewis E. Berry, Jk. Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTEE Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman W.V. Geppert, Co-Chairman Roger Tyler Houghton Brownlee, Jr. Pat Bailey Milton Richardson STAFFLEGAL

ASSISTANT A. J. Carubbl, Jr.

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