The Honorable Jack K. Williams 

President 

Texas A&M University 

College Station, Texas 77843 

Dear Dr. Williams: 

Opinion No. H- 2:2 

Re: Whether statute 

authorizing expenditure for 

assistance in agriculture, 

home economics, etc., 

will cover mariculture - 

the marine version of 

agriculture 

Your question to us is whether a Texas County may legally expend 

monies for the salary and travel expenses of a County Extension Agent 

(Mariculture and Fisheries) whose purpose shall be the “establishing 

and conducting cooperative demonstration work and diffusing useful and 

practical information on maricult ure and fisheries relating to agriculture and home economics” appoint,ed by the Texas Agricultural Extensoon Service pursuant to the Smrth-Lever Act (7U. S. C. 341 et seq. ). 

For our purposes “mariculture” may be defined as “the cultivation of 

marine organisms by explotting therr natural environment. ” Webster’s 

New Collegiate Dicrionary (1973). 

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The Smith- Lever Act, first adopied in 1914. now provrdes: 

$341. “In order to aid in diffusing among the people 

of the United States usef~bl and practical information 

on subjects relarlngto agriculture and home econ? 

__ ___~..~_--~ 

3, and to encourage the application of the same, 

there may be ,onrlnued or inaugurated in connection 

with the [land gran:] college or c,olleges in each State, 

Terrj,tor~y. or possess;x~~. . . . agricultural extension work which shall be ,~arried on in cooperation 

with the Ur.;:ed Stares Department of Agriculture: 

. . . * ” (emphasis added) 
. - 

The Honorable Jack K. Williams, page 2 (H-272) 

$342. “Cooperative agricultural extension work shall 

consist of the giving of instruction and practical 

demonstrations in agriculture and home economics 

and subjects relating thereto to persons not attending 

or resident in said colleges in the several communities, 

and imparting information on said subjects through 

demonstrations, publications, and otherwise and for 

the necessary printing and distritxtion of information 

in connection with the foregoing; and this work shall 

be carried on in such manner as may be mutually 

agreed upon by the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

State agricultural college or colleges. . . . ” (emphasis 

added) 

Federal funds are appropriated to finance the program. 

In Texas, the program is administered under the auspices of the 

Texas A&M University, pursuant to Article 164, Vernon’s Texas Civil 

Statutes, which reads: 

“The Commissioner’s Court of any county of this 

State is authorized to establish and conduct co-operative 

demonstration work in agriculture and home economics 

in co-operation with the Agricultural and Mechanical 

College of Texas, upon such terms and conditions as 

may be agreed upon by the Commissioners’ Court and 

the agents of the Agricultural and Mechanical College 

of Texas; and may employ such means, and may appropriate and expend such sums of money as may be necessary to effectively establish and carry on such demonstration work in Agriculture and Home Economics in 

their respective counties. ” (emphasis added) 

We have had occasion to refer to the limited powers of a commissioners court on many occasions. See, for example, Attorney General Opinions 

H-45 (1973), H-51 (1973), H-127 (1973). Accordingly, it has been held that 

such a court lacked authority to employ a co-ordinator of various groups 

p, 1272 
The Honorable Jack K. Williams, page 3 (H-272) 

interested in eliminating Johnson grass [Attorney General Opinion O5753 (1944)], likewise lacked authority to employ a person to demonstrate 

rat or gopher control [Attorney General Opinion O-6471 (1945)], and 

lacked authority to spend county funds to dredge a channel to be used 

by fishermen [Attorney General Opinion O-440 (1939)]. The first two 

of these cited Article 164. 

On the other hand, based on the authority of Article 164, V. T.CS., 

commissioners courts have been held to possess rather substantial 

powers to build a building to house the demonstration agent, etc. Attorney General Opinions O-2516 (1940); O-620 (1939); M-654 (1970). 

Thus, the question we must answer is whether the authorization 

of Article 164 is sufficiently broad to include the duties of demonstrators 

in mariculture within the classification of ‘!agriculture and home economics. ” Our function, like the function of the courts, is to determine 

legislative intent and give effect to it. 53 Tex. Jur. 2d, Statutes, $ $ 119 

eta seq., p. 168 et seq. 

The first state authorization for farmers’ demonstration work in 

Texas was in 1911 with the enactment that year of a statute (Acts 1911, 

32nd Leg., ch. 62, p. 105) authorizing such work “along the same lines 

as this work is and may be conducted by the United States Department 

of Agriculture. ” A similar statute was enacted in 1917 (Acts 1917, 35th 

Leg., ch. 35, p. 56) authorizing canning demonstrators. In 1927, these 

statutes were amended to read as Art. 164 now reads (Acts 1927, 40th 

Leg., ch. 6, p. 9). The purpose of the amendment we believe is shown 

by the emergency clause of the Act: 

“SEC. 2. The fact that the present law authorizing 

cooperative demonstration work in agriculture and 

home economics is inadequate, and the fact that on 

account of such inadequacy, many counties of this 

State are prevented from effectively carrying on such 

demonstrarlon work m agriculture and home economics; 

and the fact that it is for the best interest of the State 

that such couniies should be authorized as early as 

p, 1273 
The Honorable Jack K. Williams, page 4 (H-272) 

possible to inaugurate such work, creates an 

emergency and an imperative necessity requiring 

that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be 

read on three several days be suspended, and the 

same is hereby suspended, and this Act will take 

effect and be in force from and after its passage; 

and it is so enacted. ” 

In our opinion Article 164 is intended to give to county commissioners 

extremely broad powers to institute demonstration programs in agriculture 

and home economics, using those terms in their broadest senses. As used 

in the statute, we believe “agriculture” was intended to mean, in addition 

to the cultivation and harvesting of crops (its narrow definition), the science 

and art of production of plants and animals useful to man, and the preparation of these products for man’s use, including farming, horticulture, 

forestry, dairying and mariculture, as defined earlier in this opinion. 

We therefore answer that in our opinion a Texas county may legally 

expend monies for the salary of a marine agent to perform the duties outlined in your question. 

SUMMARY 

The program of demonstrations in agriculture 

and home economics authorized by Article 164,V.T.CS, 

is sufiiciently broad to include demonstrations on mariculture and fisheries relating to agriculture and home 

economics. 

Very truly yours, 

A 

ci Attorney General of Texas 

p. 1274 
. . 

The Honorable Jack K. Williams, page 5 (H-272) 

DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

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p. 1275