E ORNEY GENERAI. OF -XAS
Grover Sellere -ON ATTORNEY GENERA=.
HonorableR. W Cal'Rrt Couuty Attorney Hill County Hlllnboro,Texas
Dear Sir: OpinionNo. O-6878
R.3: Authorityof the Comnle- elonera'Court of Hill county to appointa mqnager for * county owned airport.
We have receivedyour letterof recent date In whloh you make the follovlngInquiry:
"HillCouuty owne certain land on which the CommleeiouereCourt of HiXCounty proposesto build au airportunder and by virtue of the authoritycontainedIn Artlale 126911, V. A. C 5. !CheCourt doee not vleh to operateand manage the airportafter it Is built end has asked me for an opinionon the followingqueet1one:
"1. Hay a Comisslonere Court lease a ooun~y owned airportto an lndlrldualor lndl- vldualefor a stipulatedrental?
"2. May a Comiaelonere Court appointa manageror mmagera of a county owned alr- port and oontractwith each manager or ramgem to pay him or them a pertientsge of the receiptsfrcunsuch airportae ocp- pensatlonfor his or their eeniose?
"I am diepoeedto answer qneetlonNo. 1 above 'uo'and questiongo. 2 'yes'for the reaeonehereinafteratated but I should like to hare your opinionIn the premlsee.
"It Is axiomaticthat a Colrrmleslonere Court la a court of limitedjurlsdlotioa and hae no power except that oonferredby the Conetitutionor leglelatire act or neoeeearllyInferabletherefrom. Landmanvs. eon. R. W. Calvert,page 2, O-6878
Stste, 97 S. W. (21 264 (Writ refused.) Howard vs. HendersonCounty, II6 S. W. (2) 479 (Writ refused). It followsthat e countyhas no power to establish,meiatalnend operateeu airportexcept under authorityand in the msnner providedby Article 126911,V. A. C S.
"Iieoessarily,the power to establishm airport and to opereteIt lmpliedlyauthorizess oommlesioners court to appointsome suitableperson to manage and operateIt. In my opinion,It does not follow,however, that the power to lease such countypropertywould exist becausetheoretically, at leaet,this would result la the leasingof county propertyfor privateprofit.
"It s*ens to me furtherthat * proper oonstruotlon of the leglslstlveact above referredto exoludss:.the power of the CommiseionersCourt to leaseairportproperty. In this oonnection,I oall attentionto the fact that ParagraphD of Article 126921 grantsthe Cwslaeioners Courts of the severs1countiespaver to lease airports to 'any Incorporated city or nunicipalltywithin auch county or to the federalgovernment.'The sane pare- grsph confersupon s city the right to lease en alr- port to * county. PsragrsphE furtherauthorizesthe governingbodiesof cities to lease '---toany other person,firm, or corporation,to oarry out any pm-pose necessaryor incidentalto nationaldefenseor training Incidentalthereto'but no such power is grantedto Cosmiseionere Courts. Since thin power is specIfIcally grantedto governing bodies of cities and is not granted to oosmissionerscourts the statutewould be construed to deny the power to commissionerscourts."
Article 126911, Vernon'sAnnotatedCivil Statutee,is In part *e follows:
"Section1. A-That the governingbody of say incorporatedcity In this State may receivethrough gift or dedication,and IS hereby empoweredto ac- quire,by purchasewithout condemnationor by pur- chase throughoondemnstionproceedings,end there- sitar maintsiaand operatees an airport,or lesoe, or sell, to the FederalGovernneat,tracts of lend eitherwithin or without the corporatelimitsof such city and within the county in which such city Is situated,end the Commissioners' Court of any countynsy likewiseacauire,maintainand overate for like purposetractsof land within the lirltr _ .-
Hon. R. W Calvert,page 3, O-6878
of the oolauty.
"D-