Court Opinion

ID: 9666187
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:07:25.952235+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:24.663924
License: Public Domain

O’CONNOR, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. Plaintiffs claim the construction of the jail was illegal because of a prohibition in Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5115e(f), located now in Tex.Local Gov’t Code Ann. § 361.067 (Vernon Supp.1991). The plaintiffs argue that article 5115e(f) prohibits the construction of the new jail at its present site, because it is within one-half mile of two churches and an institution of higher education, the University of Houston-Downtown campus. I agree. The majority rejects the plaintiffs’ argument because it claims that article 5115e applies only to municipal jails, not county jails. I do not read the statute as does the majority. It says:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, a private vendor or county may not establish a jail, detention center, work camp, or related facility in a municipality with a population of 1,500,000 or more if that facility is to be located within one-half mile of a public school, institution of higher education, or place of worship.
(Emphasis added).
The majority claims the location of section 361.067 in Subchapter E, entitled “Municipal Contract with County or Private *185Entity for Jail Facilities,” restricts its application to municipal jails and does not apply to county jails. It is a well-known tenet of statutory construction that titles and headings of laws are not in themselves laws. The Code Construction Act provides that a heading of a title, subtitle, chapter, sub-chapter, or section does not limit or expand the meaning of a statute. Tex.Gov’t Code Ann. § 311.024 (Vernon 1988); see also Brooks v. State, 682 S.W.2d 437, 438 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, pet. ref'd).
The majority states that “by its clear wording” section 361.067 imposes the one-half mile location on jails created by contract between municipal governments and county governments. To reach this interpretation, the majority must first ignore the tenet that headings are not laws, and then ignore the “notwithstanding any other provision” language that begins the section.
On its face, article 5115e(f) prohibits counties from establishing jail facilities within one-mile of certain institutions. I would reverse the summary judgment.