Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1950 )

November 14, 1950 Hon. Howard E. Smith, M.D. Acting ~XxecutiysMrector Board for Texas State Hospitals and SpeciiilSchools Austin, Texas 0p1nI0n,F50. V-1118 Re: l$lIgIbflltyM'a ward of Uako State Home for tuition exemption at Texas A. k~M.:College under the Saots sub- Bear Slrr"* mitted,. You have requested an opinion conoerm the elIglbIlIty of a ward of Waco,State Home who recently gpaduated from the Rosebud High School for tnition ex-~ eiuptlonat Texas A. & Mi College. We quote.the Solloving facts concerning the ward from your requestr ~, "This young I& had been 'commltted to the Waco State Home as a dependent and neg- lected child and has been In a boarding harae at Rosebud Until September ~1,~1950. Artlole 3259 (V.C.Si)allows the SUperInttindent of the Wabo State Home to place cblldretiwho are Inmates'of'the Home In boarding homes; ~Artl- cle 3259 states that thechIldren so ljlaoe,d shall be deemed to have the same status as. other Inmates of said Waao State.Home and shall contlnue to be wards and subjeot to the guardIanshIp of said Superintendent. ‘$he. SuperintendentIs glven the authority by tM.8 article to remove the children from the board- lng home.' Article 2654S, V.C.S., provide81 'The governing boards OS the Instltu- tlons of collegiate rank operating In whole or in part by pub110 funds appropriated from the treasury are hereby authorleed,anddl- rected to exempt all oitlzens of Texas who at the time of their entry into a State educa- tional Institution of collegiaterank are ,Holl. Howard E. Smlth, M.D., page 2 (~-1118) hluh school araduates of the State Orphan- a es from the.paymentof all dues, Sees and &aes whatsoever.'lncludinn-Seesfor cor- respondence coursei; proviaez, however, that the foregoing exqmptlon shall not be con- strued to apply to deposits, such as library, or laboratory deposits, which may be required in the nature OS a security for the return OS or proper care of propertg.ibsnedfor the use OS stucleilts, nor to Sees or charges for lodg- lng:.board or clothing. The governing boards of said institutionsmay and it shall be their duty to requlrd every applicant claiming the benefit+ OS the above,exemptionto submit sat- isS&ctorg evidence that the applicant is a kltlzen OS Texas and is otherwise entitled to said exemption.' (Emphasisadded.) It 1s the interpretationOS the Board for State HoSpltalsand Special Schools that the provlskohs of'Artl- cle 2654S,.abovequoted, .qempt the ward ln qtiestlonfrom , ,whl.l8'the the payment OS tultltin,fees Registrar of A. & M. Odll'ege~l@+is fha'tthe ward is rioi? covered'byArtl- cle,2654Ssince he Is a graduate 'ofRdseb? High Sohoo& ' Article 3259, VICiS.;'ai tiended by House Bill 923, Act+ 47th Leg,.,$941, ch. 369, p. 601, provides in part: "Sec. 1. Childrezicommltkid to the Uaco Skate Home may be placed by the super- intendent,,upon.the approval of the State Board bf Control and under the authority of an order 'tothat effect issued by the Court which consulttedsuch child to stichlnstltn- tlon, lx~chlldred~sbeding hames at a rea- sonable rate tiotto ekeeed One Dollar ($1) per day for each'child 80 boarded when ln the judgment~bf such superintendenteffeo- tlve .adm%nl#tratLopof said Waco State Hixne so requires; provided that,sdch chlldren's. boarding homes shall obtain an annual ll- eense as required by.law, which lloense shall lm issued wlthout See, and under such reason- able and.unlS~rm rules and regulatlons.asthe State BoarQ oS'Publ3.cWelfare may prescribe for all c~ldreti's,boarding homes in aocord- anoe with thenlaws,.ofthis State'as same now exist 'ormay hereafter.be'-enacted.Ro abild . . Hon. Howard E'.Smith',M.D.,,jpa&e3 (~-1118) shall be placed in s&h childrentsboard- ing home &less_lt 1s deemed advantageous to.the welfare of such~chlld;and children so placed Shall be deemed to have the same status a$ pther~lnmatesof sald.Waco State Hb- ome and.s Jeot to the qardlanshlp OS said superltitend- ent. . . ." (Emphasisadded.) 1~ 2 Sikherland,Statutory Construction (3rd Ed. 1943: 531, it is stated: I Prior statutes relatlng'tothe same sibjeit matter are to be compared with the new provision; and if possible by rea- sonable constz%ctlon,both are to be so constrfledthat effect Is given to every~prq-, ~sl.on of each. . . .V In view of the Soregolng, the provlsio&i OS Arti- cle 2654s must be construed in connectionwlth'titi& 3259, which requires children placed ln boarding homes by the Waco State Home "to have the same statue as other ln- mates of said Waco State Home and shall continue to be wards and subject to the guardianshipof said superln- tendent." The emergent clause OS House Bill 35, Acts 51st w*, R.S. 1949, ch. 5f4, p. 1054 (Art. 2654s7 provides: %ec. 3. Whereas, a number of the cbll- dren who have been in the various State Or- phanages and have graduated from high school and are now desirous of aoqulrlng a college educatloti,should be encouragedin their ad- mirable ambition by exempting them from tul- tlon, creates an emergency . . ..* The above quoted provision shows that It was the Intentlou of the Legislaturenot to limit Article 2654s to graduates of State Orphanages' high schools but to make it apply to all high sohool graduates of State Orphanages whether such graduates attend high school at the orphanages or at another hlgh school. Thl,sconstructionof Article 2654s gives meaning to both Articles 3259 and 2654s. You are therefore advised that under the facts submlttbd the ward l.nquestion is exempt Sroiuthe payment OS tultlon Sees at Texas A. & M. College. Hon. Rqward E, Smith, M.D., page 4 (v-1118) A vard of a State orphanagewho grad- uates from a public high school wtile in a 'boarding home* (Art:3259, V.C.S.) Is ex- empt from tuition fees at a State.educa- tlonal institution of collegiaterank under Article 2654f, V.C.S. APPROVED: Yours very truly, ,'. J. C. DavlG, Jr. PRICE DARIEL County Affairs Dlvlsion Attorney qeneral EvtirettHutchlason Executive AssIstant Charles D. Mathews First Assistant Assistant JRijmmaw