Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1950 )

Hon. Joe L. Cox 0pini011NO. v-1085.
County Attorney
Hale County Re: Thk authority of the
Plainview, Texas Commiss$onerslCourt
. to give a veterans
service organization
a long term lease on
: a portion of real pro-
perty origlnallgac-
'qtiredfor road pur-
Dear Mr. Cox: poses.
Your request for an opinion is as follows:
?!he:,Conm&sionersCourt of Hale County, has
asked me to seek the opinion of the Attorney
*.~Generalto the following question:
.%any years ago, the County of Hale acquired
the title to certain real property in Rale
Comty, by deed, for t1Tzpurpos,eof public
: roads. Subsequently, rhanges In the roadway
were made, leaving a tIeactof land, triangu-
lar 3.nshape and belng"?bout two acres in
size. The County still has ownership of
L this land and has made no use of it for a
number of years. The VFW Post, of Hale Cen-
ter, Texas, is trging to gain title to this
land. I have advised the~court that, in my
\ opinion, the only way the County may divest
themselves of title is In accobdance uith
Artidle 1577, VCS, 1925.
'Some members of the Court are of the opin-
i.onthat the county may make a valid lease
of this property for a tern of forty (40)
years, at a ground rent of $5.00 per year.
I have not found any authority in a Comnis-
~sioner'sCourt to take such action, and the
Court has tistructed me to seek an oplnion~
of the Attorney General as to validity of
such a lease.*
622
Hon. Joe L. Ccx, Rage 2 (V-1085)
:
Section 1 of Article,l577,V.C.S., pr0vides~'i.n :
part:
.'TheCommissioners Court may, by an or-
der to be entered on lti minutes, appoint a , " '-
commissionerto sell and dispose of any real
estate of the county at public auction. The
deed of such commissioner,made in conformity
to such order for and in behalf of the county,
duly acknowledged and proven and recorded shall
be sufficient to convey to the purchasers all
the right, title, and interest and estate which
the county may have in and to the premises to
be conveyed. Nothing contained In this arti-‘~
cle shall authorize any ComvissionersCourt tom
dispose of any lands given, donated or grant-
ed to such county for the purpose of education
in any other manner.than shall be directed by.
.law.' 1
The authority of 'theCommissioners'Court to
sell real~propertgis strictly limited to the modes and
metttods.setout in Article 1577 of Vernon's Civil Stat:
nteijl,
and the court is unautborisedto sell real property
except in the manner provided therein, for'when,a right.
or bower is nranted and the method of its exercise is
prescribed, %he preqsrlbed~methodexcludes all others.
Ferguson v. Halsell,:47 421 (1877); Cit of Br n
v``(1.8 Foster v. cit3
ex. 352, 255 S.W. 1104 1923); Slate??V. Ellis Co&t=
iF=
,L&ree Improvement M"trict, 120 Tex. 272; 36 S.H.2d 1014
!.193lJ
'
We,,therefore, agree with your conclusionthat
the only way Hale County may divest itself of title IS
in accordance with Article 1577.
Article 157'7,V.C.S., further provides:
. . . . the Commissioners Court of any
county in this State having a opulation in
excess of forty-five thousand 745,000), ac-
cording to the last preceding or any future
Federal Census, which said county borders on
the International Boundary between the United
States of America and the Republic of Mexico,
may elect, in the manner hereinafterprovid-
ed for, to sell or lease any real estate, to-
gether with any improvements and appurtenances
thereto, said procedure therefor to be governed
.: 623
Hon. Joe L. Cox, page 3 (V-1085)
by the following provisions: e -. .(I
Since Hale County does not fall within the.
above classification,the authority to lease real es-
tate,set o':iin Article 1577 is not applicable to this
county. Ue know.of no other constitutionalor statu-
tory authority which would authorize the Conmissionersf
.
.
1
Court of Hale County to lease the property of the coun-
ty to the Veterans of Foreign Uars,
The CommisslonersBCourt is a court of lim-
ited jurisdictionand has only such powers as are con-
ferred unon it bv the Constitution and statutes of this
State, either by-express terms or by necessary impli-
cation; Tex.Const. Art.V, Sec.18; Von Rosenburg v.
Lovett, 173 S.U. 506 (Tex.Civ.App.1915,error ref.7.
Galveston H. & S.A.Ry. v. Uvalde County, 167 S.U.2d'305
pex.Civ.App.1942, error ref. w.o.m.1.
It was held in Attorney General's letter opin-
ion to Hon. George T. Avery, County Attorney of Fannin
County, dated February 17, 1948, that Fannin County did
not have the authority to lea,seproperty belonging to
the~county for the purpose of erecting a radio station.
Since we fail to find any authority authoriz-
ing the Commissioners"Court of Rale County to lease them
property in question, you :areadvised that the Court does
not have authoritytogive aveterans service organization
a long tern lease on such.property.
SUMMARY
The Commissioners'Court of Hale Coun-
ty does not have authority to execute a lease
on a portion of real property originallyac-
quired by the County for road purposes. The
authority of the Court to dispose of such real
estate is limited to the modes and methods
authorized by Article 1577, V*C.S.
APPROVEDZ Yours very truly,
J. C. Davis, Jr. PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs Division Attorney General
Everett Hutchinson
Executive Assistant
John Reeves
Charles D. Mathews Assistant
First Assistant
JR:mw