Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1964 )

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April 8, 1964
Honorable Don Hall Opinion No. C-238
District Attorney
McLennan County Courthouse Re: Length of time an Inmate muat
Waco, Texas serve in the Texas Department
of Corrections before he is
legally entitled to be con-
sidered for a parole If the
inmate is serving a sentence
of not less than two nor
Dear Mr. Hall: more than eight years.
By letter dated March 18, 1964, you have requested our
opinion as to the above matter.
Article 781d, Section 15, of Vernon's Annotated Code of
Criminal Procedure, provides In part as follows:
"The Board is hereby authorized to re-
lease on parole with the approval of the
Governor any person confined in any penal
or correctional institution of this state,
except persons under sentence of death, who
has served one-third (l/3) of the maximum
sentence Imposed; provided that in any case
he may be paroled after serving fifteen years;
and provided further that where the maximum
sentence is not four times as great as the
minimum sentence, and the convict has served
the minimum sentence, and where the maximum
sentence Is greater than four times the minimum
sentence, and the convict has served one-fourth
(l/4) of the maximum sentence, such convict
may be paroled during good behavior for the
balance of the term imposed upon him. All paroles
shall issue upon order of the Board, duly adopted
and approved by the Governor."
You point out in your request that the situation under
discussion, i.e., a sentence in which the maximum is exactly four
times the minimum, is not embraced by the proviso of the statute
quoted above. You also point out that this leads to the
anomalous situation wherein a convict sentenced for two to ten
years would be eligible for parole under the statute in two
and one-half years, but a convict sentenced for a term of two
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Honorable Don Hall, Page 2 (Opinion No. C- 238)
to eight years would not receive eligibility for a parole un-
til he had served two years and eight months.
Under Section 11 of Article IV of the Constitution of
Texas, the Legislature has "authority to enact parole laws".
If the statute is viewed literally, then the Leglsla-
ture has not properly provided for the instant situation, but
when viewed realistically it Is clear the Iegislature did not
Intend any such absurd results. It has long been the rule that
our courts will not attribute to the Legislature an Intention
to work an injustice. Stlrte'v.'MauritzlWells'Co., 141 !rex,
634, 175 S.W. 26 238 (1943~.
The question then becomes one of construing the language
of the statute by applying the appropriate rules of construc-
tion. This rule is found in Trimmier v. Carlton, 116 vex.
572, 296 S.W. 1070 (1927), where the Supreme Tit said:
"Provisions of a statute will be liberally
construed to effectuate the purposes in-
tended by the legislature and to promote
justice."
Again in National Surety Corporation v. Ladd, 131 Tex.
295, 115 S.W.2d 680 (193o), the court said:
n
.lWhere, however, the intention of the legis-
iature is so inadequately or vaguely expressed
that the court must resort to construction, it Is
proper to consider the results and consequences of
any ,proposed construction, and the court will, if
possible, place upon the statute a construction
which will not result in Injustice, oppression,
hardship, or inconvenience, unreasonableness,
prejudice to public interest, or absurd conse-
quence.'"
Applying these rules to the two possible interpretations
the proper construction is obvious. Liberally construed in
light of reasonableness and justice, the Legislature intended
to provide that when a convict has a maximum sentence which
is four times or more than the minimum, he may be paroled
upon serving one-fourth (l/4) of the maximum sentence, which
is the same as the minimum sentence.
Therefore, it is our opinion that a prisoner whose
maximum sentence is exactly four times the length of his
minimum sentence may become eligible for parole after serving
one-fourth (l/4) of his maximum sentence.
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Honorable Don Hall, Page 3 (Opinion No. C- 238)
SUMMARY'
An inmate in the Texas Department of Correct-
ions serving a sentence of not less than two
years nor more than elght years is entitled
to be considered for parole after he has served
the minimum sentence of two years (one-fourth
of the maximum sentence).
Yours very truly,
WAGGONER CARR
Attorney General of Texas
By:
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
w. v. Geppert, Chairman
Joe Long
W. 0. Schultz
APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: Stanton Stone
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