Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
j AUSTIN
t
I SR~~ER SELLERS
gonornbleDonald Allmm
~ountgAuditor
z&in Coilnty
1(xlIltze,
Texas
bar Sir:
on of road and
four coiTtll.s-
liestingan ~oplnion
it8 YOU fOi?a. Z’U3iSi$3
nt3y under oonsidsr-
f th5sG mottorn has to a.0with
colsntyinto cogaissio~ors~ pre-
d by Art. 5, sec. 1~300 tha
ho stota 0: ‘T8cmS. !fhLs1;wybe
A130 is o hoori~~ of any !cindncoeona~f
to establish faots to shov vhat would bo for ths
c0nven1ence or the people, and, i? r,ot,what basis
t in fact rust bo shovn to jwtffy n raorgsnlcation.,,
.
-.,z
426
../..
lza,Ronald All~&s,~Pags ~~2
"The second matter has.to do with the dLvision of
the road and bridge fund of the aounty betweerithe
pour cGm3n.ss%Gners. Thus is covorea by Brt. 6740 of’
the Revised CivSP Statutes df 15'25Wioh provides
thst suoh funds shall be equitably expanded snd t8a
nearly as tha condition and nooesslty of,tho roads
vill perzzLt,Ft shall be expended In oath oounty~
cors;nisslouors~preair?ctin propozt2on to the omount
oollcotzd in such proclnot..~ Various oases have
held that an equal ditision betl7oenthe four oom-
a~S8iOnCXW is IlOtpZ'Glp8T,lSOkin3 PPGO,"Of Qth3X
inequalities, where the valuotlona Qro disprOpOr- ~.
tiomt;o. In this connection the Court would like
to laiovwhat prooeedurzeto follo?rin determining ._
a dfst~ibutlon of fUnds, and the factors which would
enter into the es&ab&3hment of a dLvl.sLonof funds '.
other than on Q b~sls of valUa.tionof,the precinots+
Is a hearing neces8sry, Andy if so, what facts are
ptitennnt In con8idorlng how the funds should be'
divZded."
Section 18 of AZ%LCIC v of ow State-Constitution
15 88 follocrst
"Raoh organized Go&y in tho Stnte now-or
hereafter exlstin& shall-be divided Prom tine to
time, fos tineconvonienco of the paople, into pm-
cincts, no2 less tlisn'four and not more tha.nolght..
The present Cow&y Courts shall make the first dlvi-
sion. Subaoquent d.ivlsLonsshall be made by the
~o3mkmiOn8rs~ court, provided for,by this CoustI-
t&on. In each ouch pl~eolnGt&ero shnll bo elected
at OaCh bfOILUia1OkStiOn, on0 jUStiCe Of th8 pOaoe.
end one ConstablO, each Of uhom shall hold his Gf-
floe for tvo yonrs and until h%s successor shall bog'
OloctGd and qualificd;'~ppovidod that In any precinct
In which thope may be a city of 8000 or more inh3bl-
tants, tboro shall bo elected two justices of the ..
peeoe. YGxh oouzty shall In like wmutir bo divided
Into four Cozm&sionePs~ prsoif~:tsin each of whioh
thera 3h.311be elected by~the qualified voters thore-
of,OM aounty comissfo~er, who shall hold his offtoo
for twv;i years and uutil his 8ucocssoi~shall bo bl&ed
end qualified. The aounty oommlssionors so chonon,
vlth the county judgs, as presiding offfoer; shall
‘.’
, ‘,
,427
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oompose the County Commlasioncrs Oourt, whloh :
shall exercise ouch powers and jurledictioc over
all county busfne38, a8 is ~onforxod by this Con-~
stltution and tho lima oi'the State, or as may be
hereafter prescribed," .
case of Tuxner v. Allen, 254 S.W. 630, ‘tb.0
In El-ii
:,ilrt
of Civll Appeals in constrtin~ Sec. 18 of Art.,V of the
;:&itution stntcs the fol2owlng on pace 6$x
"33~section 18,;art. 5, of the Conetltution
of this state, the coinz1133ion3x3’ ,court 1s vost;ed
vlth authority to change and re-estahlioh *from time
to time' county co~mlasioners~ preoincts 'for the
conv0nb3noa of iih0paople.' It io o2ear from tl-ds
provision Or’ the Constitution that tho,countg corn-
missionor3~ couzztin Tosas is given the paver and
authority to change and ro-ostabliuh oounty oommis-
oioners*.precindts at any time they may deem it to
be for the .ccnvanLenoe of the paople to do so, and,
whensuch authorLCp and power so conferred is ever- :
ainod by thatcourt, Ux a&ion is not void.. The
action ffiay be reviewed or corrected, when erron-
eously or vrongPu2ly or improuerly exerctsed, by a '
proper proceeding for that pu%~oae, but ‘SLIO~I eotlon,
though it anoun% to n gross abuse of the court's
diseretSt8on, and tiiough it, in eTfect, constitutes
a lcSa1 fraud upon persons who msg be affeotcd by
tha court's action, is not void, and connot boat-
tacked or lnrpoaehedCc&laterally. . . .*
It is ateted in ~%ewLs v. Harris, 48 8. W. (2d) 730,
2% a8 falloars:
"As applied to dlrfcrent nltuations, the
phrase toonvenience OS the pcoplo,' as u3ed in the
CGlWtitUtiOn, may have different msenin@, but in OAX
opinion it cannot properly bs construed as inpcging
upon a commissioners* court the absolute duty of XI-
orrsng:iq tilt b~oundariesof ~0mls3i0ncI~3~ precincts,
from tin3 to time, DO as to wcoril to ooch precinct
repre%intation upon and power of conltrol of the com-
mLsulo~.ors~couri;in proPortion to their rospectlve
Populations, voting strengths,:and taxtiblevaluations.
. . . .
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1 gc~.,nkmaid +I*s,' Page 4
i' .
1 "See the cases of Duboso v. Wood, ,162 S'.'Y.& a@ .'~
i yard'v. Bond, '10'2.W. (2d) 509, for sZ.milarholdings.
:
1 In vim~~of the fori?.;zolng
It is the opfnion of this, l
department that by vi3%ue of Sot. 1% of Art. V of the State
Constitution the Com*11xdoatms( Court is vested with authority.
t to change and re-ostabllsh frolptim to time count% cgrnis3ion-
! em@ preoincts for tho "oonvonie'~ceof th3 people.
,. th3 kXlGWGf no
4' provision in tineststutco or ths Constitution of thls Stat0 ra-
i q&ring a hf?aringto establish faots to show that wouLd be for ,,
I the convonkmoe of the psople. The qusatisn is left to the sound
I discretion of the Comissimers~ Couxt, and they my dctamine
the question in any mnner they am fit so long as tholr action
does not oonotitute a gross abuse of their disorotion. Weara
hemvlth enolosfxg a oopy of our Opinion Ho. O-5%7 for goup
consideration. ve trust this mlmi0rs youcr?
first qu0stlon.
I Your sooond question is answered b$:'Opinioti
l'ior
O-1091,
5 e copy of vhbichis hereuith emlosed, wherein it holds:
. II
. ..*.. the distribution of the monies in the '
county road and brid e fund'ia governed by artiolo
66753-10, Artioie.67% 0 ond ths rule laid down in
the aas8 OS stovall v; Shivors,,~aupra. -.
"As for that porMon.of the county roa~dAndy
bridge fundconsisting of automobile registration
Peas paid,into the fund of srtialo 6679, section
10, is controlling. It Is oux op5.nionthat in ex-
pondiq this portion of the fund for the purpos~3 .
expressly set out tn section 10 of article 66759,
the comissionms~ couvt of the oountg shsll regard
the rmds,and highways of the aouutyas a system to
be'built, improved and maintained as a who10 to the
beat intcrosts ana welfare of all the paoplo of the
county arxlof alT the precincts of the county.
"In roapeot to tho county raised nonles, .thay
must be ~judiciously am:doquitably~ oxpondod. While
the sixtuto (Art. 6740.,supra) contbmgJ.utosthat
the r~oticsnhnll bo oXpondcd.in each oo;misnion~srs
procince In proportion to the amount ool1octe.din
such prcolnct, the oozmlmlonora~ court is not oou-
palled.to foXLow any U3thotuatioalfornula in divid-
lrq tho fund, .
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