Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

OFFLCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Hon. Homer Oarrleon, Jr., Director Department of Public Safety Camp Kabry Austin, Texas Dear Sir: This will aoknow of your 19 Y ter or *Ootober19, 1939, wherein in1011of this de- partment upon the r0mwti r this Department sion guards aa the Forty-sixth expenses oi the n made by the 46th Leglela- e Department of Publlo general heading “Texas elon guards at #1,200.00 low Immediatelyafterthe , one sergeant and twenty-five foroe, and lmmeblatelypre- orlmlnal investigatorsunder d of the appropriationmade Sor the maln epartment of Pub110 safety, there appears, ng %alntenanoe end Mlaoellaneoua,~lten NO. 5, whloh reads as i’ollows! Voetage , supplies, equipment,arms, wire comnunloatlone,printing and contingentexpenses; hoapltallaatlonend medloal aervloeswhen injured in line of duty, antIfuneral expenses when killed Hon. Eomer Garrison, Jr., Page 2. in aatlon; surety bonds, books, ail necessary expenses of operating a police training sohool at Camp Fabry for training peace officers ge&er- ally, and members of this department, end any other necedsary.departmental expenses, lnclud- lng initial equipment,"the Legislaturehaving provided $37,150.00per annum for this purpose. It was apparently the intention of the Leglsla- ture that the four mansioh guards authorized should be commissionedas Texas Rangers, for certainly it was con- templated that the mansion guards should have and be vest- ed with suftlclentauthority to enable them to effeotively serve 88 suoh guards, and the fact that provision is msde for these poaitlons under the general heading "Texas Rangers" is lndloatlveof.the legislativeintent that these men be oomm~aslonedas Texas Ransers. The first questionto be determined, therefore, is whether;the authority of the Department to provide unl- forms for these men is &overned by the provisions of Articles 6567 aad 6568, fl.C.S., 1925. Artlcle~6567reads as followe: YEaoh oriicer!',pon-corFslssioned officer, and private oftaald'force shall furnish himself with a suitable horse,,,hor.se equipment,alothlng, etc. If hla horse ls~kl&led~in: action,lt shall be paid for by the~'3tateata fair market value at the time when killed;" Arti&, &a&s as follows: "The State``~sndll furnish eaoh member of said force with one lmpraved~carbineand pistol at oost, the prloe of-whldh ahall be deductedfromthe first money due suoh~offlc,eror man, and shall furnish said foroe with ratlone of subsistence,oamp equipage, and ammunition for the officers and men, and also forape for horse&. of.these ArtieJes'cere.stilJin full force and effect, the Le,partmentcriPublic Safety Would lack the auth- ority, neoessarlly,to ,$urnlshthese mansion Wards, sa Texas Rangera, u-lthuniforms. i?owever,in our opinion, Fan. Eomer Garrison, Jr., Page 3. these Articles have been repealed by Aots 1935, 44th Legla- lature, page 444, Chapter 181, Seohlon 10, Section ll,and Section 25. By Sections 10 and II of Acts 1935, 44th Leglsla- ture,.page 444, Chapter 101, the ‘Legislatureprovided that the.DepartEentof Pub110 Safety should be composed of three dlvlsions, the Texas Rangers, tha .TexesEilehweyPatrol, and the EeedquartersDivision, end audh other divisions es the Commissionmlght,deem necessary. By Seatlon 11 the ‘Texas Fiangerforce end its personal property, equipment and reoords were 'expresslytransferred to end plaoed under the jurls- &lotion of the Department of Public Safety, and was express- ly mentioned es constitutingthe iiex&s&an&era Division of said Department. Seotlon 25 of se%& Act provides as follows: "The State of Texas sball provide the neaes- sary buildings, offloes and quarters for the de- partment and it8 officers and employees in the City of Austin, Texas, and in such other places in the State ss dlstrlot headquartersshall be established,and it shall also provide,for the equipment of the department end the divisions, bureaus and branches thereof, with the furniture., fixtures,automobiles,motorcycles,horses, flre- arms, ammunition, uniforms, appllanaes and mater- ials neceesary to the proper functioningand opera- tlonthereof." (Article4413 (25) Vernon’s Seyles iievfsed Civil Statutes.) Section 29 of aeld Act provibes: “All laws or parts o? laws inconsistentor confllotlngwith the provisions of this Aot are hereby repealed." In our opinion, there 1s a direot oonfllct between the provisions of Section 25 of the Aot, and the Artloles of the neviaed Civil Statutes of 1925 above referred to, and, therefore, said Articles of the 1925 Revised Civil Statute8 were expressly repealed by the later enactment. Sinoe, under the law ea it now exists, the maINiOn guards~as 'i'exas Rangers may now be provided with uniforms, it bsoomss necessary to consider the second questlon, that Hon. Romer Garrison, Jr., Page 4. is, whether an appropriationis available to the Department Of Public Safety which may be used for that purpose. Vie are Of the opinion that item 5 of your Kaintenance and Misaellaneous appropriation,above quoted, may be used to defray the expenses of purahasing uniforms for these mansion guards, in the event the Department determines that it is necessary and advisable that these men be uniformed. Yours very truly BY /s/ R. x. Fairchild Assistant R%F:pbp /a/ Gerald C. bfann hpprovea Opinion Committee By: B.W.B., Chafrman