Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

OFFICE OF THE A’ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS’ ~’
AUSTlN
GERN.m
c. MAll”
Lnomm”
0m.*IL
Dr. George 1. car -.
Texaa State Board of Bealth
Austin, Texas
. ,~
‘:’ .Dear tirr
:
thio.department,
,
the Corn-
oxan, ereated
m of Axtlcle
exea. The
the. Board
-. ap aertala
o ao~er raid die
inion rr08t my otti& -
e power to snforoe
hose in whloh they
oenses to be oharged
thin the ,
empowers the Comrnlssloner~r
to dealgnats the lines 0r eny
or vim0 thereln aituated
and to appoint a Board OS Health ror it. The
Distrlot oreated by the Commiseioner's Court Or .
vlotoria County doer not includa any unlnoor~o-
rated town or village but oo~era an area or two
and .one-halr miles rid. on each side or W. 9. ?iil3h-
way :!o.59, 57, and 77. Inasmuch as the Statute
Dr. Ueorge if. Cox, page 2
speclifaally states that the iiealth District so,
oreated, shall be within the dsslgnhted lines or an
unincorporated town or village there is a great ’
doubt in w mind as to the power of the Commis-
aloner*s Court to orsate a Sauitary Distriot within
an area whereih no uninoorporated town or village
is situated.
w’ft ooourred ‘to m’e that perhaps your ~Orrlce
had reoelved a ruling from the Attorney General as
t0 the Limits Or the pOW6?3 WhiOh the cO~88iOII``'~
Court is given under the artlole.
“‘1 would appreciate it very muoh Ii you nil1
give rm tha benefit or any inr0rifai0n whioh you
might hare on this mattar.fw
“.
We note that you then transmit to ua a oopy of the
order or the Dommlssioners Court or Victoria County oreating
the sanitary dlstriot mentioned in the above quoted letter .
and ask our edvloe as to whether a legal aanltary dietriot ‘? ``
has been established and now exists in the srea described by
the order.
vie quote that portion of the order, as submitted to
118, as followm
..”
wProridlng ror oreation of a sanitary district
according to Article U.35 (22484.9) (Aoh 1889,
p. 139; Aota let 9.c. 1901 p. 29) in oertaln areas
0r Victoria County; roriding r0r appointment 0r a
.health board; author f alug It to promulgate rubs
and rsgulstions tar runotloning; aettlng forth the
boundarlos for said area; and deolaring an 6mergenCy.R
Artfci0 4435 or the civil Statute 0r the Stats or
Texas 1s as follows:
“The commissioners court of any oounty In which
an unincorporated town or vlllsge may be situated,
shall have power to designate the lines of suoh
to-a or villago, and may appoint a board of health
ror it, ooneisting or time persons, two or mO;zigr
whom shall be regular practicing physioians.
oourt when such appointnents are made ehall at once
Dr. George W. Cox, page 5
notify the State Bealth OffLoe?. Said board shall
elect one of their membars as presidiug OiflOar;
and euch presiding orrloer, if the pramlses of any
$.t oltizen residing v&thin the presorlbed limits of
g ; said town or village are ti an unclean or unhealthy
oonditlon, shall notffy him of the fact, and that
!i .-:
y’ he must prooeed at once to olean the same. Aots 1.889,
: p. 139; Acts 1st C. S.,l901, 9. 29.” .i.’
We think it olear t&t the above artisle.&& does
not authorize the Commissioners Court to create a sanitary
dlstrfot outside an uninoorporated town or village. As stated
in your letter, the dietriet created by the Comalssloners
Court ooters an area two-and one-half miles wide on each side
of U. S. Blghways Nor. '59, 87 and 77.
In this Stats a Commlsaloners Court Is a ooart of
limited jurlsdlotlon and has no powers or duties except as
olearly defined ln the Constitution and Statutes. 11 Tax. Jur.,
p. 563, Commissionore Court,ts. Vallaoe, 15 9. V. (2nd) 535,
Citing Constitution, Artlole 5, Sec. 18; Baldwin Is9 Tratfs
County, l,O T& Civ. App.; 199, 88 S. U. k60.
It is our oolnion that the Comlssioners Court of
Viotoria County acted-without authority in creating the sani- ‘. ‘:
tary dlstrlot herein attempted to be oreated ana that a legal
sanitary district has not been established ln Victoria County,.
under the Zaota heg,e,ln submitted. _; ‘, ‘.. . . :
_.*.i ‘_‘ ;
. : ;>‘ * Yours ~t&y truly - :T.: ..-..:
,...- .’.-. .i,. ..~:
.
ATTORZF, GIlWUULOF ‘I’m9
BY 2!&@. -
Fred C. Chandler
Assistant
FCO;JP