Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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Honorable Roberts. Calvert .-Opinion No. s-164
Comptroller of Public Accounts~
Capitol Station Re: Interpretatfon~of Chapter
Austin, Texas .a' 293; Acts of the-54th'Leg-
is-Sature,1955 (Article-
717j, V.C.S.). ,as to,.fac-
,similesignatures on public
pear Mr. Calvert: securities.
Yotir recentrequest for an opinion of this office
poses the ~following,questions:-
1.~ Is a cltg,‘town or villageincluded with-
in,thenpermiss$ve~terms ~of..Chapter
293,
~Aets of the 5~th~Leglsliiture',
1955 (Art.
7173,yVernon+s Civil Statntes)?~
2. Do Section 2~and the Caption of the Act
conform soas. to pergtit.~.the manual signa-
ture``on.&zq,uritiesby onlpthe Camp-
ltroller-of,
Public Accounts--uherethe
Comptroller ts required to register the
bonds?,
Your firsfl.questionis .determinedbg the provisions
of Section 1 of Chapter.295, which-readyas follous:
'The term 'public securities' as used
herein, shall mean bonds,,notes-or other ob-
ligations for thetpayment of-inonegissued.by
this State, by its political subdivisions, or
by anP department, ~agencgor other instrumen-
tality of'thl.sState or of any of its pollti-
cal subdivisions."
The question as to.whether a city is a political
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the State has been
considered by the courts of Texas on a number of occasions.
In City of Aransas Pass v. Reelin& 112 Tex. 339, 247 S.W.
818,820 (1923), we find the following:
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Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (s-164)
"Cities or counties furnish convenient.
and~appropriate agencleh through which thG
State,may,perform duties resting on the State,
'in the performance of which the cities or
counties have~a special Interest. The use
of cities or counties as agents of the,State
in the dlsoharge of the State's duties iS in
no wise inhibited by the.Constitution in Sec-
~.tion 51 of Article 3 . . . (citing cases);"
In City of Abllene v. State, 113 S.W. id 631,633
(Tex.Clv.App,.,937; error dism.), we find the emphatic state-
ment:
nCounties;z.citiesand to.unsare mu&zips1
corporatlon.jii.,Const. art. Xl'; They.,aPepo-
~.l~tlcal.subdiv``ions of the St&e. Id. Cor-
poration of San.Felipe De Austin-v. State of
Texas., 111 Tex.,108; 229 S.W. 845.".
: ..;
exati..NtitionalQuard ~Armory.Board,v.'&Craw, 132
.,SijL28 627,638(1?39); the ~cotirtsaid:.
"The State has ,a vital Interest ltiIts
c$$$.M3; fin .4tti
governmental cepacity a city
~is.a:political.~..subdivision
of the state/and
:'in~,'arany~.instances
is considered as an agent
of the state;-and the state may use such
agtint,lnthe disdharge~of its,duties . . ;
(~cltiw
_. cases) .,"
the cases: Bx~mrte Ernest, 136 S.W. 2d
~..,See``.also
595,597 (T~iCrim. 1940);.*HarrisCounts Drainage Dist.~Ro. I.2
v. City of Roiiston,35~S.W. 26 118 (Tex.Comm.App. 1931).
Thus, the f&s&lle signature biil is applicable to
the securities .issued by cities, towns, and villages.
'Asp$0 your,&okd question, .the caption of the bill
reads, l.n;p&rt:~
11 . authorizing the execution of public
sec<ies.by means of engraved, imprinted,
lithographed or otherwise-re
slgqature of all signatures p"e````"~$~%$ed
for ,e%eention,authentication, ,certificationor
,etidor$zment
of,such securities.. e .'I,
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Hon. Robert~S. Calvert, page 3 (s-164)
The body of the bill reads, in part:
"All public securities which hereafter
may be issued . . . may be executed with an
engraved, imprinted, lithographed, or other-
wise reproduced facsimile of any signature
required or permitted to be recorded ~there-
onin the execution, authentication, certi-
fication, or endorsement of such securities
. . . provided, however, that at least one
signature required to be placed thereon
shall be manually subscri,bed;and provided
that as to public securities required to be
registered by the Comptroller of-Public Ac-
countes of the State of&Texas, only his sig-
nature (or that of a deputy . . .) shall be
required to be manually subscribed to such
publFc securities."
Section 35, Article III of the Texas Constitution,
provides.that "if any subject shall be embraced in an act,
which shall not be expressed In the title, such act shall
be void only as to so much thereof, as shall not be so ex-
pressed." Since the subject expressed in the caption of
Chapter 293 is limited to signatures reaulred for the exe-
cution, authentlca'tlon,certification or endorsement of the
eecurlties, the act is void insofar as it purports to au-
thorize manual signature by only the Comptroller on securi-
ties for which is signature is not reauired for one of these
purposes.
It is, therefore, necessary to determine if the
Comptroller's signature Is required for the "execution, au-
thentication, certification or endorsement" of such securi-
ties. As to cities, the Comptroller's signature is required
to be placed upon the bond by the provisions of Article 711,
V.C.S. As to all other agencies, subdivisions and departments,
we are governed by the provisions of Articles 4361 and 4362,
V.C.S., which provide that the Comptroller shall keep suitable
books 8s~ a "bond register" and issue "certificates of regis-
tration" of bonds.
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Hon. Robert W. Calvert, page 4 (s-164)
The issuing agency has the coo tooz,;;e;b&ig g'o
and contentsof the bonds It issues
datory) and normally requires the Comptroller's execution of a
certificate of registration before the bonds are issued by de-
livery and .therebybecome obligatory. Such certificate is
normally in substantially the,following.form:. ,
"I hereby certify that~there is on file in my
office a dertificate'of the Attorney,Gez&eral
of ~theState of Texas, to the ~effectthat this,
bond has beenexamined'~,byhim as required.by
law, and that he finds that it has been is-
sured in conformitg.uith the Constitution and
lawsof the State.oP Texas and that,it is a
valid and binding (special( obligatlonupon-
and -said bond.has this day
-~.been~registered~by me. Witness my hand and..-
seal of office . . *"
Thus, where the law or the issuing agency requires a
certificate, the obligations may be issued with only the~Comp-
. troller's manual signature being placed thereonsince his slg-
nature is "required for . e . certification a . m of suchse-
curlties" within the caption provision. Where there.18 no such
requirement, however.,one of the officials of the Issuing agency
who is reauired to sinn the bonds would be required to do so
with a manual signatGe.
Very truly yours,
JOHNBEN SHEPPRRD
Attorney GeneraI
By ?d4. h--d-
EM&S Elbert M.Morrow
Assistant
APPROVRD: :
Will D. Davis
Special Reviewer
Mary K. Wall
Reviewer
J. A. Amis, Jr.
R~&ij$ev’Qr~ ~'1
:
,.~.
John Atchison
Acting Pirst:'Assistant
John Ben Shepperd
Attorney General
F