Case Information
*1 June 23, 1947 Opinion No. V-263 Hon. Julian E, Weisler County Attorney Re: Power of the County
Washington County Com.bw.ionePsq Court Brenham, Texas
to purchase land Pop a county fair,
Dear Sir: Your pequeat fop an opinion is as followss aWaahin&.on County is desirous of acquiring and inp~oving a tract of land, to be purchased in fee by the County, to be used pemanently aa a County Fair- gPounds. D 0
“Will you, thetiefore, let us have yollr opinion as to whether the county is authorized, under the ltw, to purchase lands fop such purpose?
Article 2372d, V,C.S., reads in part as fol- 1owss
“set, 1, All counties in’the State acting by and through their respective CosmiasionersP Courts may provide for an- nual exhibits of horticultural and agai- cultural products, livestock and mlneral and such other products as ape products, of interest to the community, In connec- tion therewith, such counties may also establish and maintain mueeuma9 including the creation of necessary buildings and other improvements in their own counties OP in any other county OP city in the United States, where fairs OP expositions are being held,
%ec, 2, The Commiasionem” Court of the respective counties OP the ~OISIIliS- sioners’ CouPts of several counties My cooperate with each other and participate with local interests in ming fop the *2 Hon. Julian E. WeisleP, page 2
erection of said bulldims and otheP ir- provements as may be neoessare to accom- plish the puPpoae mentioned in Section 1 of this Act and for the assembling, erect- ing, and maintaining of such hoPtlcultura1 and agPlcultura1, livestock and mineral ex; higits, and the expenses incident thepeto, (UndePqcoPing supplied)
This is the sole statutory source of power of the ConmissionePsq Court Pelative to county PaLIPs, and if any authopity exists for the purchase of land fop such purpose it must be derived fPom this statute.
This DepaPtment, following the decisions of the Texas Courts, has repeatedly held that the Commissioners' CouPt is a court at limited juriadictibn and has only such powers as ape confePPed upon it by the statutes and Consti- tution of this State, either by express terms OP by neces- sary implication, Set, 1.8 of AFtiole V of the Texas Con- tititution, Article 2351, V.C.S.; Von Rosenberg v*~'Lovett, 173 S.-W. 508; Galveston, H. & 5. A. Rye Co; v. Uvaide County, 167 S.W. (26) 1084, 11 Tex. Jnr. 564.
In the case of Dancy v. Davidson, 183 S.W, (2d) 195, the County puPchased a buildizig u.ndeP the authority of Art. 2351, Sec. 7, V.C.S,, which says: 7 ~.
"CommlssionsPs9 CoUpt shall D O .. pro-“ vide and keep in PepalP, couPt housea, jailsi.,. ,, land other necessary buildings." .-
The Cod held in that case that: 'The poweP to pPovide is the poweP to pumhaae.
'We, therefore, conclude that the con- mia8ionePs' CouPt in the exercise of ita sound discretion Is legally authoPized to purchase the bu$ldiug Involved fop the in- tended puPpose.
Directly in point is the case of Hoon v. AllPed, 277 S.W, 787 (nit dismissed], which held that:
"Bext In oPdeP is the fnafstence that the comiasioneps* GoaPt is without poweP under APt. 610 to issue bonds to pmchase
a site OP equiptint for the couPt house and jail as sought to be done here. The ques- tion as to the power to issue bonds fop site OP equipment, as an independent pro- position, Is not involved. The poweP to Issue the bonds must be derived, fPom the statute Peferred to, and it must be look- ed to in order to a8CePtain whether the authority is given. The rule of construc- tion, 'as often declaped by OUP Supreme CouPt IS"
UtWhenevep a power is given by stat- ute, everything necessary to make it ef- fectual OP requisite to attain the end is implied. . e The grant. of an express power carries with it, by neCeS8aPy implication, every other power necessary and propep to the execution of the poweP expressly grant- ed. TePPell v, Sparks, 104 Tex. 191, 135 9.w. 519.'
"The Pule of construction as declared in the above casea muat control the instant case. o a o In TePPitoPg v0 Baxter, 16 Okl.
359, the SupPeme Court of Oklahoma, in con- struing a statute identical in substance with ours, held that the poweP given a com- misslonePat couPt to issue bond8 to build a jail necessarily Implied the power to issue bonds to puPchase a site therefor, and that power to issue bonds to build a cowthouse likewise implied paver to issue such bonds to equip the same * D 0 e The conclusion is thePefoPe reached that the oPdep fop the election la not void fop vant of authopity to include the proposition fop the puPchase of site and equipment.
In the above cited case the CoUpt held that the express power to build necesaapily f.ISplieS the poweP to purchase a site fop a building.
Applying the principles of the above casea ~to the pPesent question, it is concluded that the Legiala- ture in granting the CommissionePs9 Court power to build museums, buildings and otheP ImpPovements, did not in- tend that Said COZIUissiOnePs o Court should be limited to the erection of a atpuctUpe upon the propekty of another; *4 but on the otheP hand intended and implied that the au- thority to purchase a site OP a fair grounds existed in conjunction with the express power to build.
A copy of the letter opinion of June 1, 1936, vith reference to Ft. Bend County, for which you made request, is hepevith enclosed.
The CommiasionePsn Court of Washington County, under Article .2372d, has the implied authority to purchase land for a county fair.
Yours vePy tPuly Yours vePy tPuly ATTORNEY GENRRAL OF TEXAS ATTORNEY GENRRAL OF TEXAS BY By
Assistant JBR/lh/mv