Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ,AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS , ;
AUSTIN Honorable Tm A. Craven
Caunty Auditor
McLerIn~ county
Waco, !i%xas
DJar Slrll . . . . _. : _:
..
: :,
i. . . joaorabl& Toa\ +. Craven, Page 2
on fhs basis of the population of said county,
accordin;: to the last precodinq Federal Cenous;
provLded that tie Co.mzsstoners Court.3 in said
courA.ios are authorlced~to fix the naximm amma
salary for th-n balance of the fiscal year 1941
after tine efl'cctivs date of thin Act on thz basis of the F&ernl Census of 19&O and th3rcsi'tcr ac-
cording to the last preceding Federal Census;
and declaring an emarseucy.
."Bo It I&acted By Tie LeSislaturo Of We State Of Texas:
"S%ction 1. The Coimlssioners Courts in all &unties of Texas having a population of not less than one h-undred thousand (100,003) m.d not Icore ~. . . :%han one hundre,d +@ n$nety t&?~sand.(190,000) '~ ,, i ~‘, . . . . ., i l&abittitEi, ambording td &&last p'reccdlng'Fe& : : era1 Census, infixingthe~anuualaalarythat . .. 1
~shall be paid an dfficernamed In Section 13 of . . ~maptor.455~ of the Acts of. the Second Callad Sea- '1 '. aton of 'the Forty-fourth.~c~Ssletlire, wheIie such:~ ‘..’ -.: officer'-a, salary is detcmnincd In cog@.iauca~vith
:‘th.e,.lavs v*hiCh exlst%d~on'August 24, 1935; a&d Zs
based- upon pogul‘ation, shall coq?uto and fix the: I aalery of each of such officers at.tha mximuu
amouutvhich could have beon ~tid each of such
officers undor~the lavs exis&q on August 24,
1935, accordirigto the Pederal. Census of 1940 and thercaftor -accordLug to the last preceding '. Federal Censusi provided thoCormlsoionero Courts ~' I In mid counties are authorized to.azend then presmt order,of said Court fixlr?z the n&?Lmm '.
snlarg,of said officers. for the fiscal goar 194$
frcn and afterthe offcctlve date~of this Act
for the balmoe'of said fiscal year; accor&ing
to the Federal Causus of 1940, and thsreafter
‘x2'-', ~~.'~.~&..&t&&--p -the: .).estr.prace~.Peder~. Camus. ---y.-F.-.--- ..- - __ . - _~.
A caraful oou..arZoon betvaen the cagt2on and the body Of this Efll ir&icatos a conflict betveon tiio~. The caption dcscriboa the I3511 as:
,
- r:-“. _ ,82 Donorable Tom A. Craven, Page 3 .,,~,:,
:..;.~ ., pernLssSve, pur- : ': This langun,gt3 Is, In 0~ opi~~-?ion;: porting to confer upon the co~~~~lssionem~ co+snts of the affect- ,.
cd counties the poirer end discr&;ion to. dotemino'the rzaxi~m salerics of county o~fica~~ within specified Units. Vebster's gstomticasl Dictio;urg defines "autho?:ce" to r&a "te clothe vith authority or-legal poue~) to give a right to act."
.'J!he body of the Dill, on the othor hood, gives no discretion to the comiissloners~ Court, but directs that. the officers salaries shall be set at the m?.xitm%prescribad by this Dill in zcandatorj lgsquage~ Courts Q 0 * shall eon-
“!?he Comlssions~s
pute and fix the salaryof.each of such officere
at the n~~fmii'awuut * * e." (&lphC~iS ours). .' I
Such dSvw&!mce.betwee~ the caption &XI body'of the Act,. ;.i &j&s t&3 '&&iro' 'Act Iiwallil, ‘63 ‘&lie&i,~ ‘ati’ bein& fn +i&&ti’iri of A&icle III8 Section ofthe Texas C@nstitut3m, which readst :' "Seci '35.~ Ro.bijZ,. (except gens&al apl ', . . . -.propl?is'tion:~bills;.~hi~ z?ay&brace the va-'.~ '.. .. riouug subjects and accoimts, for and on eo- "
‘c+rh...of vhlch,noneys are app?oprlated) shall tit: contain mope t.han.,one subject, wh2oh shal3. be expressed in its 'title. But if any subject _ / shall be mbracod in an sot, which shall not be expressed in th6 title; such act shall be
void only as to so.xach thereof, a8 shall not
be so exprassed."
?&e pmposa of such a constitutional pro&ion ,lo wells stated in the follonia quotation fron Coolep~s Constitutional bkltations (7th Ed.), .P. 2C5, vhieh ~33 quoted with eggOVa in Eevnon v. Wilm~.~son, 103 9. W. 656, et P. 6571
w4 4 4, Xt hoe bson held by the courts that vhen the oxpr~s vtirbltige of cl~ch title
llults arxl rmtrict3 the ptuqs~o of’ the bill,
any. acc-J>ia ACm'eTt to J.~@.,&jt~~rs? O~~C,“W~SB in SW% bill
<V8Pklllt fk',?Z the ?!!P>DSCi pPB3CS':b.Od, iC ill OX-
aws of the lq$slative~power, cud th-zt e law subject to th5.s coql8int lo unocnstitutlonel. r-
Uard Cattle is Pastwe Co. V.~ Csrpentar, 109 %3x. .10~.~.203 Sr..Wq .5213 33x .Psrrt@.De swvia,.. '.' &3'%k. &. R. 635;229 S. W; 5425 F!iLton .. ,.:’ ._ . . ve Ry. Co., 13.9 !i!fsX. 455, 283 S. I?. 4.!5; GulP'
&odilction Co. va Rmrott (Tax.~Cqi~. A2g1.) 2% S. W. (2d)'389: r)ltter v,:Boxar~Co.: (T$x..Con. ': :. Apti,) 13. S..y,.- (2-J) l?jj, issj ~~~1~~~~'~~~ ‘. :., . . State, Zex. Cr. R:626, 31'1. S. U..?j6t Aclens~ a5 !ikx. ~465, 25 23; U. 635, V* H&or WbPk8 co., 606," es tha vice hherwinribwe Indicated goes to the ‘fnweiuch
vary essence of Rouse 0113 3~. 518, it 1s our q&nion that the seme 13 uncm,natitutlonal tmd void in lta entirsty..
Yours very truly