Case Information

*1 r.

The Attorney General of Texas July 7, 1980

MARK WHITE

Attorney General Honorable Henry Wade Opinion No. Ml+298

Dallas District Attorney 6th Floor, Records Build@ Re: Office space in courthouse Suprnn caurl Building P.O. sol l!ds4s Dallas, Texas 75202 news media end title for &min. TX. 7s711 companies; for news s12l.%=2501 media

Dear Mr. Wade:

You have requested cur opinion regardirg the authority of a com- missioners court to furnish space in the county courthouse the news media, title companies and credit mions.

Article 2351(7),V.T.C.S.,authorixes court of every county to:

[p] rovide and keep in repair court houses, jails and all necessary public buildings.

Article 1603,V.T.C.S.,proviQs that:

1t.l he commissioners court tech county.. . shall provide a courthous and jail la the county, and offices for county officers. . . and keep the same in good repair.

In Dodson v. Marshall, ll8 S.W. 2d 621 (Tex. Civ. App. - Waco 1938, writ dism’d), the court held that &se express statutory powers conferred lpcn a commissioners court the implied authority to rent a space in its courthouse for a cigar and cold &ink stand. The commissioners need only determine, the court said. coeration tba business is “necessary the convenience of ‘county emplqees and others tmvw business to tiansact in An EwMl oPPorlunay/ the courthous~.~ ll8 S.W. 2d at 623. A”im?.ti”e Anion Employer ‘i In Tarrant County v. Rattikin Title Company, 199 S.W. 2d 269 (Tex. ~.~ Civ. Am. - Fort Worth 1947. no writ). the court roheld the principle that the commissioners to allocate &ace in its courihouse, but said that it may not charge rent for any space “which was originally erected for the use of public office.” 199 S.W. 2d at 272. The court viewed the beneficiaries-in this case, five title companies-as “agents of the public who examine and copy the records. . . after receiving aders preparation of an abstract.” As a result, the court sanctioned the allocation of space to the title companies, but no rental was permitted.77 *2 Honorable Henry Wade - Page Two (m-200)

In our opinion, Rattikin is dispasitive of your inquiry regarding title companies.

Accordingly, we believe the county may allocate space to such companies.

As to members of the news media, Attorney General Opinion H-920 8977) said that the legislature is authorized to allocate space in the Capitol Building to news organizations, on the basis of bur traditional notions of open government and the need for an informed citizenry and consistent with the purposes of the Open Meetings Law.’ See Attorney General Opinion H-184 (1973). The only qualification imposed was that ece allocations must be reasonable and not applied to effect a content-based discrimination among news organizations or reporters.

We believe that a commissioners court, consistent with the reason@ Rattikin may likewise determine that courthouse space should be allocated to members news media. The same standards of reasonableness and non-discrimination would of course be applicable to any such allocation.

As to the charging of rent, Rattikin and Attorney General Opinion H-920 view the title companies and members ofws media as “agents of the public” and view the provision of space to them as essentially making the ssme type of services as are provided to the general public. As a result, on the basis of the Rattikin principle, rent may not be charged to such entities.

You also ask about the furnishing of space to a county employees’ credit union. We believe this to be discretionary with the commissioners court within its authority to provide for its employees. A credit tmion is a voluntary, cooperative, non-profit financial institution organized under either the Texas Credit Union Act, article 2461- 1.01, et seq., V.T.C.S.,or the Federal Credit Union Act, 12 U.S.C. section 1751, et seq. Even the use of the nsme “credit tmion” is restricted to those entities organized thereunder. V.T.C.S., art. 2461-2.07. Membership in a credit tnion is restricted rnder both the State and Federal Acts to persons who possess what has traditionally been referred to as a common bend. Occupation is recognized as behg one factor which may be used to eetablish a credit mien, and a credit union comprised of county employees would meet this requirement. V.T.C.S., art. 2461-3.01(a)(l); 12 U.S.C. S 1759. The legislature lms accorded recognition to credit lnions composed of county employees as it has permitted commissioners courts to authorize payroll deductions a credit union from county employees’ salaries. V.T.C.S., art. 2372h-4.

In cur opinion, the commissioners court, tmder the Dodson rationale, may properly conclude that the presence a county employees’ creditunion within the courthouse “ia necessary to the convenience of county employees.” We believe to charge the credit lnion rent, but it is not required to do so if it properly determines that the county derives substantial benefit from having the county employees’ credit union easily accessible to county employees.

Your final question is whether free telephone service may be provided to the media for their exclusive use. While allocation of courthouse space to the media may be necessary to promote open government and help maintain an informed citizenry, we *3 Honorable Henry Wade - Page Three (IlkI-2001

do not believe that the furnish@ of free telephone service the exclusive uas of the media would s&&sntially further those objectives, at least not to the extent necessary the objections of article 3, section 51 of the Texas Constitution. to overcome In our opinion, the addition of free telephone service for the exclusive use Of the media would not provide an appreciably greater public benefit than merely making work space available while the additional cost to the county would probably be s&ustantial. In the absence of additional facts not presented to us, we cb net believe commissioners court could reasonably conclude that a proper public purpcse would be achieved by makirq free telephone servios to members the media.

SUMMARY If a commissioners court makes a proper determination it may allocate courthouse space to entities such as representa- tives of the media, title companies and employee creit mions. Allocations of space must be reasonable and not mconstitu- Free service may not tionally discriminatory. normally be provided the media for their exclusive use.

Very truly rs, , Ad MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas JOHN W. FAINTER, JR.

First Assistant Attorney General

TED L. HARTLEY

Executive Assistant Attorney General

Prepared by Rick Gilpin

Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:

OPINION COMMITTEE

C. Robert Heath, Chairman

Jon Bible

Walter Davis

Rick Gilpin

Tom Pollan

Bruce Y cungblood