Case Information
*1 R-313 April 16, 1947 Hon. Britton T. Edwards, Jr., Vice Chairman, Public Lands and Buildings Committee House of Representatives-
Austin, Texae [1] Qpinion.No, V-149 Re: Constitutionality of H. B. 748 author- . . :,.~.,
iz$ng the Commission- er'of Phe~.Glne& La&d Offiod to. exe- 0qt.e roya&ty oen- tract.s on State land; authorizing admini- .S,WSitiOl‘5 ereout ors iid guariiane .to maku agreements cov- ering oil,and.gas 'interretr'of es- tates; and the effect of such Act on the Stats's Antitrust Dear Sir, kwse.
We bare,read your request for an Opinion, date&April 2, 1947, whioh reads aa fellows:
"The' Committee on Public La&s and, Build- ings instructed me as Vice-Chairman, to,give H, B, 748 to you with the request that you give pus .an opinion on the constitutionality of the measure, .a'nd its effect upon the Stateta Anti- trust laws,n
'The titlk,to'such bill reads:
"AN ACT authoriring the Comz#ssioner of the General Land Office to execute con- tracts committing the oil and gas interests of the State to lawful agreements with the approval of the School Land Board if the oil and gas interests are set apart for *2 Hon. Brltton T. Edwards, Jr,, PsgS 2, v-149
Permanent Free School Fund and the sev- eral asylum funds, and of the board, agent, agency or authorlt of the state vested with authority to L asc or approve the leasing of landsfor oil and gas in other lands or areas; authorizing admin- istrators, executors, guardians, or other fiduciaries administering estates under control and jurisdiction of the County Courts to execute contracts committing to lawful agreements the oil and gas inter- eats of the estates with the approval of the County Courts; prohibiting the execu- tion of contracts which in any,manner vio- late the anti-trust law8 of this State; repealing all laws and parts of laws in conflict heretiith; providing a savings clause, and declaring an emergency.* The Constitution of Texss, Art. III, Sec.
35 provides with exceptions not relevant here, t&t "No bili * *..* shalI contain more than one subject which shall be expressed in its title, * * rp *f+ In det~ermining whether the title to an Act embraces more than one subject the titb must be construed with reference- the.iangusge used in it alone, and not in the light of what the body of the Act cont&ins. >G Am, Jur, 173, Statutea, Ssc, 192.
The title above quoted contains two sub- jwts: (1) an Act to permitthe General Land Office to execute royalty contracts; and (2) an Act author- izing administrators, exeoutors, guardians and other fiduciaries to execute contracts cowitting to bw- ful agreements the eil and gas interests of estates. Since the title contains two subjects, the bills runs afoul of Art. III, Set, 35, above quoted, The title could be redrawn to correct the above defect. A suggested title is herewith attachede
The Bill otherwise is constitutional. The language used therein is extremely broad, and is not definite as to what type of contracts are included therein, It gives blanket authority9 but it is be- lieved not to be so vague and indefinite as to be un- constitutional0
, . Hon. Britton Tc Edwards, Jr.,, Page 3, V-l49
The Bill is capable of a construction which would render it meaningless in that it simply authorizes the persons named therein to make "lawful" agreements on the subjects stated. These people are already authorized to make agreements which it is* lawful for them to make. Given such construction, the bill would add nothing to their pcwerss
Since this biI1 is lifted almost verbatim from Sections 2 and 3 of H. Be 67, it is presumed that the intent of the bill is to permit the persons named therein to enter into pooling agreements, when and if such agreements are lawful. But that intent doesn't appear from this Bill itself.
That part of Section One (line II) which particularizes the water-covered lands covered, omits inland lakes. The Bill further omits specific ref- erence to State lands inside the tidewater limits, which are leased by other authority than the Relin- quishment Act.
H. B. 748 is broad enough to authorize the Commissioner of the General Land 0fflce.t.o execute agreements on University of Texas lands, with the approval of the Board of Regentso The present law authorizing the Stateto pool its interests in gas fields specifically provides: nexcept leases cov- ering iands belonging to The University of,Texasn,* General Laws 1945, 49th Leg, R.S., ch. 309, p. 507, Sec. I, being Art, 5368b, V.C.S,
The same Act above referred to requires the retention by the State of a minimuzn royalty* R. B. 748 omits this provision.
All of the above items are pointed out in case you intend to offer amendments to cure any of such matters.
Because of Section 3 of the Bill, stating that none of the persons named In the Bill are auth- orizedto execute any agreement which would violate the Antitrust laws, the BiIl in no way endangers the antitrust laws of this State0
SUMMARY .
The Title to H, B. 748, authorizing the *4 Hon. Britton T. Edwards, Jr,, Page 4, V-149
Commissioner of the General Land Office to exe- cute lawful oil and gas royalty contracts, and authorizing administrators, executors, guardians and other fiduciaries to execute agreements con- cerning oil or gas interests in estates com- mitted to their charge,~'~~is defective in that it containsmore thanfone~subjectr Constitution ef Texas, Art. III, Sec:35. The Bill is otherwise constitutional, andwlll have no ef- fect on the antitrust laws of this state. Yours very truly, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS w Joe R, Greenhill Assistant *5 v-149 AN ACT authorizing.the Commissioner of the General
Land.Office, Administrators; Executors, Guard- ians, and other fiduciaries, to commit certain oil and gas interests within their charge, to lawful agreements; prescribing the procedure therefor; setting out the approval required therefor* and providing for other conditions surround ng the execution of such agreements; I
prohibiting the execution of contracts which in any manner violate the antitrust hws; re- pealing all laws and Parts of laws in conflict herewith; providing a saving clause, and de- claring an emergency*