Article 2744e, i)ernon's &notated Civil Xetutes, Ineofar hs pertinent to your c;ue?tions, provides in Section 1 thereof as follo!%s:

"Sea. 1. All counties In this State havlnf! a population of not mo:;e t,ian thirty-two thousand five Hundred (31?,500) nor lese then twenty thousand (20,000), eooordiag to the lest praoedihg Federal Cenmw, and oontelning a valuation of Seventy-Slva Yllllon Dollar8 ($76,~00,000) or mom, are hereby orwted into oounty- wide equallzatIon eohool diatriotr, end.seoh suoh oounty shall have the oounty unit aystam or oduoetlon to the axtant.apeoiflad In this Aot and may erarelre tha taxing power oonrerred on eohool 618trIot8 by Artlalo 0, 6oa- tion S of the Cohatltutlon to the extent hanlnef’ter provlded but auoh taxIn& pow& ahall not be ~&~olw4 uutll and uhleas ,authorIzed by a madorlty of the quaI.- .Irled property taxpaying voters ralrIdIh& therela at ah elaotloa to be held.ior that purpoea a8 hareinaitsr provIde4.W

Ineuauoh ea the applIoabIlIty OS &tIoti.2'1448, +brIIOIl’a imuotated Civil Statutea, 16 not llmltad to oountlds~har~ a population of not more than S2!,500, nor lam than 20,000, aooord- lng to any apaolflo or desIgnate IXaoenhlal Bcdderal Cbnmm, but WaooordIng to the lent pmoadl~ Federal Uanneua~ it 10 oUr opinion that Rusk County Will be taken out or tha opore0Irb efreOt of thl8 hrtidle In the event your aaatmptIon8 rhould bs v$ndloatad by the orriolel Federal Cenaua ror 1940, end it should appear therefrom that Rusk County will have a popuXatIon of gram M),OOO to 45,000 inhabitants.

But the removal of Rusk County from tne aoope or Artlole 2744c, Vernon's Annotated Civil Stetutas, will not ooour until the population of Rusk County for the year 1940 has baan offiolally d&&reined, ascertained and publiehed by the Bureau of the Censu8, in eccordenoe with the provisions and requirements of Title 13 u. s. C. A. sectiqn l-112, end:.emendments thereto, Insofar es euoh congressional sots are psrtln&nt to the taking end publication OS *3 ?;on. JCP L,. Clr:dney, i.or2i 29, 1939, ?age 3

the Cece.2.ioi~ ::e-lr;us of 1SCC. .Lhe rect that i!usk County now tccrsts 53 pcpulatior? in excess. of the statutory brackets fixed by ,.rtic1c 274&J, Yernonts ihnnotated Civil :'tatutes, does not render ,.ucii statute ixmedietely inoperative, nor will the official deter- mination e3d ,promulgation of thi.s fact by the Bureau of'the Census relate beck so as to render the stetute inoperative as of the date of the teking of the census+ 14 c. J. yecundum p. 103; Lewis v. iackaxanna County, 50 ktl. 162.

it is generally keld that in the absence of a statute providing when the census Shall go into legal effect, it beoomes official and effective as of the date of the publloation, by a bulletin, oertitioata sto. or the Dlreotor or the‘Censu6. 14 C. J. .~eoundua p. 103, Holoo6b V. Spikes, 252 5. W. 891. It la then but not until then that the oourta will judlolally notlob the population of a given county so a6 to pernit ohahgaa In ol.saal- ticatlona based thereon. Smith v. Petteraan, 24B S. u. V49.

ApplpIng thla datannInetIv4~4ets to your asoond quaatloa mgsrdlng the oollaotabIlity of the'taaba In quaatloh for the year 12940, it la the opinion of thla Dapartaant that your oorrolu- aion is again oorreot, and that aal4 oounty-wlda aquallaatlon taxes levied by Article 2V;Us, Veraon*s Annotated Civil Statutea, may lawrully be oolleoted. 'We Art1016 apeoitioally~pravl4ea that the taxes thereby laviad-shall be oolleoted by the aaae OfrlOor6 and under the same laws es oounty~ad valoramtaxaa. The tax levied by Artiole 27448, Vernon*8 Ahnotated Civil,Statutea, havlw bean duly easeaaed prior to any posalbla erreotlve data ot the 1940 Federal Cenaua, will, under governing statute8 ahd the ~pl6I.n prlnolpl~ or.taxatIon, be subjeot to oollaotlan.

Yours very truly OF. !CEXAS BY

A66i6t6lIt APPROVITD