Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-578 Page: 2 of 4
This text is part of the collection entitled: Texas Attorney General Opinions and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The Honorable Frank Madla - Page 2
that owns a historic courthouse for a historic courthouse project." Id. 442.0083(b). A "[h]istoric
courthouse" is "a county courthouse that is at least 50 years old." Id. 442.001(1). The official date
of service is defined by commission rule as "the date of the first official commissioners court
meeting in the building." 13 TEX. ADMIN. CODE 12.5(4) (2002); see also TEX. LOG. GOV'T CODE
ANN. 291.001(1) (Vernon 1999) (commissioners court of a county shall provide a courthouse at
the county seat).
The current appropriation to the Texas Historical Commission appropriates a sum of money
in each year of the biennium for the following purpose:
A.1.5. Strategy: COURTHOUSE PRESERVATION
Provide financial and technical assistance through the Texas Historic
Courthouse Preservation Program for critical courthouse preservation
projects.
General Appropriations Act, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1515, art. I, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 5411, 5484. This
item of appropriation provides funding for "critical courthouse preservation projects" within the
program. Rider 20 provides as follows:
Courthouse Preservation Grants. Funds appropriated above to
Strategy A.1.5, Courthouse Preservation, may be used for a
courthouse or historic structure previously designated by municipal
ordinance as the legal center of a county and that is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
General Appropriations Act, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1515, art. I, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 5411, 5488. See
generallyJessen Assocs., Inc. v. Bullock, 531 S.W.2d 593,596 (Tex. 1975); Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No.
M-1 199 (1972) (a "rider" is a provision of text included in an appropriations act).
Rider 20 does not appropriate funds itself but purports to govern the funds appropriated to
Strategy A. 1.5 for the Historic Courthouse Preservation Program established under Government
Code sections 442.0081-.0083. The rider does not, as a matter of statutory construction, authorize
the use of the appropriation item designated as Strategy A.1.5 for restoring the San Fernando
Cathedral. A courthouse, in the usual sense of the word, does not include a cathedral, which is "[t]he
principal church of a diocese." II OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 986 (2d ed. 1989). See TEX.
GOV'T CODE ANN. 311.011(a) (Vernon 1998) (words and phrases shall be read in context and
construed according to the rules of common usage). A "historic courthouse," moreover, must be
owned by a county. See id. 442.001(1) (Vernon Supp. 2002). The San Fernando Cathedral
belongs to the Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio. See THE HANDBOOK OF TEXAS ONLINE,
San Fernando de Bexar Cathedral, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/index.new.html
(visited Oct. 21, 2002). Accordingly, Rider 20 does not authorize the use of appropriated funds for
the restoration and preservation of the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio.(JC-0578)
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This text can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Text.
Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-578, text, November 19, 2002; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274888/m1/2/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.