Page images
PDF
EPUB

COURTS-SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY.

H. B. No. 15.]

CHAPTER 32.

An Act to confer upon the County Court of San Augustine county the civil and criminal jurisdiction heretofore belonging to said court under the Constitution and general statutes of the State of Texas; to define the jurisdiction of said court; to conform the jurisdiction of the district court of said county to such change; to fix the time of holding court; to repeal all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act; and declaring an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That the County Court of San Augustine county shall hereafter have exclusive original jurisdiction in civil cases wherein the matter in controversy shall exceed in value two hundred dollars and shall not exceed five hundred dollars, exclusive of all interest, and shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the district court of said county when the amount in controversy shall exceed five hundred dollars and shall not exceed one thousand dollars, exclusive of interest.

SEC. 2. Said county court shall have appellate jurisdiction in civil cases over which the justice courts have original jurisdiction, when the judgment of the court appealed from or the amount in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, exclusive of interest, and said county court shall have power to hear and determine cases brought up from the justice courts by certiorari under the provisions of the Title of the Revised Statutes relating thereto.

SEC. 3. The county judge of said county shall have authority, either in term time or vacation, to grant writs of injunction, sequestration, mandamus, garnishment, attachment, certiorari, supersedeas, and all other writs necessary to the enforcement of the jurisdiction of said court, and shall also have power to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the Constitution has not exclusively conferred the power on the district court or judge thereof.

SEC. 4. That said court shall have and exercise the general jurisdiction of a probate court; shall probate wills, appoint guardians of minors, idiots, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, and common drunkards, grant letters testamentary and of administration, settle accounts of executors, administrators and guardians, transact all business pertaining to the estates of deceased persons, minors, idiots, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, and common drunkards, including the partition, settlement and distribution of estates of deceased persons, and to apprentice minors as provided by general law and to issue all writs necessary for enforcement of its jurisdiction, orders and decrees.

SEC. 5. Said county court shall have jurisdiction in the forfeiture and judgment of all bonds and recognizances taken in criminal cases of which said court has original or appellate jurisdiction.

SEC. 6. Said county court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all misdemeanors except misdemeanors involving official misconduct, and except misdemeanors in which the highest penalty that may be imposed by law is a fine that does not exceed two hundred dollars; and said court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with that of the justice of the peace in criminal cases, and appellate jurisdiction with trial de novo in

criminal cases in which the justices of the peace and other inferior tribunals of said county have original jurisdiction.

SEC. 7. The district court of said county shall no longer have jurisdiction of misdemeanors, except misdemeanors involving official misconduct, and shall no longer have jurisdiction of cases of which the county court of said county by provisions of this Act has original or appellate jurisdiction.

SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the district clerk of said county within thirty days after this Act shall take effect, to make full and complete transcripts of orders in cases on the criminal and civil dockets then pending before the district court of said county, of which cases by the provisions of this Act original and appellate jurisdiction is given to the said county court, and to deliver said transcripts, together, with the original papers and a certified bill of costs in each case, to the county clerk of said county, and the said county clerk shall file the same and enter said cases as appearances on the respective dockets for trial by said court and all cases, jurisdiction to try which is herein conferred on the County Court of San Augustine county and which are now pending in the district court of such county, are hereby transferred to said county court.

SEC. 9. The said county court shall also have the power to hear and determine all motions against sheriffs and other officers of the court for failure to pay over money collected under process of said court, of other defalcations of duty in connection with said process, and shall have power to punish by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars and by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three days, any person guilty of contempt of said court and all other powers and jurisdictions conferred on county courts by the Constitution and general laws of this State.

SEC. 10. The terms of said court shall commence on the first Monday in February and on the first Monday in May, and the first Monday in August, and on the first Monday in November of each year, and may continue in session for three weeks each term; provided, that the county commissioners court of said county may thereafter change the term of said court whenever it may be deemed necessary.

SEC. 11. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act be, and the same are hereby repealed.

SEC. 12. The importance of restoring the jurisdiction of the county court of said county, to the end that pending and further litigation may be disposed of without delay, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended, and the said rule is hereby suspended, and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is hereby so enacted.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing Act passed the House by the following vote, yeas 98, nays 0; and passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 25, nays 0.]

Approved March 5, 1909.

Became a law March 5, 1909.

RAILROAD COMPANIES-REQUIRED TO DO REPAIR WORK IN TEXAS.

[blocks in formation]

An Act requiring railways and railroad corporations or lessees thereof, operating within the State of Texas and having their repair shops in the State to repair, renovate and rebuild and overhaul all defective or broken cars, coaches, locomotives or other equipment in the State of Texas and prohibiting any railway or railroad corporation from sending or moving any defective cars out of the State to be repaired, renovated or rebuilt, and fixing a penalty for the violation of the provisions of this Act.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That all railroad corporations operating in the State of Texas, and having their repair shops within the State, shall, and are hereby required to repair, renovate or rebuild in the State of Texas, any and all defective or broken cars, coaches, locomotives or other equipment owned or leased by said corporations in the State of Texas, when such rolling stock is within the State of Texas, provided, that such railway shall have or be under obligation to have proper facilities in the State, to do such work, and provided, this Act shall not be so construed as to require any railway corporation to violate the safety appliance law of the Congress of the United States; and provided further that no railway shall be required to haul such disabled equipment a greater distance for repairs at a point within the State of Texas, than would be necessary to reach their repair shops in another State; and provided further that no such railway company shall haul or be permitted to haul for purposes of repair any disabled equipment by or past any shop owned or operated by any such company where said disabled equipment can be repaired, in order to reach some other repair shop at a greater distance for purposes of repairing said disabled equipment; provided that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to companies having less than sixty continuous miles of railroad in operation in this State.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, that all railroad corporations operating in the State of Texas, and having their repair shops within the State, shall be prohibited from sending or removing any of their cars, coaches, locomotives or other equipment out of the State of Texas to be repaired, renovated or rebuilt, when the same is in a defective or broken condition, and within the State.

SEC. 3. Be it furtehr enacted that the provisions of this Act shall not apply in cases of strikes, fires, or other unforeseen casualties and emergencies.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, that any railway corporation, lessee, receiver, superintendent, or agent who shall violate any of the provisions of this Act, shall, after conviction by any court of competent jurisdiction, be liable to a fine of not less than one hundred ($100) dollars nor more than five hundred ($500) dollars.

Approved March 5, 1909.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

[blocks in formation]

An Act to amend Article 4953, Chapter 3, Title 102, of the 1895 Statutes of the State of Texas, by putting Clay county in the list of counties exempted, and declaring an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That Article 4953, Chapter 3, Title 102, of the 1895 Statutes of the State of Texas be amended so as to read hereafter as follows:

Article 4953. The provisions of the five preceding Articles shall in no wise apply to the following counties: Anderson, Bell, Clay, Gonzales, Coryell, Hamilton, Mills, Brown, Comanche, Lavaca, Llano, San Saba, Concho, Runnels, Coleman, Travis, Grayson, Cooke, Montague, Colorado, Bexar, Jasper, Newton, Orange, Jefferson, Polk, San Jacinto, Tyler, Chambers, Hardin, Liberty, Harrison, Smith, Upshur, Gregg, Wood, Rains, Bowie, Cass, Morris, Titus, Lee, Bastrop, Fayette, Hill, Johnson, Ellis, McLennan, Falls, Robertson, Milam, Brazos, Galveston, Brazoria, Matagorda, San Patricio, Guadalupe, Caldwell, Hays, Blanco, Comal, Tarrant, Wise, Parker, Jack, Dallas, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Sabine, Shelby, Panola, Rusk, Hunt, Hopkins, Delta, Franklin, Camp, Angelina, Houston, Leon, Grimes, Madison, Kaufman, Rockwall, Fannin, Lamar, Red River, Van Zandt, Henderson, Cherokee, Bosque, Hood, Erath, Somervell, Collin, Denton, Trinity, Walker, Montgomery, Harris, Austin, Washington, Wharton, Fort Bend, Waller, Burleson, Limestone, Freestone, Navarro, Young, Karnes, Mason, Medina, Kimble, Kerr, Kendall, Bendera, Sutton, Gillespie, Williamson, Lampasas, Burnet, El Paso, Presidio, Brewster, Midland, Reeves and Marion.

SEC. 2. The crowded condition of the calendar creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days should be suspended in order that this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and be it so enacted.

Approved March 5, 1909.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

COURTS-FORTY-SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT.

H. B. No. 315.]

CHAPTER 35.

An Act to fix the time of holding courts in the Forty-sixth Judicial District and to repeal all laws in conflict therewith.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That the district court shall be held in the counties composing the Forty-sixth Judicial District each year as follows:

In the county of Wilbarger on the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session four weeks.

In the county of Hardeman on the fourth Mondays after the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session four weeks.

In the county of Childress on the eighth Mondays after the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session four weeks.

In the county of Foard on the twelfth Mondays after the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session two weeks.

In the county of Collingsworth on the fourteenth Mondays after the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session two weeks.

In the county of Hall on the sixteenth Mondays after the first Mondays in February and September, and may continue in session until all the business is disposed of.

SEC. 2. That all process issued or served before this Act goes into effect, returnable to the district court in said judicial district, shall be returnable to said court as fixed by the terms of this Act; and said process is hereby legalized and validated and all grand and petit jurors selected and drawn under existing laws in any of the counties of said judicial district shall be considered legally drawn and selected for the next term of the district court of the respective counties, held after this Act takes effect, and all appearance bonds and recognizances taken in and for said court shall bind the parties therein obligated to appear at the next term of such court held under this Act.

SEC. 3. That all laws in conflict with this Act be and the same are hereby repealed.

SEC. 4. The fact that two weeks is not sufficient time for transacting the business of the district court in Childress county and three weeks is not sufficient time for transacting such business in Hardeman county, creates an emergency, and an imperative public necessity exists that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be and the same is hereby suspended and that this Act take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enactel.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing Act passed the House by the following vote, yeas 92, nays 0; and passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 21, nays 0.]

Approved March 6, 1909.

Became a law, March 6, 1909.

« PreviousContinue »