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CHAPTER XXVII.

AN ACT TO ENABLE THE COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS TO SETTLE WITH DEFAULTING REVENUE OFFICERS."

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the Comptroller of Public Accounts be and he is hereby authorized to make settlement with defaulting revenue officers of the State, or their securities, by compromise or in any other manner he may deem best for the interest of the State; provided, that no settlement made by the Comptroller under the provisions of this act shall be conclusive, until a full statement of the facts upon which the settlement is based shall have been submitted to the Attorney General of the State, and the settlement proferred [proffered] by the Comptroller have received the approval of the Attorney General.

SEC. 2. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved November 6, 1871.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE MODE OF PROCEEDING IN DISTRICT COURTS IN MATTERS OF PROBATE, APPROVED AUGUST 15, 1870.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That section one hundred and ten of said act be so amended as to read as follows: Section 110. Where a married woman may be appointed executrix, or administratrix, or guardian, she may jointly with her husband, or without her husband, if he be absent from the State, or insane, or refuse to join with her, execute such bond as the law requires, and acknowledge the same before the clerk; and such bond shall bind her separate estate in the same manner as if she were unmarried, but shall not bind her husband as surety unless he sign and be approved as such.

SEC. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved November 6; 1871.

CHAPTER XXIX.

AN ACT TO CONFIRM AND MAKE VALID THE ACTS OF THE DIS

TRICT COURT OF COLLIN COUTY, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE TOWN OF M'KINNEY, ON THE FIRST MONDAY IN JULY, 1871.

WHEREAS, By an act of the Legislature, approved April 12, 1871, the time for holding the district court in and for the county of Collin had been changed, but the knowledge of said law not having been made known to the judicial and other officers of said court, and the session of said court begun and holden on the first Monday in July, 1871, being in contravention of the provisions of said act of April 12, 1871; therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the decrees, judgments and proceedings of the said court, had and done at the July term, 1871, be and the same are hereby declared valid to all intents and purposes, the same as if said court had been held in conformity to the then existing law.

SEC. 2. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved November 6, 1871.

CHAPTER XXX.

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO DEFRAY THE PRINTING AND CONTINGENT EXPENSES OF THE TWELFTH LEGISLATURE.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be required, be and the same is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Treasury, to defray the printing and contingent expenses of the Twelfth Legislature, in the proportion of ten thousand dollars for the use of the House, and five thousand dollars for the use of the Senate; and the certificate of the Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to the correctness of, and the approval of the chairmen of the respective committees of the Senate and House, shall be sufficient authority for

the Comptroller to draw his warrant upon the Treasurer for the several amounts charged against said fund.

SEC. 2. That this act take effect from and after its passage.
Approved November 10, 1871.

CHAPTER XXXI.

AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM AND FOR THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF THE INSANE, APPROVED FEBRUARY 5, 1858.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That sections eight, nine and ten of an act entitled "An act to provide for the organization of the State Lunatic Asylum, and for the care and maintenance of the insane," approved February 5, 1858, be amended so that they shall hereafter read as follows: Section 8. If information in writing be given to any presiding justice of a county that any person in his county is an idiot or lunatic, or non compos mentis, and that the welfare of himself or of others requires that he be placed under restraint, and said presiding justice shall believe such information to be true, he shall order such person to be brought before him, and twelve competent jurors of the county to be summoned, who shall be sworn to inquire, and a true verdict render, whether such person is of a sound mind or not, whereupon the matter shall be tried, and if the jury shall return a verdict that the person is not of sound mind, and that he should be placed under restraint, the same shall be recorded, and the presiding justice shall thereupon order him to be sent to the Lunatic Asylum, unless some friend (to whom the presiding justice in his discretion may deliver such person) will give bond payable to the State, with sufficient security, to be approved by said presiding justice, with the condition to restrain and take proper care of such person until the cause of confinement shall cease, or he is delivered to the sheriff of the county, or other person, to be proceeded with according to law. Upon the trial and inquiry herein provided for, the examination of the insane and the testimony of the witnesses shall be reduced to writing and filed. The proceedings of the presiding justice in relation to insane persons shall be minuted in the record of his court and certified to the clerk of the district court. Section 9. It shall be the duty of

the presiding justice on ordering a person to be sent to the asylum to ascertain, first, the number of his family, if he has one, and their ability to maintain themselves; second, the value of his estate, if any, and third, the ability of persons legally liable for his support. Section 10. Before sending a patient to the asylum, the presiding justice shall without delay cause authenticated copies to be made of the proceedings, evidence and decree of the original inquisition and of the record of all subsequent inquisitions and orders, to be forwarded by mail to the Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum, and in all cases except those of great emergency shall, before sending said person, ascertain from the Superintendent by application in writing, that there is a vacancy and that the officers of the asylum cannot send for him; thereupon the presiding justice shall issue his warrant to the sheriff, or other suitable individual, ordering him to convey said person to the asylum without delay; and when satisfied of the necessity for assistants he shall prescribe in such warrant the number to be allowed, which in no case shall exceed two, and he shall see that the patient is provided with two good and full suits of summer and one of winter clothing. If it shall appear upon such inquisition that any person is legally liable for the support of such insane person, the facts shall all be certified to the clerk of the district court, who shall have authority to order the payment thereof by the person liable, and if the same be adjudged against the property of the patient or his or her guardian, or legal representative, the payment thereof may be as in other cases enforced by execution; provided, that an appeal may be taken to the district court from the order of the clerk. All persons admitted into the Lunatic Asylum shall be admitted as State patients, except as hereinafter provided.

Approved November 13, 1871.

CHAPTER XXXII.

AN ACT SUPPLEMENTARY TO AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF THE PUBLIC DEBT OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPROVED MAY 2, 1871.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the action of the Auditorial Board, created by an act of November 9, 1866, so far as the said board proceeded in issuing bonds and certificates of indebtedness upon the ascertained

and audited debt of the State, be and the same is hereby confirmed, and that the sum of forty thousand two hundred and sixty nine dollars and fifteen cents is hereby appropriated out of any moneys belonging to the Treasury, not otherwise set apart, to pay the interest on said audited debt up to the first day of January, 1872.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the Governor, at the earliest day practicable, to give notice by publication in the official newspaper, published at the city of Austin and in one newspaper in the city of New York, to the effect that the interest due up to the first day of January, 1872, on the bonds and certificates of indebtedness issued by the Auditorial Board of 1866 will be paid on presentation at the Treasury of the State, or in the city of New York, cr at both places, as the Governor may direct.

SEC. 3. That the time within which claims against the State may be presented to the Auditorial Board, as now provided by law, for its action is hereby extended to the first day of January, 1873, and all claims not presented for audit before said date are hereby declared to be forever barred.

SEC. 4. That Treasury warrants or other evidences of debt presented for action to the Auditorial Board bearing date after the twenty-eighth day of January, 1861, and which are found by the board to have been correctly issued for indebtedness actually created before said twenty-eighth day of January, 1861, shall not be deemed invalid in consequence of being so dated, but shall be held as valid as other claims dated before said time; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to authorize the allowance of any claim for such unpaid balance or interest-bearing warrants as are excluded by the Constitution.

SEC. 5. That the Auditorial Board shall proceed to act upon all claims presented, and such as are found to be valid and subsisting shall be audited, and the board shall issue to the holders thereof certificates of indebtedness which may be discharged in the manner provided by the act to which this is supplementary; provided, that the holders of any interest bearing bond or bonds as described in section four of this act may retain possession of the original of such bond or bonds, and the Auditorial Board created by the act to which this is a supplement, shall cause to be endorsed on said bond or bonds the word genuine, which endorsement shall be dated and signed by the President of the board, and shall be sufficient to authorize the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds according to their tenor and effect, and the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the interest and principal of such bonds.

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