The opinion
XAS
Aucvrrnr II:TEXAS
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
.
,llaroh~ 26, 1947
Hon. W. Riley Wyatt, Chairman
State Prison Board
San Antonio, Texas Opinion Ro. V-105
Be: Authority OS ?risoa
Board to direct gen-
eral manager to permit
the use of inmate labor
on sewage project with
Dear Mr. Wyatt: the City of Huntsville.
Your request for aa opinion on the above cap-
.tioned subjeot reads as follows:
‘The Texas State Board of Health has
-pract lcally condemned the exist Lag sewage
disposal plant in Huntsville as Inadequate.
“The Clt of tiuntsvllle has always
handled the dI sposal of sewage from the prl-
son sjrstem in Huntsville since the prison
has no sewage disposal plant of its own.
At present, it is estimated the aewage
flow iron the prison syetea coast’itutes
one-third of the estimated total normal
flow to the sewage treatment plant.
“The City of H~tsvllle has never im-
posed a sewer service charge on the prison
-. system because of, a contract entered into
between the city aad the prison system,
which provides that the prison sgstea will
pay its’ prorata share of the coat of any im-
provements dr e#ienaions at the oity’8 aewer
disposal plant.
“In view of the foregoing hazards, the
Texas State Board of Health has directed
the Cit,y of Huntsville to take steps inane-
diatelg to correct the condition existing,
and pith, referenoe to this sewage the City
of Huntsville has called upoh the prlaon
.- ._
ElOIl. M. Riley Wyatt, Page 2, V-105
board to furnish Inmate labor in the con-
struction of this sewer extension program.
“In view of the contract heretofore
entered into (aopy of which is herewith en-
cloeed), and further in view of the benefits
to accrue to the prison board, can the prl-
son board authorize the general manager to
permit the use of Inmate labor on’ this pro-
ject?”
Article 6166a, of Vernon’s Civil Statutes,
reads In part as follows:
’ * * * All persons shall be worked
within the prison walls and upon farms owned
or leased by the State; and in no event shall
the labor of a prisoner be sold to any con-
tractor or lessee to work on farms or else-
where, nor shall any prisoner be worked on
any farm or otherwise upon shares except
such farms be owned or leased by the State
of Texas. ”
In Opinion No. O-4322, addressed to Mr. S.,M.
Lister, dated April 15, 1942, thi.s Department held that
the Texas Prison Board does not have authority under Ar-
ticle 6166a, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, to permit the use
of trusty prisoners by State offi,cials, members of the
Prison Board, and employees of the prison system. In
Opinion No. O-4727, dated July 3l, 1942, this Department
held that while Article ,61660 authorizes the Prison
Board to lease real estate for agricultural or grazing
purposes, it was of the opinion that this does not auth-
orize the contracting of convict labor under the cloak
of a lease of real estate, and that Article 61660 must
be construed together with Article 6166a, in that the
employment of convicts as guards in the operation of
the prison system is so obviously opposed to the gener-
al principles and the statutory policies hereinabove .
mentioned and discussed, that the power will not be im-
plied as incident to the general power of the manage,r
to control the prison system; that authority was not
vested to use convicts as guards to replace employed
guards.
The Iegislat ure , in its regular biennial ap-
propriation, provides for the various employees and
I&Q&I.
M. RUey Wyatt, Pag&3, V-105
operation of the Texas Prison System. It was the evi-
dent intention of the Legisinture to prohibit the use
of convict labor In the performance of work pertaining
to the prison system, when such work is to be performed
outside the prison walls, and not on the farms owned or
leased by the prison system.
The manifest intention of Article 6166a com-
pels us to answer that convict labor may not be tised
outside the prison walls and off of State property for
construction of sewerage lines in the City of Hunts-
vllle.
SUMMAFiY
Texas Prison Board is not authorized
to direct the general manager to permit the
use of inmate labor on sewage project out-
side walls or off of farms of Texas Penlten-
tiary. (Article 6166a, V. C. 3.)
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEY
GEI’iFXAL
OF TEXAS
BY
Assistant
APPROVED
NAR. 26, 1947
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