Attorney General Opinion WW-0546

EA~TORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS WILL WILSON ATI’O-GiZNERAX. January 15, ,I959 ,Honorable Dan Walton District Attorney Harris County Courthouse Houston 2, Texas Dear Mr. Walton: Opinion NO, WW-546 Re: Whether Article 802e of Vernon’s Penal .Gode authorizes prosecution of ,j~uvenilcs under a city ordinance pertaining to traffic., Your request for an opinion reads in part as fo$lows: “A question has arisen~ concernil)(l the,jurisdictjon of the Corpo- “A question has arisen~ concernil)(l the,jurisdictjon of the Corpo- ration Court of the City of Houston to prosecute a juvenile, between ration Court of the City of Houston to prosecute a juvenile, between the age of 14 and 17 for a violation of a Cify Ordinance of the City of the age of 14 and 17 for a violation of a Cify Ordinance of the City of Houston, Ths specffic ordinance :concern&d is the ordinance defining and making penal a negligent collisk~. The City Attorney contends that prosecution can be maintained by reason of Article 802e, V.A.P.C., which reads as follows: ‘Section I,, Any male minor who has passed hls~ 14th birthday but has not rtscbed bl* ~L?th~bMhd+y; and any female ,minor who has passed her 14th birthday but k&s not reached her 18th birthday, and ‘~ who drives or opsrateaan.autom6blle or any other ~mo@r vehicle on, at@ public road OP highway in thls state oti upon any street or alley within the limtts.of any city; town ‘or village, or upon any beach as defined in Chapter 430, Ackof the ,51st Lsgla.lature, 1949, while under th& iafluende ~6f intoxlcatiqj Ilquor~, 01~ who drives or oparatos any automobile or any other motor vehicle in such way a& to.:vlol*te an - traffic law of this state, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor a be punbhad by~a fine of not more than Cite Hundred,~($lO,O.OO) Dollars, As used fnthls, section, the term ‘any traffic law ,of ‘this ,s~tate’ shall laelude the following statutes, as heretofore or hereafter .amendsd: “Chapter 42, Acts of the 4lst Legislature,,,Second caLled Session, 1929, (Article 827a, Vernon’s Texas Penal Code), except Section 9a thereof; Chapter 421, Acts of the 50th Legislature, Regular Session, 1947 (Artlcle 6701d, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes); Chapter 430, Acts of the 51st Leglnlature, Regular Session, 1949 (Article 827f, Vernon’s Texas Penal Code); and Articles 795 and 801, Texas Penal Code of 1925, ::. .~~ .., . “, ~~., .: ::. : ., .’ ., Honorable’ Walton, page Z’~(WW-546)’ : : “. ,: “Set, 4. The offenses cre&tad under this Act shall be under the jurisdiction of the courts regularly empowered to try misde- meanors carrying the penalty heretn affixed, and shall not be under the jurlsdictlon of the Juvenllt Courts; but nothing contained in this Act shall b% construed to otherwise repeal or effect the statutes regulating the powers and duties of Juvenile Courts. The provisions of this Act shall be cumulative of all.other laws on this subject.” ‘“It is necessary that this office have your ,bpinion on this question as we are charged with the duty of prosecuting appeals from Corpora- ‘, tion Court. (Emphasis supplied) “It is my optnion that Article 802e would not authorize the prosecution of such a person under a City Ordtnance because Article 802e among other, things states that it shall be a violation for any such minor to commit the enumerated offBnses or “to drive or,oper- ‘ate an automobile or any other motor vehicle In such way as to ~, violate any traffic law of this state. . .” However, the statute goes, further and defines the term “any traffic law of this stata” and in such,dafinltion include9 only certain statutes of the state and does not include ordinance8 of incorporated cities. It is my OpMon that the enkmeratNn of these state statutes would exclude the application of any other state law or any city ordinances from the opakat@a ,of,tbk Act,” Section 1 of Article 802~ states “as mused in this section,: the tarm ,‘ any tkafftc Iaw,of this state’ shall include the following statbtei. s e ,* The word include is not, .ordltiarlly, a word of Limitation,.but rather One of enlargement.~ However this term ‘any traffic law of this state’ is all in- chive and in our opinion could not be enlarged upon. Furthermore the captionof thf,,act recites “An,Act. &’ .defLning the term Iany traffic law of thSs state. D 0 It ,is therefora.our opinion that the,Legislature intended to and did define such term and Article 802c’V.A.P,C. is’ilmited in its applica- tion to the ,of&nse of driving a moton veblek whUe uuder~ the influence, of intoxkcating liquor and to the&s ,otfenses. denouncsd in .’ rtlcles 827a, (except section 9a thereof), 827f; 795 and 801, of the’ penal code Vernon’s Civil Statutes. %nd.Article 6701d SUMMARY Article 802e V.A.P.C. iS limited in its application to the offense of drlving a motor vehicle while under the inftuence’.of intoxicating liquor a,nd to those<sffenses denounced in Articles 827a, except section 9a~ thereof; 827f; ~795 and 801, of the penal code and Article 6701d Vernon’+ Civil Statutes. . . ‘. 1 ‘. ~Honor,&blc Walton, page 3 (WW-546)’