No. V-0018 (1947).

• Case Date: February 10, 1947
• Court: Texas

Texas Attorney General Opinions 1947. No. V-0018 (1947). 1February 10, 1947Honorable William N. HensleyCriminal District AttorneyBexar CountySan Antonio 5, TexasOpinion No. V-18Re: Whether Penal Code Article 1565b-1 making it a mind for any person to willfully set fire to, among other things, grass on lands of which he is not is possession or control, so as to cause less or injury to another, and otherwise dealing with the setting of fires, repeals by implication Penal Code Article 1327, making one guilty of a felony who willfully fires any grass within any enclosure not his own, with intent to destroy the grass in such pasture.Your question, contained in a request for as opinion concerning the above subject matter, reads:

"Does Article 1586b-1 of the Penal Code, enacted by the 46th Legislature, page 242, and effective May 1, 1939, a misdemeanor, repeal Article 1327, enacted in 1854, a felony?"

Your request is also accompanied by an lent and comprehensive brief which has been helpful in the analysis of this question. Article 1327 reads as fellows:

"Whoever willfully fires any grass within any enclosure not his own in this State, with intent to destroy the grass in such pasture, or any part thereof, or

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whoever fires the grass outside of any inclosure with the intent to destroy the grass therein by the communication of said fire to the grass, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years."

Article 1388b-1 provides, insofar as pertinent to your question:

"Section 1. Any person who willfully sets fire to woods, forests, fences, grass or rubbish of any kind, on lands of which he is not in possession or control at the time of setting out such fire, or who willfully causes fires to be communicated to such woods, forests, fences, grass or rubbish, or who willfully and maliciously sets on fire or causes to be set on fire any timber, weeds, or marshes, so as to cause loss or injury to another, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction must be fined not less than Ten ($10.00) Dollars, nor more than Two Hundred ($200.00) Dollars.

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"Sec. 4. Every individual or corporation who willfully or negligently sets or communicates fire to timber lands, woods, brush, grass, or stubble, on lands not their own, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

The elements of the two offenses...