Thought some of you might enjoy this old Texas law banning pool halls, its sort of long I did enjoy the end declaring a pool hall emergency.
(I had to trim out sections 10 and 11 since my post was too long but they were mostly irrelevant)
POOL HALLS—PROVIDES THAT SAME MAY BE PROHIBITED
IN COUNTIES OR SUBDIVISIONS OF COUNTIES BY
VOTE OF THE QUALIFIED VOTERS.
S. B. No. 220.] Chapter 74.
An Act to authorize the qualified voters of any county or political subdivision thereof in this State to determine, by an election to be held for that purpose, whether or not pool rooms or pool halls shall be prohibited in such county or subdivision thereof; to provide the manner of holding elections for such purposes and declaring the result thereof; defining the term pool room or pool hall, and providing a penalty for the violation of the provisions of this Act, and providing that after such county or subdivision thereof has prohibited by vote the running of pool rooms or pool halls the county attorney of such county, or the district attorney of the district in which such county is located may by injunction prohibit the running of such pool rooms or pool halls, and declaring an emergency.
Be it enacted ~by the Legislature of fke. State of Texas:
Section 1. The commissioners court of each county in this State may, when thev deem it expedient, and shall when petitioned by ten per cent of the qualified voters of a county or a number of the qualified voters, equal lo twenty per cent of the qualified voters of any political subdivision hereinafter mentioned, order an election to
be held by the' qualified voters of said county or of said political subdivision, to determine whether or not pool rooms, as herein defined, shall be prohibited in such county or such subdivision of the county, as the case may be; and in case an election is asked or order for a subdivision of said county composed of two or more complete commissioners or justices precincts or school districts, such petition shall describe such subdivisions by number only, and it shall never be necessary in a petition to more than refer to such precincts and districts by number, which said petition shall be recorded in the minutes of the commissioners court, and the notice of such election shall refer to the same by number only; provided, however, that no city or town shall be divided in holding a local option election, nor shall a school district be divided, but that the same, as an entirety, shall be included in such subdivision when the election is held.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said commissioners court, when an election is ordered, to direct that the same be held at the regular voting places within the proposed limits where the election is held, not less than fifteen nor more than thirty days from the date of said order, where it is practicable so to do, and the order made shall express the object of such election and shall be prima facie evidence that everything has been done to give it validity and to clothe the court with jurisdiction to make it; provided, that if there is no regular voting place within the proposed limits the commissioners court shall designate some suitable place within said subdivision where the election shall be held, and said place shall be named in the notices of election, and said court will appoint such officers to hold such election as are now required to hold the same under the general election laws.
Sec. 3. The clerk of said court shall post, or cause to be posted, at least five copies of said order at different places within the proposed limits for at least ten days prior to the day of election, which election shall be held and the returns thereof made in conformity with the provisions of the General Laws of the State and by the officers of election appointed and qualified under such laws.
Sec. 4. At such election the vote shall by official ballot, which shall have printed or written at the top thereof in rilain letters "Official Ballot," and shall also have written or printed thereon the words "For the prohibition of Pool Halls," and the words "Against the prohibition of Pool Halls," and the clerk of the county court shall furnish the presiding officer of each voting box within the proposed limits not less than twice the number of ballots as there may be qualified voters at said voting box. The presiding officer of each voting box shall write his name on the back of each ballot before delivering the same to the voter, and the person offering to vote at such election shall at the time he offers to vote be furnished by such presiding officer with one such ballot, and no voter shall be permitted to depart from the room or place where the election is being held with such ballot, and shall not be assisted in voting by any person except by such presiding officer or bv some officer assisting in holding such election under the direction of the presiding officer when requested by such voter so to do. Those who favor the prohibition of pool halls within the proposed limits shall erase the words "Against the prohibition of pool halls" by making a pencil or pen mark through the same, and those who oppose it shall erase the words For the prohibition of pool halls" in a similar way; no ballot shall be received or counted by the officers of such election that is not an official ballot and that has not the name of the presiding officer of such election written thereon in the handwriting of such presiding officer, unless it shall appear that his signature or the words "Official Ballot" were omitted from said ballot by mistake, accident, inadvertence or some cause not involving an intention to commit fraud in regard to said election.
Sec. 5. The officers holding said election shall in all respects not herein specified conform to thy general election laws in force regulating elections, and after the polls are closed shall proceed to count the votes, and within ten days thereafter make due report of said election to the commissioners court, which court shall hold a special session on the 11th day after the election or so soon thereafter as practicable, for the purpose of opening and counting the votes, and if a majority of the votes are for the prohibition said court shall immediately make an order declaring the result and prohibiting the operation and maintenance of pool halls as defined in this Act, within the prescribed limits until such time as the qualified voters therein may at a legal election held for that purpose, by a majority vote, decide otherwise, and the order thus made shall be held as prima facie evidence that all of the provisions of the law have been complied with in petitioning for the election, ordering the election, giving notices thereof, holding the election, in counting and returning the votes and in declaring the results thereof, and the same shall be absolutely conclusive evidence that said election is valid and legal after the expiration of the time limited herein for a contest.
Sec. 6. The order of the court declaring the result of such election and prohibiting the operation and maintenance of pool halls shall be published for two successive weeks in some newspaper published in the county where such election was held, which paper shall be selected by the county judge for that purpose. If there be no newspaper published in the county the judge shall cause three copies of said order to be posted at three different public places within the prescribed limits for the aforesaid length of time, and the fact of the publication shall be entered by the county judge on the minutes of the commissioners court, but a failure so to do on his part shall in no sense prevent the full operation of said law within the prescribed limits.
Sec. 7. If a majority voting at such elections vote against the prohibition the court shall make an order declaring the results and have the same entered of record in its minutes.
Sec. 8. No election under the provisions of this Act shall be held within the same prescribed limits in less than two years after an election under this title has been held. Such time shall date from the expiration of the time provided for publication; provided that if no notice is required to be published then such time shall date from the time such result is declared; but at the expiration of the said two years the commissioners court when they deem it expedient and shall when petitioned in the manner as provided for hereinbefore, order another election to be held by the qualified voters of said county or any subdivision such as are provided for herein, which said election shall be ordered, held, notice thereof given, votes counted and returned and results declared and published in all respects as provided for the first election and the order granting such election, and declaring the results, shall, if the prohibition carried, have the same force and effect and the same collusiveness as are given to them in the case of a first election by the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 9. When such election results against the prohibition the court shall enter an order setting aside the previous order enforcing the prohibition, and shall officially announce and publish the same as provided where the election resulted in favor of the prohibition.
Sec. 12. The term "pool hall" as used herein shall mean and include- the following: Any room, hall or building in which are exhibited anv pool or billiard table or tables for the purpose of permitting games played thereon for hire, revenue, prize, fees, or gain of any kind.
Sec. 13. When any such election has been held and has resulted in favor of the prohibition of the operation and maintenance of pool halls within the territory for which the election is held, any person who shall thereafter, within the prescribed bounds of said territory, operate or maintain a pool hall such as is defined herein shall be subject to prosecution, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five and not to exceed one hundred dollars, or by confinement in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year, and each day such pool hall or pool room is run shall be a separate offense.
Sec. 14. After any such county or such subdivision thereof has by vote as prescribed in this Act prohibited the running of pool rooms or pool halls in euch county or subdivision thereof, the county attorney of such county or subdivision or the district attorney of the district in which such county is situated, either in term time or vacation, may apply to the district judge of such district for an injunction to prohibit the running of any pool room or pool hall in such territory in which the running of same has been prohibited and if upon hearing the court should determine that pool rooms or pool halls are running in violation of the provisions of this Act he shall issue an injunction permanently prohibiting the running thereof, while the law is in effect prohibiting same.
Sec. 15. In any prosecution that may arise under this Act it shall not be necessary for the State to introduce in evidence, any records, order of court, or any copy thereof, in regard to the adoption of said law, but all courts of the county and all appellate courts reviewing any such prosecution shall take judicial knowledge of the existence and validity of said law, and shall give the same in charge to the juries the same as if a part of the penal code of this State.
Sec. 16. The fact that there are now many counties in Texas where the people are greatly harassed and damaged by such pool rooms or pool halls creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity demanding1 that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house be suspended, and that this Act be placed upon its third reading and final passage, and it is so enacted.
(I had to trim out sections 10 and 11 since my post was too long but they were mostly irrelevant)
POOL HALLS—PROVIDES THAT SAME MAY BE PROHIBITED
IN COUNTIES OR SUBDIVISIONS OF COUNTIES BY
VOTE OF THE QUALIFIED VOTERS.
S. B. No. 220.] Chapter 74.
An Act to authorize the qualified voters of any county or political subdivision thereof in this State to determine, by an election to be held for that purpose, whether or not pool rooms or pool halls shall be prohibited in such county or subdivision thereof; to provide the manner of holding elections for such purposes and declaring the result thereof; defining the term pool room or pool hall, and providing a penalty for the violation of the provisions of this Act, and providing that after such county or subdivision thereof has prohibited by vote the running of pool rooms or pool halls the county attorney of such county, or the district attorney of the district in which such county is located may by injunction prohibit the running of such pool rooms or pool halls, and declaring an emergency.
Be it enacted ~by the Legislature of fke. State of Texas:
Section 1. The commissioners court of each county in this State may, when thev deem it expedient, and shall when petitioned by ten per cent of the qualified voters of a county or a number of the qualified voters, equal lo twenty per cent of the qualified voters of any political subdivision hereinafter mentioned, order an election to
be held by the' qualified voters of said county or of said political subdivision, to determine whether or not pool rooms, as herein defined, shall be prohibited in such county or such subdivision of the county, as the case may be; and in case an election is asked or order for a subdivision of said county composed of two or more complete commissioners or justices precincts or school districts, such petition shall describe such subdivisions by number only, and it shall never be necessary in a petition to more than refer to such precincts and districts by number, which said petition shall be recorded in the minutes of the commissioners court, and the notice of such election shall refer to the same by number only; provided, however, that no city or town shall be divided in holding a local option election, nor shall a school district be divided, but that the same, as an entirety, shall be included in such subdivision when the election is held.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said commissioners court, when an election is ordered, to direct that the same be held at the regular voting places within the proposed limits where the election is held, not less than fifteen nor more than thirty days from the date of said order, where it is practicable so to do, and the order made shall express the object of such election and shall be prima facie evidence that everything has been done to give it validity and to clothe the court with jurisdiction to make it; provided, that if there is no regular voting place within the proposed limits the commissioners court shall designate some suitable place within said subdivision where the election shall be held, and said place shall be named in the notices of election, and said court will appoint such officers to hold such election as are now required to hold the same under the general election laws.
Sec. 3. The clerk of said court shall post, or cause to be posted, at least five copies of said order at different places within the proposed limits for at least ten days prior to the day of election, which election shall be held and the returns thereof made in conformity with the provisions of the General Laws of the State and by the officers of election appointed and qualified under such laws.
Sec. 4. At such election the vote shall by official ballot, which shall have printed or written at the top thereof in rilain letters "Official Ballot," and shall also have written or printed thereon the words "For the prohibition of Pool Halls," and the words "Against the prohibition of Pool Halls," and the clerk of the county court shall furnish the presiding officer of each voting box within the proposed limits not less than twice the number of ballots as there may be qualified voters at said voting box. The presiding officer of each voting box shall write his name on the back of each ballot before delivering the same to the voter, and the person offering to vote at such election shall at the time he offers to vote be furnished by such presiding officer with one such ballot, and no voter shall be permitted to depart from the room or place where the election is being held with such ballot, and shall not be assisted in voting by any person except by such presiding officer or bv some officer assisting in holding such election under the direction of the presiding officer when requested by such voter so to do. Those who favor the prohibition of pool halls within the proposed limits shall erase the words "Against the prohibition of pool halls" by making a pencil or pen mark through the same, and those who oppose it shall erase the words For the prohibition of pool halls" in a similar way; no ballot shall be received or counted by the officers of such election that is not an official ballot and that has not the name of the presiding officer of such election written thereon in the handwriting of such presiding officer, unless it shall appear that his signature or the words "Official Ballot" were omitted from said ballot by mistake, accident, inadvertence or some cause not involving an intention to commit fraud in regard to said election.
Sec. 5. The officers holding said election shall in all respects not herein specified conform to thy general election laws in force regulating elections, and after the polls are closed shall proceed to count the votes, and within ten days thereafter make due report of said election to the commissioners court, which court shall hold a special session on the 11th day after the election or so soon thereafter as practicable, for the purpose of opening and counting the votes, and if a majority of the votes are for the prohibition said court shall immediately make an order declaring the result and prohibiting the operation and maintenance of pool halls as defined in this Act, within the prescribed limits until such time as the qualified voters therein may at a legal election held for that purpose, by a majority vote, decide otherwise, and the order thus made shall be held as prima facie evidence that all of the provisions of the law have been complied with in petitioning for the election, ordering the election, giving notices thereof, holding the election, in counting and returning the votes and in declaring the results thereof, and the same shall be absolutely conclusive evidence that said election is valid and legal after the expiration of the time limited herein for a contest.
Sec. 6. The order of the court declaring the result of such election and prohibiting the operation and maintenance of pool halls shall be published for two successive weeks in some newspaper published in the county where such election was held, which paper shall be selected by the county judge for that purpose. If there be no newspaper published in the county the judge shall cause three copies of said order to be posted at three different public places within the prescribed limits for the aforesaid length of time, and the fact of the publication shall be entered by the county judge on the minutes of the commissioners court, but a failure so to do on his part shall in no sense prevent the full operation of said law within the prescribed limits.
Sec. 7. If a majority voting at such elections vote against the prohibition the court shall make an order declaring the results and have the same entered of record in its minutes.
Sec. 8. No election under the provisions of this Act shall be held within the same prescribed limits in less than two years after an election under this title has been held. Such time shall date from the expiration of the time provided for publication; provided that if no notice is required to be published then such time shall date from the time such result is declared; but at the expiration of the said two years the commissioners court when they deem it expedient and shall when petitioned in the manner as provided for hereinbefore, order another election to be held by the qualified voters of said county or any subdivision such as are provided for herein, which said election shall be ordered, held, notice thereof given, votes counted and returned and results declared and published in all respects as provided for the first election and the order granting such election, and declaring the results, shall, if the prohibition carried, have the same force and effect and the same collusiveness as are given to them in the case of a first election by the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 9. When such election results against the prohibition the court shall enter an order setting aside the previous order enforcing the prohibition, and shall officially announce and publish the same as provided where the election resulted in favor of the prohibition.
Sec. 12. The term "pool hall" as used herein shall mean and include- the following: Any room, hall or building in which are exhibited anv pool or billiard table or tables for the purpose of permitting games played thereon for hire, revenue, prize, fees, or gain of any kind.
Sec. 13. When any such election has been held and has resulted in favor of the prohibition of the operation and maintenance of pool halls within the territory for which the election is held, any person who shall thereafter, within the prescribed bounds of said territory, operate or maintain a pool hall such as is defined herein shall be subject to prosecution, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five and not to exceed one hundred dollars, or by confinement in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year, and each day such pool hall or pool room is run shall be a separate offense.
Sec. 14. After any such county or such subdivision thereof has by vote as prescribed in this Act prohibited the running of pool rooms or pool halls in euch county or subdivision thereof, the county attorney of such county or subdivision or the district attorney of the district in which such county is situated, either in term time or vacation, may apply to the district judge of such district for an injunction to prohibit the running of any pool room or pool hall in such territory in which the running of same has been prohibited and if upon hearing the court should determine that pool rooms or pool halls are running in violation of the provisions of this Act he shall issue an injunction permanently prohibiting the running thereof, while the law is in effect prohibiting same.
Sec. 15. In any prosecution that may arise under this Act it shall not be necessary for the State to introduce in evidence, any records, order of court, or any copy thereof, in regard to the adoption of said law, but all courts of the county and all appellate courts reviewing any such prosecution shall take judicial knowledge of the existence and validity of said law, and shall give the same in charge to the juries the same as if a part of the penal code of this State.
Sec. 16. The fact that there are now many counties in Texas where the people are greatly harassed and damaged by such pool rooms or pool halls creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity demanding1 that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house be suspended, and that this Act be placed upon its third reading and final passage, and it is so enacted.
