In Ex parte Carson, 143 Tex. Crim. 498, 159 S.W.2d 126 (Tex. Crim. App. 1942), Carson challenged the constitutionality of a statute authorizing the assessment of a $1 fee to fund law libraries. The fee was assessed in civil and criminal cases, but only in counties having more than a certain number of district and county courts. Id. at 127. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that "the tax imposed by the bill is not and cannot be logically considered a proper item of cost in litigation, particularly in criminal cases." Id. at 127. The Court held that: (1) the $1 cost was "neither necessary nor incidental to the trial of a criminal case and thus was not a legitimate item to be so taxed" against a criminal defendant; (2) the statute was a local or special law, which the state legislature was not authorized to enact; (3) collection of this cost only in certain counties was discriminatory. Id. at 127-30.