’ OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

=Ro”ER SELLERS . . . 

A,~~~~~I GENERAL , 

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#onorable John II. Winters, Executive alreator 

Stste'Depar~ment of Pub110 Welfare 

Austin 3, Texus . A 

Yo& request, aaIr1 

25Q, Acts of the 48th tcglsl 

fOWS: 

rue Senate Bill No. . 

Se6slons is a6 foldestroy ~cerrecords for 

its possession and 

nd furt.her use, anb 

of records no longer 

e ao~~od for d.isposlng of 

ember 1, 1944., the .Department of 

had an active case load of lF!f3,138 

this number, 170,PW were old Age 

Assistance: 4,011 were reclpjents of Aid to She 

Seedy Blind, and 10,677 were recipients of Aid to 

Dependent Children. 

*In o’ccordance with the state plan approved 

by the Social Security noara, the department Is 

required to ralnventlpto each rcclpient on the 

rolls at -Yeast once annualfy rind. more frequently 

as the clrcumstnnoee of the recipient chnn8es justlfylng It. After each reinvestigation, A form is 

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I,aorible Jobn Il.'Winters - page 2 

made %y tbe worker In triplicate Indicating the 

sation taken as a result of the relnvestlgatlon. 

&me aopy of this form is sent to the State Offiae of the Department of Public-selfare. Any 

ahangee In the amount of grant are reoorded in 

the official records of the Division of Audltg 

and Aacountsb ‘The form le.of no fur~ther use to 

the department? however, thle form is kept ln 

the DivleSon of Audits and Aacounts for a period 

of six months, as they are audited by the Federal 

Auditors of the Social Security noara on a six 

month basis. After slx months have elapsed, 

thay are stored in the warehouse. The State 

Auditors are likewise making an audit of the 

department, and when the audit lo completed, 

the forms ai'll be of no fbrtber benefit to the 

department. One copy of this form %s sent to -1: 

the recipient at the time the change Is made, 

and one copy is filed in the reolplent's case 

foYder In the county where be lives and is. 

kept as a permanent reoord. Thera~ls an fiaanmulation of nlmost a half a mllllon'of these 

forms. In addition to the ,forms mentioned 

above, we ase a fotm for the prpose of changing the address of the reoipient. The change 

ot address Is reaoraea In the Division of Audits 

and dacounts 1mmediatel.y upon receipt of this 

form in the State Oiflae, one oopy of which has 

been retai.ned In the recipient's case folder. 

As soon as the, address is chanced, the form is 

af no further value to tbe department. Thousands 

of these forms are received and prooessed In the 

State Office monthly. 

'The department has ln,terpreted this Senate 

Bill 250 t.o mean that tho department is authorized to destroy certain Texas Relief Commlselon 

Records, certain duplicate Old Age Assistance 

Records accumulated during 1930 through 1938 and. 

to also dlnpose of all reCOrda in its possession 

snd cuatoay, which have no value and furt.her use 

t0 the department aftor certain requirements contained in the aat have been complied with. 

-1s the Department. of Pub110 Uelf%re authori8ed by Senate Dill No. 2R0, Aots of the 48th 

Legislature, to dispose of the recordu described 

*bore, ma may the department dispose of future 

sWumulatlons of these records as they become obsolete?m 

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,3n~~able John A. Winters - page 3 1 . . 

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Your inquiry should be answered 2n the nspathe. :The 

,&ority is not an ‘broad 08 JOUF Indicated .interpretation of 

it 6ppeare to be.. In other words, the wneral purpose of the 

A3t 16 to authorize the destruation -- not of all rceorda in 

the departmental CU6tOdy which have no value and are of no 

mrthcr U6e t0 the department -- but rather, the power of de- 

,tnlotion extends no ,further th6n to certain records of the 

fcx@e Relief Colmni66iOn l foF the Year6 1932 t0 September 1, 

1~39, * Q 6 nnd all.duplicate Old Ace Ansi6t4nOe reoords acc6601ating for the Year 1933 r.hronp% October, lCQS.* In the 

prnt of authority tEer0 ia an eXpFo6R ljmltat.ion of that power.' 

rho Impage, l * * * and to make a list of all records in ita 

co#FnS6~on and custody which h4Ve no value and further u6e, and 

to 6ubmit such lint t.horeaf of Fecordu no lonter needed and 

Yorthless', are not words of enlargement but the lanfl~age embraces only t.he ‘certain records" as to which the pewor to destroy 16 given, as nhote shown. 

To en'lsrge tho vower of the Board 0~ neceeeiteto rei 

ss it appear-e your interpretntion is , would render the Act void, 

rren though 6UCh extension ~6 clearly exrreased 5n the body of 

the bill, Bince to do so would put the Act la violatlnn of Seotlon 55 of Article III of the Constitution, uhioh declares: : 

6??0 btZlr (except general appropriation bills 

wbicb map *brace the varjous subjects and accounts, 

for and on account.oC rhich moneys are appropriated) 

6hall COntdn more than one 6UbjeCt, which 6ha11 he 

erpreesed in Its .tltle. i?Ut ff cny 6UbjeOt 6ha11 be 

c=braeed' In on act ahloh shall not be expressed in 

the title, such act shall be void Only a6 to 6o 6XICh 

theroof as shall not be so expFe66ed.' 

?h6 title to Senate hi11 No. 250 ia: 

sA3 ACT direatin6 the &ate'DCl‘artaent of l%bljC 

Welfare to prepam a list of Certain FeCOFd6 of the 

fax46 Reliaf Comml66~on for the Years 1932 to Sentember 1, 1939, nnd all duylicato @ld bee Assistance 

record6 accmlated for the yeare 1930 through Ootober, 

1939, to be submItted to the Texas LlbrarY and Ilistorical Coml6Rion foF exazvjnation: diroctln6 such Co:naisslon to 6cquire such Fccorda ac are wanted bY them 

qithln fire daya al'ter dcliterg of 6ueh Ii 6t; directjnr Stato norartmont of Public Welfare to transfer 

6ald uSole6s rcoordn not Wanted by t,he Texas ribrary 

6nd I:l6torlcal Cor~jsoinn t0 the ?tntC Board of Control for sale and destruction; and dcolering an emorpencp.’ 

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. .morable John H;,,?interu - pngb 4 

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‘. l%he bill itself, therefore, is limited as cat,ter & 

;,, (whatever the 1aoguuage of the bi13) to the one mibjoof men- 

(ianed in the title. , 

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tinting tbot this is II ak’ficisnt anewer to your in- 

(OlW~ we m-0 

Vary truly yours 

d66iSt6tlt 

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