Mr. D. F. Smallhorst 

Executive Secretary 

Texas Water Pollution 

Control Board 

1100 West 49th Street 

Austin 5, Texas 

Opinion No. W-1431 

Re: Whether the Executive Secretary of the Texas Water Pollution Control Board is an 

"Executive Head of a State 

Agency" as used in the GeneDear Mr. Smallhorst: ral Appropriations Act. 

We are in receipt of your request for an opinion 

on the above question in connection with the newly created 

State Water Pollution Control Board. 

Article 762~ of Vernon's Civil Statutes, which establishes this Board, states in part as follows: 

"Sec. 3. (a) There is hereby created 

and established a State Water Pollution 

Control Board which shall be composed of 

six (6) members. The Board is directed to 

carry out the functions and duties conferred on it by this Act. . . . 

. . . 

"(c) The SIX (6) members of the Board 

shall receive no fixed salary for duties performed as members of the Board, but each 

member, excepting those representing specified State agencies, shall be allowed, for 

each and every day in attending meetin 

the Board, the sum of Twenty Dollars ( 8 

s of 

20) 

including time spent in travel to,and from 

such meetings, and all members shall be 
Mr. D. F. Smallhorst, page 2 (ww-1431) 

allowed traveling and other necessary expenses while in the performance of official 

duty, to be evidenced by vouchers approved by 

the Chairman of the Board, provided no member 

shall receive more than Two Thousand Dollars 

($2,000) annually, including expenses. The 

members of the Board appointed by the Governor, 

and confirmed by the Senate shall qualify by 

taking the Constitutional oath of office before 

an officer authorized to administer an oath 

within this State, and, upon presentation of 

such oath, together with the certificate of 

appointment, the Secretary of State shall issue commissions to them, which shall be evidence of their authority to act as such. In 

addition to the three (3) members appointed by 

the Governor as provided herein, the Board 

shall also consist of the following State officers, each of whom shall be a member of said 

Board during the time that he is serving in 

such other official capacity, to wit: the 

Chairman of the State Board of Water Engineers, 

the State~Commissioner of Health, and the Executive Secretary of the State Game and Fish Commission, each of whom shall perform the duties 

required of a member of the Board by this Act 

in addition to those duties required of him in 

said other official capacities. 

I! 

. . . 

"(e) Actual and necessary travel and other 

expenses incurred by the three (3) ex-officio 

members in the discharge of their'official duties 

as members of the Board shall be paid out of any 

funds which are or may become available for the 

purposes of this Act. Employees of the Board 

shall receive their necessary traveling expenses 

while traveling on the business of the Board. 

II 

. . . 

"(g) The Director of the Water Pollution 

Control Division of the Texas State Department 

of Health shall serve as Executive Secretary of 

the Board. He shall keep full and accurateminutes of all transactions and proceedings of 

said Board and perform such duties as may be reguired by the Board, and he shall be the custodian 

of all files and records of the Board. The 
Mr. D. F. Smallhorst, page 3 (WW-1431) 

executive secretar y shall be the administrator of water pollution control activities for the Board." [Emphasis added). 

Section 35a of Article V of Senate Bil! No. 1, Acts 57th 

fE$islature, 1st Called Session 1961, provides in part as fol1:s: 

"Executive heads of State agencies, including the Executive Director of the Legislative Council, shall be reimbursed for their 

actual meals, lodging and incidental expenses 

when traveling on official business either in 

or out of the State." (Emphasis added). 

An inspection of Article 7621d leads us to the conclusion that t'ne position of Executive Secretary of the k!ater 

Pollution Control Board does not involve merely clerical 

duties or amount to a subordinate position, but is a position 

wherein the Executive Secretary is primarily responsible for 

the administration of water pollution control activities over 

the entire State. He is therefore an "Executive head of a 

State agency," and as such, entitled to reimbursement for his 

actual expenses while traveling in the course of his official 

business for the Water Pollution Control Board either in or 

out of the State. 

SUMMARY 

The Executive Secretary of the Texas Water 

Pollution Control Board is the executive 

head of a state agency, and as such, is entitled to reimbursement for his actual expenses while traveling on official business 

either in or out of the State. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

FD\\J : ms 

Assistant 
- . 

I,Ti-. DF. Smallhorst, page 4 (WW-1431) 

0PI:IION COMNITTEE 

V1. V. Geppert, Chairman 

L. 1. Lollar 

Arthur Sandlin 

Ernest Fortenberry 

REVI.Z?JED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

By: Leo:lard Passmore