### TEZE 

# NEYGENERAL

TEXAS

,December19, 1952

Hon.R. C. hMillg, Chairman State.Board of Control Austin, Texas OpinionNo. V-1557

Re: Necessity for approval by the Board of Control
on vouchers coveringreimbursement of the grocery purchases of certainpersonnel of the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Dear Sir: Special Schools.

Your request for our opinionreads in main as follows:
+%Ve

desire the opinion of your office
as to the duty and responsibility of the Board of.Controlto approve for payment vouchers cwering reimbursement to certain offfciels of,Institutionsunder the jurisdiction ,ofthe Roard for Texas State Hospitals and Specie1 Schoolsfor groceries Purchased for personal use.
*ORNovember 12, 1952, the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Speoial Schools submitted to the Board of Control such a voucher in the alMlnt of $50.00payable to John L. Dietrich, BusinessManager of the Moody~Stete Sohool for CerebralPalsied Children. The voucher coveredreimbursement out ofAppropriationNo.R-719 to Mr. Dietrich for grocerieshe purahased for his
own personal use during October, 1952. The voucher was forwarded without Board of Control approval to the Comptroller ofPublic Accounts for issuance of a State warrant. OnNovember 14, 1952, the voucherwas returned to the Board of Control by the C~omptroller with this notation, 'Approvalby the Board of Control.*Hon.R, C, Lanning, page 2 (V-1557)

"The Board of Control feels that a transactionof this kind is not in any sense a purchase for a State Institution
or Agency and thus our approval is not required on any resulting claim before a warrant can be issued by the Comptroller.

"The authority and procedurefor such a transaction is set up by rules adopted ~-by the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools, a copy ofwhich we are enclosing,and we are unable to see how the Board of Control is involved.

"The State Comptroller feels that since
we have approved all similar claims in the past,we should continue to do so before a State warrant is issued. We believe the practice is only a carry over from the time when the Board of Control operated the State Institutions and the auditing and spproval of such claims was a pert of the Hospital and School administrative function rather than a part of thepurchase function.f' Ordinarily,the purchase of all kinds of supplies for the various state agencies and institutions is the function of the Boerd of Control under the provisions of Article 634. This article has been construed by a number of~Attorney General's Opinions, includingV-677 (1948),0-3885 (1941)*o-2612 (19401,and O-2595-A (1940).

The Board for Texas State Hospitalsand Special Schools was created in 1949 by the 51st legislature under the provisions of Article 3174b, V.C.S.*and all powers and dutiesheretoforevested in and exercised by the State Board of Control over our state eleemosynary institutionswas transferred to the newly created Board. Att'y Gen. Op.V-905 (194910 However, Section 2 of this act reads:

"Provided,however, that the Board of Control shall continue to handle purchases for such Institutionsin the same manner as they do for other State agencies."

There is no authorityprovided in the above act for the purchase of groceriesby individualHon.R. C. Lanning, page 

### 3 (v-1557)

employees of said institutionsand reimbursements to them by the State. For that authority it is necessary to turn to the provisions of the current biennial appropriationbill (R.B. 

### 426,Acts 52nd Leg.;R.S. 

### 1951,ch. 

### 499,p. 1228)which reads in part, at page 1292:

"Sec. 

### 5. Emoluments of Employees: (a) Under written direction of the Board and/or Council, subject to the approval of then Iagislative Budget Board, institutional employeesmay receive suoh emoluments as the Board and/or Councilmay by rule and regulationprescribe. Prior to granting or allowing such emoluments to any medical or supervisorypersonnel,which will require
new or additional remodeling or construction, approvalmust be obtained in writing from the Legislative Budget Board. A cony of such approval,when obtained, shall be filed with the Comptroller of Public Accounts and no expenditure of any funds herein appropriated
or any local or other available funds shall bemade without prior approval.
,"(b) To prevent inequalities in salaries to those employeesnot receiving any or all of such emoluments, it is provided that the Superintendent,uponwritten approval of the Board end/or Council shallpay such employees
an amount not to exceedFifty Dollars 

### ($50) per month each aa an outsidemaintenanoe allowance. It is speoificallyrequired, however, that no employee receiving an additional allowance as provided hereinmay receive any emoluments at any institution unless he reimburses said institution for such emoluments at rates prescribed by rules and regulations of the BoarU and/or Counaii, subject to the approval of the Legislative Budget Board. Any such reimbursements are hereby appropriated only to the food appropriationfor each institution. It is further specificallyrequired that the Board and/or Council shall specify those employeeswho shall receive full emoluments and those who shallreceive the additionalmonetary allowance.Hon.R. C. Lanning, page 

### 4 (V-1557)

*(c) Emolumentsmay be granted to the Medioal Director and AssistantMedical Director of the Board but for no other employee of the Board'sCentral Office."

It is our opinion that the transactions in question are notthose regulated by Article 

### 634, V.C.S. They are not purchases by the State, but
are individualpurchases, the reimbursements for which are specificallyauthorized as emoluments under House Bill 

### 426.There is no provisionmade for the Board of Control to approve or act in any way upon such allowances. Approval by the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools of vouchers coveringreimbursement for grocerypurchases by designatedpersonnel is all that is necessary and required before the application is made to the Comptroller for issuanceof a statewarrant. We do notice, however, that the Hospital Board rules you enclosed are merely some committeerecommendations and do not bear any certificateof adoption by the Hospital Board; butwe have been advised that proper rules have been adopted.

It is not necessary for the Board of Control to approve vouchers coveringreimbursementof the grocerypurchases by certain personnel of the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools. These purchases are emoluments under the provisions of the current biennial appropriationbill and approval by ths Hospital Board is sufficient.

ABPROVED: Yours very truly,

PRICE DAEIEL William S. Lott Attorney Generel State Affairs Division
Mary K. Wall Reviewing Assistant

Charles D. Mathews First Assistant By ti'$L V. F. Ta or Assistant

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