~THEATTORNEY GENERAL OF-TEXAS
GFiRAIDC. MANN Aun-rriw ~LTEXAR

Honorable Geo. H. Sheppard Comptroller of PublicAccounts Austin, Texas Dear Mr. Sheppard: OpinionNo. O-5333 Re: Whether or not theBoard ‘ofControlmay delegate to another the authorltg to approve a voucher claim for the issuanceof a warrant. Your request for an opinion from this department is as follows:

“Thisdepartment is In receipt of FurchaseVoucher to The Cooper Company, Inc., 301 South 4th Street,Waco, ,Texas,against an appropriationmade to the Gatesville School For Boys, Gatesville,Texas. “Thevoucher carries the approval of the InstitutionHead and appears to, have been regularly requisitioned through the Board of Control. It is approvedby Mr. G.B. Carlisle for the Board of Control. “Thisdepartment respectfullyrequests your opinionas to whether it is authorized to issuewarrant in payment of this voucher claim that carries the approval of the Board of Control by G. B. Carlisle. It is the information of this department that G.B. Carlisle is Chief, ClaimsDivision, of the State Board of Control." The statute (Title 20) defining the powers and duties of the Board of Control specificallyprovides for certain divisions; thus, there is a Division of Public' Printing (Art. 607), Division of Purchasing, (Art. 631),Division of Public Buildings and Grounds (Art. 665),Division ofDesign and Appropriz$r%d Division Af ChildWelfare (Art.

(Art 688) Division of Eleemosyn;;;aj"stitutions (Art.

. ,Article604 declares that "theBoard may from time to time create such other dlvlsions of itswork as may be necessary,Honorable Gee, H. Sheppard - page 2 

### O-5333

and appoint chiefs of suchdivisions,

. . . . .'

We are advised by the Chairman of the Board that there has been no formal creationby the Board of a Claims D'ivision,

but that Mr. Carlisle is an employee of the department filling the position of ClaimsDivision Chief listed as'Item 

### 16 of~'galaries --~MainOffice in the current General Appropriation for that department.

There is no general statute creating the office of Chiefof the ClaimsDivision nor indeed is there one creating such a division.

Texas Jurisprudence,Vol. 

### 34,p. 459, Sec. 79, in compendium styledeclares:

"It is a general rule'thatpublic duties must be performed and governmental powers exercisedby the officer or party designated by law -- that they can not be delegated to others. This IS particularly true of duties which are judicial in their nature, orwhich call for the exercise of reasonabledlscretion, and which are regarded as a part of the public trust assumed." The rule there announced is In keeping with the general rule throughout the country'.

In 

### 46 C.J., (p. 1062, Sec. 

### 381)the rule is epitomized as follows:

"Where,however, provision is made by statute for the postlon of deputy, such deputy is regarded as a public officer.' Whether such alter-ego officerbe denominateddeputy or chief, the rule would of course be the same. As said in Pfeffer v. Mahnke, 

### 260S,W. 

### 1033:

"The chief clerks are public officers in the same sense and created by the same legal authority as other statutory officers of state." They, of course, exercise their officeunder precisely the same authority as the head officer,department or board, as the case may be -- that is, the statu,te itself. Where, therefore, the approve1 of the Board of Control is required, that approval must be the act of the Board es such,Honorable Gee, H. Sheppard - Page 3 

### o-5333

or of a statutorydeputy, assistant, or other alternate clothed with such power,

Under the statutes there isno precise method prescribed for evidencing the Board's approval of an Invoice. There is nothing in your letter,nor otherwise known to us, to showwhether or not the Board has approved the invoice. You should thereforerequire satisfactoryevidence that it has done so. Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By s/Ocie Speer Ocie Speer Assistant OS-&R-WC APPROVH) JUN 

### 7, 1943 s/Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL Approved Opinion Committeeby s/BR% Chairman