Honorable Lon E. Alsup, Chairman 

House Conferenae &unittee for H. B. No. 284 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3541 

Rer Payment of all administrative 

costs of the State Department 

of Education out of the kvailable School Fund. 

We received your letter dated May 15, 1941, which is self explonatory and reeds, in part, as follows: 

" . . . 

"Please advise if the administrative cost of all divisions 

of the State Department of Education may be paid from the 

Available School Fund. Please advise further if il. your 

opinion we should be prohibited from paying the edministrative 

cost out of the entire fund. Is it possible to pay such edministrativs cost out of suoh funds which go to the Availeble 

School Fund which are not speoifically authorized by the 

Constitution of this State? 

11 11 . . . 

Section 3 of hrtiole VII of the Constitution of Texas reads, in 

Part, BS follows: 

"One-fourth of the revenue dorived from the St&ix occupation 

taxes and poll tax of one dollar on every inhabitant of the 

State, between the ages of t*ienty-one and sixty years, shall 

be set apart annually for the benefit of the public free 

sohools; and in addition thereto, there shall be levied and 

collected an annual ad valorem State tax of such an amount 

not to exceed thirty-five cents on the one hundred ($100.00) 

dollars valuation, BS with the available school fund arising 

from all other sources, will be sufficient to maintain and 

support'the public schools of this state for a period of not 

less than six months in each year, and it,.shall be the duQ 

of the State Board of Eduaation to set aside a sufficient a- -- 

mount out of the said tax to provide free text books for the .---, 

use of children attending the public free schoolsof this 

State1 provided,xowever, that-&oxd the limit of taxation 
Honorable Lon E. Alsup, Chairman, page 2 o-3541 

herein named be insufficient the defioit may be met by 

appropriation from the general funds of the State. ., 0"1 

@mphaais ours). 

Section 6 of Article VII of the Constitution of Texas reads as 

follows: 

"The principal of all bonds and other funds, and the 

principal arising from the sale of the lands hereinbefore set apart to said school fund, shall be the permanent school fund, and all the interest derivable 

therefrom and the taxes herein authorized and levied 

shall be the available school fund, to whioh the Legislature may add not exceeding one percent annually-of 

the total value of the permanent sahool fund, such 

value to be ascertained by the Board of Eduoation until 

otherwise provided by law, and the available sohool 

fund shall be applied annually to the support of the 

public free sohools. And no law shall ever be ens&d 

appropriating any pert of the permanent or available 

sohool fund to any other purpose whatever; nor shall 

the ssme, or any part thereof ever be appropriated to 

or used for the support of any seatarian school; and 

the available school fund herein provided shall be 

distributed to the several counties according to their 

scholastic population and applied in such manner as may 

be provided by law. (Sec. 6, Art. 7, adopted election 

August 11, 18913 proclamation September 22, 1691,)" 

(Underscoring OUIS)~ 

The available school fund aonsists of (1) the inoome derived 

from the permanent sahool fund; (2) one-fourth of the revenue 

derived from occupation taxes3 (3) one dollar of the revenue derived 

from the poll tax: (4) revenue derived from the State ad valorem 

school tax and (6) other funds provided by the Legislature to make 

up a deficiency in said available school fund, This fund, oonsisting 

of the sources of revenue enumerated above, is specifioally provided 

for in the above enumerated Seations of the Constitution, See Webb 

County-z. Board of School Trustees of Laredo (Supreme Court) s 65 S.W, 

876 and Mumme v. Marrs (Supreme Court) 40 S, We (2) 31, 

Section 5 of Article VII of the Constitution requires that the 

available sohool fund, as provided for in the Constitution, shall be 

distributed to the several counties of the State aaoording to their 

soholastic population. Any disposition of the available school fund 

contrary to the mandate of this Constitutional provision would be void. 

Love v. City of Dallas (Supreme Court) 40 S. W'. (2) 20. The Constitution having provided that the money In the available school fund 

shall be distributed to the several counties. it follows that it cannot be distributed or appropriated elsewhere. Sinoe the Constitution 
Honorable Lon E. Alsup, Chainnan, page 3 o-3541 

provides that the money in seid fund shall be dis,tributed according 

to scholastio population, it follows that the money in said fund tennot be apportioned or distributed on any other basis. 

It is our opinion that the administrative costs of all divisions 

of the State Department of Eduoetion oannot be paid from the St&e 

available school fund as heretofore described. 

Your second inquiry raises the question of ,whather or not such 

administrative costs oen be paid out of funds which go to the State 

available sahool fund end which ere not specifically required by the 

Constitution to be pleced therein. We assume that there era such funds 

in the State eveilable school fund which were derived from some source 

other then es provided for end required by Se&ions 3 and 5 of Article 

VII of the Constitution. Based upon the facts se now have, wa are unable to say whether or not any suoh funds ten be appropriated from the 

available school fund for the purposes mentioned in your letter. We 

surmise that an audit and a study thereof would be necessary before a 

definite opinion on this question oould be rendered, We do say, horaver, that the Constitution does not require that any different or 

additional revenue be allocated to the State available school fund 

other than es provided in Sections 3 end 5 of Article VII thereof. 

Hence, if there ere any general statutes sllocating money to the State 

available sohool fund end not so required by the Constitution, the 

Legislature oan amend those statutes so es to allocate future revenues 

therefrom for the purposes mentioned in your letter. 

Whet wa have said herein has no application to the provision of 

Section 3 of Artiole VII pertaining to free text books. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/L.e Shoptaw 

Lee Shoptaw 

~Assiatant 

APPROVED MAY 23, 1941 

s/Grover Sellers 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Approved Opinion Committee By BWB Chairman