E ORNEY GENERATE OF TEXAS

Mr. Ralph R. Wolf ExecutiveDirector Opinion No. ~~-633
State Building Commlsslon Re: Authority of the State Austin, Texas Building Commission In regard to payment of professionalfees to an attorney for services in connection

with land Dear Mr. Wolf: acquisition.

In your recent letter you have requested our opinion as to whether the State Building Commissionhas authority to pay an attorney for professionalservices rendered to the Commlsslon,inits land acquisitionprogram. The Constitutional Amendment,Section 51-b, Article III of the Texas Constitution, creating the State Building Commissionprovides In Subsection (c) thereof as follows: "Under such terms and conditionsas are now or may be hereafterprovided by law, the Commissionmay acquire necessary real and personal property,
. . . and negotiate and make contractsnecessary to carry out and effectuate the purposesherein mentioned." Subsequent to the adoption of the aforesaid Constitutional

Amendment the Texas LegislatureImplemented the Amendmentby enactingArticle 678m,Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes,which provides in.part as follows in Section 4:

11

. . . The ExecutiveDirectormay, with the consent and approval of the Commission, employ such professional,technical,clerical, stenographic,

and other assistanceas may be deemed necessary, the compensationfor whom may be fixed by the Commissionuntil September 1955, after which it shall be fixed in the blennial appropriation bill.

. . .w ours )

. (Empahsls 1,.

Mr. Ralph R. Wolf, page 2 (W'bJ-633)

The Statute In Section 5 thereof further authorizes the State Building Commission:

I

. . . to take any action and enter Into any contractsnecessary to provide for the obtainingof sites and the planning,designing and construction

of the bulldings and memorials provided for by Section 51-b, Article III of the Constitution,

and the Commission is also authorized to take any action and enter into any contractsto obtain sites which It deems necessary In order to providefor theorderly future developmentof the State Building Program which Is contemplated by this Act, lnaofar 8s appropriations

permit.

. . .It It Is apparent from the foregoing that the powers conferredupon the State Building Commissionby the Constitution

and laws of this State enable the Commlsslon to employ and compensatean attorney for legal services rendered to the Commissionin connection with the acquisitionof land pursuant to the Cowmieslon~a building program. That the services for which the attorney now makes olalm were deemed necessaryby the Commissionand that the Commissiondid, In fact, employ the attorney to render such services Is manifest from the offlclalminutes of the meeting of the Commlaalon on May 13, 19.57.

The particularclaim to which you refer Is for professionalservicesrendered from October 1, 1958, through March 31, 1959. The Fifty-FifthLegislature, at its Regular Session In 1957, after appropriating various sums for salaries of other personneldf the State Building Commlssldn, set aside Ten Thousand, Eight Hundred Dollars ($10,800)out of the State Building Fund "for other salarles.or professional services,by contraot or part time employment"for the years ending August 31, 1958 and August 31, 19%. From this It Is seen that the Legislatureanticipatedand provided for such clalme as the one ln queatlon. It follows aleo that the extent to which the claim can be paid depends upon the amount of money now availableunder the aforesaid appropriation.

It should be noted that Section 7 of ArticleVI of the Fifty-FifthLegislature's appropriation

bill provides In part as follows:Mr. Ralph R Wolf, page 3. (WW-633)

'
. . Where the Attorney General,District Attorney, CriminalDistrictAttorney, County Attorney, or other lawyer is requiredby constitutional or statutory provision to represent .a State Agency, State Official, State Board or State Department,

no compensationshall be paid from any appropriation made in this Act to any other attorney for representingthe State of Texas in the trial of a civil lawsuit except in those cases where the Attorney Qeneral,District Attorney, Criminal DistrictAttorney, County Attorney, or other lawyer, as the case may be, has requested that the attorney or attorneys employed by the particular State Agency, State Official, State Departmentor State Board, assist with the trial of the particular lawsuit. This provision shall not, however, restrict a State Agency, State Official, State Departmentor State Board in the investigation and assemblingof evidence In connection

with a pending or prospectivecivil suit.

. . ." Insofar as the instant claim Is for representing the State Building Commissionand assisting the Attorney General in the trial of civil suits, it must be viewed in the light of the above provision. Neither Section 51-b, Article III of the Texas Constitution nor Article 67&n, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes,enjoin upon the Attorney General or any other official the duty of representingthe Commissionin civil suits. However, Article 5240, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes,does require the Attorney General to represent the State of Texas in such suits as those involvedhere.

Prior to the commencementof the professional services in question,the Attorney General requested the attorney to assist with the trial of lawsuits,as well as to provide other professionalservices incident to the Commission'sland acquisition program. Therefore,payment of the present claim for professional services is not prohibitedby Section 7, ArticleVI of the appropriation

bill of the Fifty-FifthLegislature.. . .

, Mr. Ralph R. Wolf, page 4. (W-633)

SUMMARY

The State Building Commissionis authorized to pay an attorney for professional servicesrendered in the Commission's land acquisition

program where the attorney has been duly employedby the Board, requestedby the Attorney General (insofaras the claim is for representing the Commissionin the trial of civil suits) and where the funds in the appropriation for such servicespermit. Very truly yours, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas 

# By ‘& it+24

Assistant HGB:mg APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn,Chairman Robert T. Lewis
L. P. Lollar Charles D. Cabaniss C. K. Richards
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. V. Geppert