January 18, 1947 

Eon. Reed McDonald 

Chief Clerk 

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station 

A & M College of Texas 

College Station, Texas 

Opinion Ho. V-01 

Dear dir: 

Re: use of proceeds from 

sale of land ana property of an abandoned 

sub-experiment statfon 

to construct bui1dllng.s 

'and other improvements 

in connection with the 

establishment of a new 

sub-experiment station 

on donated land, 

We have carefully considered the questfon propounded in your letter to this department, dated Deeeniber 17, 1946. That question, copied verbatim from your 

letter, is as follows: 

"If the land for the establishment of a 

new sub-experiment station is donated to the 

A & M College, can the proceeds from the sale 

of land and property that was abandoned be 

used to construct buildings and other lmprovements in connection with the establishment of 

the new station?" 

It is the opinion of this department that the 

answer to this question should be resolved in the affirmative with certain qualifications which are herein set 

Our opinion is based on Articles 139 140 and 143 

G$%onfs Annotated Texas Civfl Statutes R&s& of 192!?, 

Section 6 of Article 8 of the Constitution of Texas' 

Subsection 3 of the General Provisions of Chapter 3?'7a2 

Texas Session Laws, 1945, enacted by the Forty-ninth Leg=- 

islature in Regular Session. 
Hon. Reed McDonald - Page 2 (V-01) 

Article 139, Powers of Board, provides as follows: 

“The Board shall have power: 

“1. To establish sub-experiment stations 

at such places in this State as it shall deem 

proper In addition to those now In operation. 

“2. To abandon or discontinue any substation which may become undesirable for experiment purposes; and If deemed necessary to establish others in their stead at such places in 

the same county as it shall deem advisable. 

"3. To sell any land or other State property used in the operation of an experiment station when so abandoned, and to apply the pro-. 

ceeds of such sale in the purchase of other land 

and property for the establishment of experiment 

stations.” 

The first object and purpose of Paragraph 3 of 

Article 139 is clear. The Board of Directors of A. & M. 

College is given the power to sell any land and other 

property of an experiment station which has been duly 

abandoned. It seems definite that this power of sale includes the right to sell the land, buildings and other 

improvements and whatever equipment that was used in the 

operation of the abandoned station. 

The second object of that paragraph, we believe, is to give the BoaEd :he power to use the proceeds 

from such sale for the gs ab Jo.&& of other experimental 

stations. The phrase “to purchase land and property”wodd 

seem to be merely descriptive and directive of the manner 

in which the proceeds for the establishment of experiment 

stations would be used. We do not believe the Legislature 

intended to limit the use of the proceeds solely for the 

e in the establishment of an 

experiment station. To so construe the phrase as a llaitation on the use of the proceeds would, in effect, be 

giving the Board the power to sell buildings and other improvements erected on land which had been used for an experiment station, but would prevent the proceeds to be 

used for the same purpose in the establishment of a new 

station, and would force the Board to look to other funds 
Hon. Reed McDonald - Page 3 (V-01) 

for necessary buildings and other improvements 

tablishment of a new experiment station. Such 

in the esa result 

was, in our opinion, not intended by the Legislature. Rather they intended by this paragraph to allow the proceeds 

to be used for the purchase of land and for whatever physical equipment and improvements that might be necessary to 

tk&full and complete establishment of an experiment sta- 

. 

However, Paragraph 2 of Article 139, when read in 

conjunction with Paragraph 3 of the same Article, requires, 

in our opinion, the new sub-experiment station, which Is established with the proceeds from the sale of land and other 

property of an abandoned experiment sub-station, to be located in the same county of the sub-experiment station which 

was abandoned. That it was the intent of the Legislature 

that this provision be mandatory is made clearer by a reading of the Acts 1913, S.S., 

in part as follows: 

p. 98, Section 6, which reads 

120s 

I, .provided, however, no station shall be 

abando:ei and re-located beyond the bounds of the 

county in which such station was originally located." 

Article 143 reads as follows: 

II the location, 

da board uw t&a IntO consideration ana re - 

c%i e anv doD&&D, either in money, && or 

othk property, to be used in the ooeratjsn 

-t of UY such stat%& 

and for experiment work, may lease such land'as 

may, in its judgment be necessary for any o 

purposes named in this chapter." 

i the 

(Unaerscorfng 

ours) 

We believe this article, by Implication, authorthe establishment of an experiment station on donated 

land. The Board under its general power of sale in Article 

139 would have the same power of sale with respect to any 

land that is donated unconditionally and without limitation 

as it would with respect to land acquired in any other manner by the Board for experiment statfons; and no loss can 

be seen by the erection of buildings and other improvements 

on land received as a donation to be used as an experiment 

station. To prevent such proceeds from being so used would 

necessitate the acquisition and use of other funds when an 

. experiment station was desired to be located or established 

A 

I 
Hon. Reed McDonald - Page 4 (V-01) 

on donated lands. Such, conceivably, could result in land, 

which was desired to be donated, being purchased in order 

to establish without an extended delay an experfment station thereon. Certainly such was not the intention of the 

Legislature. It is the opinion of this department that ft 

was the legislative Intent to permit such proceeds proviaed for in Article 139 to be used in the establishment of 

experiment stations on land recefved as a donation without 

condition or limitation under Article 143, when such land 

is located in the same county as was the land of the abandoned station from which the proceeds were derived. 

The last sentence of Article l&O reads as follows: 

"All funds received from the sale of station lands or property shall be deposited in 

the State Treasury and shall be paid out in 

accordance with the provisfons of this chapter," 

Under this statute the proceeds from the sale of 

land and other property of an abandoned sub-experiment station must be deposited in the State Treasury. In order to 

withdraw these funds from the Treasury for the establishment of a new sub-experiment station it fs necessary that it 

be done in pursuance of a legislative approprfatfon as required by the Constitutfon of Texas, 

Article 8, Section 6 of that document provfdes In 

part as follows: 

"NO money shall be drawn from the Treasury, 

but in pursuance of speciffc approprfatfons made 

by law; nor shall any approprfation of money be 

made for a longer term than two years, ., 0n 

While the last sentence of Article 140 might possibly be 

construed as an approprfation authority to allow the withdrawing of such funds from the State Treasury, in the face 

of the above constitutional provision and the repeated holdings of the courts of this State, it could not be authority 

for such an appropriatfon for a period longer than two years 

from the date of the enactment of Article 140, which was 

1913. 

We are of the opinion that authority for the wfthdrawal of such funds from the Treasury for the establishment 

of a new sub-experiment station is granted by Subsectfon 3 

of the General provisions of Chapter 377 of Texas Session 
Hon. Reed McDonald - Page 5 (V-01) 

Laws, 1945, enacted by the Forty-ninth Legislature in 

Regular Session. This Chapter deals with the biennial 

,appropriatlons for A. & M. College and other educational institutions for the fiscal years ending August 31, 

1946, and August 31, 1947. 

Subsection 3 of the General provisions of this 

Chapter provides as follows: 

"Institutional Receipts. No property 

belonging to any of the institutions herein 

provided for 5 nv sency 

be sold or diszostd 0: without the consent 

therea shall 

of its governing board, and all nrocee& 

from the sale of such nronertp, from labor 

performed from the sale of ma Eerials, crops 

and supplies from fees, and any and all 

other recelpJs shall become ad are he ebg 

dce OP contInseL 

and with the annroval of the sovereieg board 

@&g hPiSaict~. Sa d e: v e boards 

are authorized to use out of't:e uroceedg 

of sali 1 receipts and fseds, in accordance 

with the provisions of this Act, such amount8 

as t hev shall deem necessarv for the SUDDOfi 

tit enance . OD 

ttu 0 

eration andarovements o$ I 

1 r 

to the credit of anv sala &&j 

funds at said lnstit 

,tutiona1 1 

gtions or in the Stat: 

ca& 

Treasurv at the end anv fiscal vear arq 

berebv reannronriatedOffor the above mentiogga 

pumoses for the succeeu vea."' (Underscoring ours) 

It is our opinion that experiment stations of 

A. Br M. College are Included in the phrase "or any agency 

thereof." While the powers enumerated in this sub-section 

3 are considerably broader than those given by Article 139, 

such Article controls over the appropriation provisions; 

and hence the powers of the board 

stations are concerned, 

insofar as experiment 

ticle 139. 

are modified and controlled by ArSuch sub-section does, however, in our opinion 

appropriate the funds so that they can be withdrawn from 

the State Treasury for the establishment of new experiment 

sub-stations. 
Hon. Reed McDonald - Page 6 (V-01) 

Proceeds from the sale of land and other 

property used in the operation of an experiment 

sub-station which has been duly abandoned must 

be deposited in the State Treasury, but can be 

withdrawn by the Board of Directors of A. & M. 

College for the construction of buildings and 

other improvements in connection with the establishment of a new experiment sub-station on 

donated land. such land donated, however, must 

be conveyed without any limitation or condition 

and must be located In the same county as was 

the land of the abandoned station or stations 

from which the proceeds for such improvements 

were derived. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED JAN. 18, 1947 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

BY 

Assistant