THEAITO-Y GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

GERALD C. MANN Ausnnr 11, TEXAN 

A-lToHWRY OKNEmAl. 

Hon. Clifford B. Jones, President 

Texas Technological College 

Lubbock, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-1195 

Re: Construction of term %onventlonn 

and term "State's business", as 

iised in the Departmental Approprlatlon Bill. 

By your letter of October 30th, 1939, supplemented by 

your telegram of October slat, you request the opinion of thls 

department of the construction to'be placed upon the term 

"convention" and the term "State's business," appearing in the 

Departmental Appropriation Bill, ah respects the.four fact 

sltuatlons set out in your letter as follovs: 

"A meeting of the American Society of Agronomy 

and Soil Science Society of America, attendance 

upon which on the part of the Head of one of our 

Departmentshas been authorized by our Board of 

Directors; 

"The National Dairy Show at which our Dairy 

Cattle Judging Team will judge cattle, attendance 

upon wh-lch on the part of one of our Instructors 

in Animal Husbandry has been authorized by our 

Board of Directors; 

"American Royal Livestock Show where our team 

in Animal Husbandry judged and attendance upon 

which on the'part of one of our Professors was 

authorized by our Board of Directors; 

"The National meeting of the International 

Milk Sanltarlans, at which the Read of our Dairy 

Manufactures Department will present,a paper on 

'The Training of PasteurIzatlon Plant Operators, 

whose Leave of Absence has been authorized by our 

Board of Directors." 

In bur opinion No. O-1272, addressed to Hon. Roy Loventhal, Chairman; Livestock Sanitary Coiixnlsslon, under date of 

September 7, 1939, we dealt with the construction to be placed 
Hon. Clifford B. Jones, page 2 O-1195 

. 

upon the word "convention" In the following language: 

"Ix-answering your first, as well as your 

second questlon, we attrlbute to the word 'convention,' as used in the provlslon of the rider quoted 

above, its usual and common meaning, as found In 

Webster's New International Dlctlonary, to-wit, 

'a body or assembly of persons meeting for some 

common purpose.' It seems to us that no broader 

prohibition might have been made by the Legislature 

than the phrase 'any type of convention within the 

State or without the State."' 

The dlstlngulshlng characteristic of a convention or 

assembly seems to be that the meeting Is held for the accomplishment of some end or purpose common to thosg who attend 

Such-'meetings as the meeting of the Amiirlcan Society of 

&onomy and Soil Science Society of Amerlda' 

meeting of the International Milk Sanitaria&, 

and the National 

being for the 

purposes of transacting the business of these organizations, 

are clearly "conventlons:" 

On 'the contrary, we are of the opinion that the.Natlonal Dairy Show and the American Royal Llvestobk Show are 

-not "conventions" within the meaning ascribed to that term 

above. 

In determining whether reimbursement may be made for 

traveling expenses in any event, it must be recognized that no 

reimbursement may be had unless the purpose of the trip upon 

which such expenses were lncutired was the accomplishment of 

"State's business." 

"State's business," as relates to then authority of a 

department to incur traveling expenses to be pald by the State, 

seems to us to embody at least ~the following elements: 

1. A reasonable, substantial, and direct relation between the business to be transacted on the trip and the accompl~lshment of the functions of government entrusted to the 

particular department. 

A reasonable substantial and Mrect relationship 

.between Ehe method by which the partdular business .ls.lntende& to accomplish the function of Government entrusted to the 

department, and the powers granted the department by~law for 

the accomplishment of such functions. 

Certain fact situations ~111 clbarly Involve the transaction of."State's business." As an example of such a sltua- 
Hon. Clifford B. Jones, page ,3 O-1195 

tlon, "State's busln&ss" would clearly"be involved ln the 

sending of an Assistant Attorney General from this department 

on a trip to Washington, D. C. for the purpose of arguing a 

case before the Supreme Court of the United States in which 

the State of Texas 1s a party. Llkewlse, certain fact sltuatlons will clearly demonstrate that State's busln&is IS .not 

involved. An example of'.thls would be'the sending of an 

Assistant Attorney General of this department to Harvard 

University for the purpose of taking a course there In Federal Procedure. It Is true that In this latter fact situation, 

there may be some relation between the business to be transacted on the trip and the accomplishment of the ftictlons of 

government entrusted to the Attorney General's Department, 

ln that the taking of such a-'course in Federal Procedure by 

the Assistant Attorney General would be calculated to enable 

him to render more efficient service for the State ln the 

accomplishment of the functions of government entrusted to 

the Attorney General's DepaStment. However, the relationship 

In such a situation between the business to be transacted on 

the trip and the accomplishment of the functions of government entrusted to the department la exceedingly indirect and 

remote, rather than reasonable, substantial and direct. The 

purpose of such a trip, In Its essential aspects, would be 

private, and therefore reimbursement for traveling expenses 

could not be made. 

Of course,, as between the two extremes, there must 

necessarily be a zone of doubt, where the judgment of the department heads, under the sanction of their official oaths, 

becomes the only practicable criterion by which the question 

whether the State's business Is Involved In the particular 

trip may be determined. 

Dealing with your particular fact situations, we must 

advise that: 

1. Sufficient facts are not given to enable us to 

determine whether attendance by the head of bne of your d6partments upon a meeting of the American Society of Agronomy and 

Soil Science Society of America has for its purpose the performance of "State's business." 

2. We presume that your Instructor in Animal Husbatiry 

1s required to accompany your Dairy Cattle Judging Team~to the 

National Dairy Show, where they will judge cattle. This appears 

to us to have a sufficiently direct relation to the dlscharge 

of the functions of government lmposed'upon your ln;titution, 

to-wit, education, to constitute 'State's business. 

3. Our oplnlon expressed under' paragraph 2 ImmedlatelY 
Hon. Clifford B. Jones, page 4 O-1195 

above applies also to your Profedor whb accompanied your team 

in Animal Husbandry to the American Royal Livestock Show, where 

such team judged. 

4. We are of the opinion that the attendance of the 

head of your Dairy #anufactures Department at the National 

meeting of the International Milk Sanltarlans, for the purpose of presenting a paper on 

Plant Operators," 

"The Training of Pasteurization 

1s not a trip for the purpose of performing 

"State's bu9lness." There would seem to be no reasonable, 

substantial, and direct relation between the business to be 

transacted on this trip, to-wit, the presenting of a paper to 

the International Milk Sanltarlans on "The Training of 

Pasteurization Plant Operators," and the accomplishment of 

the function of government entrusted to yoUr department of the 

State Government, to-wit, the education of students enrolled 

in your college. 

We trust that the above sufficiently answers your in- 

'PbY - 

Very truly yOurs 

ATTOFUiEYGENWAL OF TEXAS 

RWF:pbp:wc 

By~sb.~W. Fairchild 

R. w. Falrch'ila 

Assistant 

APPROVED NOV 22, 1939 

s/Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion CommIttee By s/BWB Chairman