## THEAITO-Y GENERAL
OF TEXAS

GERALD C. MANN **Ausnnr 11,**  **TEXAN**

**A-lToHWRY OKNEmAl.** 

Hon. CliffordB. Jones, President Texas Technological College Lubbock, Texas

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-1195 Re: Construction of term %onventlonn and term "State'sbusiness", as iisedin theDepartmental Approprlatlon Bill.
By your letter of October 30th, 1939, supplementedby 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'sbusiness," appearing in the Departmental Appropriation Bill, ah respects the.four fact sltuatlons set out in your letter as follovs:

"Ameeting 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;

"TheNationalDairy Show at which ourDairy Cattle Judging Team will judge cattle, attendance upon wh-lchon the part of one of our Instructors inAnimal Husbandry has been authorized by our Board ofDirectors;
"AmericanRoyal Livestock Show where our team inAnimal Husbandry judged and attendance upon which on the'part of one of our Professorswas authorized by our Board ofDirectors;

"TheNational meeting of the International Milk Sanltarlans, at which the Read of ourDairy ManufacturesDepartment will present,a paper on 'TheTraining of PasteurIzatlon Plant Operators, whose Leave of Absence has been authorized by our Board ofDirectors."

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 placedHon. CliffordB. Jones, page 2 O-1195 .

upon the word "convention"In the following language:

"Ix-answeringyour 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 commonmeaning, as found In Webster'sNew International Dlctlonary, to-wit, 'abody or assembly of personsmeeting for some common purpose.' It seems to us that no broader prohibitionmight have been made by the Legislature than the phrase 'anytype of conventionwithin the State or without the State."'

The dlstlngulshlng characteristic of a conventionor assembly seems to be that the meeting Is held for the accomplishment of some end or purpose common to thosgwho attend Such-'meetings

as the meeting of the Amiirlcan Society of &onomy and Soil Science Society of Amerlda' meeting of the InternationalMilk Sanitaria&, and the National being for the purposes

of transactingthe business of these organizations,
are clearly "conventlons:"

On 'thecontrary,we are of the opinion that the.NatlonalDairy Show and the American Royal Llvestobk Show are -not "conventions"within the meaning ascribed to that term above.

In determiningwhether reimbursementmay be made for traveling expenses in any event, itmust be recognized thatno reimbursementmay be had unless the purpose of the trip upon which such expenseswere lncutired was the accomplishmentof "State'sbusiness."

"State'sbusiness," 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~thefollowing 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 particulardepartment.

A reasonable substantial and Mrect relationship .betweenEhe 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'sbusiness." As an example of such a sltua-Hon. CliffordB. Jones, page ,3 O-1195

tlon, "State'sbusln&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 inwhich the State of Texas 1s a party. Llkewlse, certain fact sltuatlonswill clearlydemonstrate 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, theremay 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'sDepartment, ln that the taking of such a-'coursein Federal Procedure by the AssistantAttorney 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'sDepaStment. However, the relationship In such a situationbetween the business to be transacted on the trip and the accomplishment of the functions **of** government entrusted to the department la exceedingly indirectand remote, rather than reasonable, substantialand 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, theremust necessarilybe a zone of doubt, where the judgment of the department heads, under the sanction of their official oaths, becomes the only practicable criterionby which the question whether the State's business Is Involved In the particular tripmay be determined.

Dealing with your particular fact situations,we must advise that:

1. Sufficient facts are not given to enable us to determinewhether 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'sbusiness."

**2.** We presume that your Instructor inAnimal Husbatiry 1s required to accompany your Dairy Cattle Judging Team~to the NationalDairy Show, where they will judge cattle. This appears to us to have a sufficientlydirect relation to the dlscharge of the functions of government lmposed'uponyour ln;titution, to-wit, education, to constitute 'State'sbusiness.

3. Our oplnlon expressed under' paragraph 2 ImmedlatelYHon. CliffordB. Jones, page 4 O-1195

above applies also to your Profedor whb accompaniedyour team inAnimal 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 #anufacturesDepartment at the National meeting of the InternationalMilk Sanltarlans, for the purpose of presentinga paper on Plant Operators," "TheTraining of Pasteurization 1s not a trip for the purpose of performing "State'sbu9lness." Therewould 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 InternationalMilk Sanltarlans on "TheTraining of PasteurizationPlant Operators,"and the accomplishmentof 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 CommItteeBy s/BWB Chairman