634 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

GROVERSELLERS 

*,no”nmr GCNIRAL 

. 

Honorable C. B. Cavnerr 

State Auditor 

Austin, Texar 

Dear SIP; Opinion lo. o-n41 

Ret Dale8 and poverr of the 

Board of Pardon8 e 

hl'O108. 

A 

we beg to MknOVleJrige moelpt of your 1'btt)r reqUt!J8tlng an opinion upon the veriou8 matter8 thepln mentioned, touohlng the above 8ubjeot matter, vhIoh letter/in \y2tq ij a8 iOiiOV8r 

*'In oonneotlon vlth an audit ve amaov making 

of the book8 and moord8 Plii'dQn84lld 

P.SYPOle8, Wfind it ll80888 

on the r0iioting. 

JOUZ' v 

"(Them have been paseed by the 

. Legislature, a8 veil 88 th@ Ckwetltutlon83 emenibnent 

in 1936. 

lg see 

We hav#'m& the k,ollovltig but oannot olearthe awirer to f+ese qtwrtlon8, and ve rid 

that the Maber8/df\the~Bofmdkm\~8o som8vhat unruoh but ve are not 8ure a8 to authorlsatlon). 
635 

iionorable C. H. Cavnerl, p8ge 2 

‘1 * 3. 

“‘4. 

“‘5. 

“‘6. 

Who 08n legally obtain oople8 of prIaoner8@ 

oaso hI8tOrie8 and/or yxrI8on records from 

either the Texan lVl8on Syyatem or the Board 

of Pwdonr 8ud Psroles, and vhat legal prooedum mu8t be folloved to obtain 8-3 

m0 08n legally oontaat prisoners confined 

in the Texa8 Prison Syrtxm for interviews, 

eta., and Vhat legal prooedum should be 

rolloved? 

Attached hereto am tvo form8 - Proolnmatlon 

for Cleraenoy end ProclasnMOa by Covernor to 

Revoke Clemency - ploa88 edvise u8 a8 to 

whether these form8 8re properly vorded 80 

a8 to meet all legal asp8ct8 of the governing 

lam8 nov in effeot. 

The Board of Pardon8 and Paroles, and we, 

vi11 appreolate It greatly if you vi11 klndly apeolf’y all pardon and/or reprieve lav8 

nov in effect. It appaaI'8 that 8OIDB of 

those listed above have re$esled soxe of 

the others and then in turn, perhaps have 

been changed (and ve may not have found all 

0r them). Them IO a definite need for a 

olarIflcatIon by you a8 to jU8t vhere everpbody 8tand8."" 

For convenience sake, ve number the paragraph8 of our 

Sn8ver in acoordeace with your que8tIOn8. 

1. Them Is nothing In the ConstItutlon or the general 

statutes regulating the resldenae of the members of the Board of 

Pardons and Parole8 except the ellglbIlIt~ requirement of the 

Constitution, providing that the members shsll have been resident 

oltlsens of the State of Texas for a period Of not less than two 

year8 immediately preceding such appointmnt."--Constitution, 

Article Iv, Section 11, as amended November 3, 1936. 

The Legislature has 

r 

ovlded In Ch. 292, ii. B. No. 

1076, Sec. 2, Regular Session 5th Legislature (1937) that: 

"provided one member of the Board of Pardons 

end Paroles shall have his headquarters at Uunts- 
636 

Honorable C. H. Cavne88, p8ge 3 

vllle, andtvombnbere of 8aldBoacd sh8llmmaIn 

In AU8tin, %X88, vhem the main office 0s the 

Board of Pardon8 and PaPOle 18 b o a ted, l l l .n 

The 8a1m provl8lon vab oontalned in Ch. 6, 5. B. no. 

427, Aots Regular Sestilon 46th I&glrlatum (1939). But the8e 

uem not general lavr. On th8 oontrary, they vem the regular 

appropriation Aot8. It 18 vsll Mttled that only ~ovl8lon8, 

rld8r8 and th8 like, gernuxne to the rpeolflo appFoxMatlOn8 

r;ad4 my be lnoorporated In the appropriation bill. At all 

event8, the80 appropriation bill8 of long ego expired. 'phe 

corresponding appropriation bill8 r0r the blennlum period8 0s 

'41 and ‘43, m8peotlvely, do not oontaln ruoh provl8lon. 

There 18, themfom, no mqulmw3nt 0s lav rixing 

the place of m8ldenoe of th8 member8 of the Board OS Pavdonr, 

neither I8 there any provision firing the plaae vhere the momhers shall keep their prln~lpl Office, hold their mtmtIng8 sad 

hearings, or mgulatlon In thew rerpeotr vhatsoever. 

2. Thi8 que8tion ahould be ansvemd in the negative. 

Eoc. 11 o? Artlole IV 0s the Conrtltutlon vest8 in the Governor 

Fever to 1138~8 olemsnoles a8 fOiiOV8: 

"In all orlmlnal oa8e8 8roept trearon and 

Impeachment, the Oovornor 8hall have pwer, after oonvlotlon, on the Vrlttin 8igned moonmwidatlon and advloe Of the Board Of Pardon8 and 

Parole8. or a majority thereof, to grant mprieve8 and cc4smutatIon8 0s punl8hment 8nd pardOn8; and under 8uoh rule8 a8 the LegirlatUm 

may presorlbe, azld upon the vrlttenmoonmwdatlon and advloe 0s the majority 0s the Board 0s 

Pardon8 and P8role8, he shall have the powr to 

remit fiIMt8 and rorreiture8.” 

We (w advised by the Board, however, that It ha8 

never iSSUed any prOClSDIatIOn, or made any order remitting 

a fine or SorfeltUm, but ha8 made moommendatlons with mspeot thereto to the Governor. 

3. Article 3720 of the Revised Civil Statute8 says: 
637 

:ionorablo C. R. cavne88, page 4 

"Copier of the reoordr and filed papers 

0s al pub110 offioers md OU8todiPnr 0s 

record8 0s minute8 0s Bowd8, eta. u3d oourt8 

' of thlr State, oertlfled to under the hand 

and th8 8eal, if them b8 one, 0s thelavful 

p08f#880~ Of SUoh 3~100~48, 8h8U b0 dmittOd 

as evidence in all oa8e8 where the moords 

themwlvel would be adml88lble. l l l ." 

Momover, it is a sound pub110 policy that the reo~rdr, 

nlnute8, Faper8 8nd instrument8 oontained In the files and archives 0s all public Office8 8hould be open to the lnspeotlon 0s 

any lntemrrtod Party, 8ubjeot only to suoh privilege8 a8 the 

Legislature nay ln the interest OS the 8azss pub110 polloy declare, and eubjeot further, 0s course, to the limitation that no 

inspection should be permitted that would Interfern with the 

ordinary reasonable oonduot of the affairs of the offloe or deprtnent . 

We thqmfore en8ver thla quertlon a8 fOiiOV8t Any person having an intern& in the matter vould have the right, upon 

Cemand , at any reasonable tims, 8nd in a maaonable way, to lnqect such h18tOrIe8 and reoordr a8 you mention, and to have oertifled COpit' themof, ii the OU8tOd18li 18 Vil1ix t0 SUpply them. 

4. The Manager or the Prison SySteli! 18 vested with 

broad Rovers 

Article 61666 I 

Revleed Civil Statute8, Vernon'8 Codlfloatlon, 

the Board being authorized to delegate to him 

authority to mansge the affsir8 0s the Prison Syrtem, 8ubjeot 

to it8 oontrol and 8up8rvlrlon. Th18 paver extends to pmscribing “ma8onable rule8 and regulation8 governing the humane 

treatment, training and dlsolpllng of prl8oner8”, and the like. 

Article 6166~2, of the above statute, 1s even mom lnformative at this point. It 18 a8 fOiiOU8t 

"The Governor, and all member8 of the Exeoutlve 

and Judicial dspsFtm43nt8 0s the State aad nmfb0r8 0s 

the Legislature shall be admitted into the prisons, 

camps and other place8 wham prisoners are kept or 

worked, at all proper hour8, for the purpose of observing the oonduct thereof, and may hold conversation vltb the oonvlcts apart rram all prison OffiC88. 
635 

32aeable c. li. CIVrn88, * 5 
639 

Xonorable C. H. caVW88r pag8 6 

We knov 0s no deOi8iOA holding that the ooveaaos 

would h a w the p o wr to ret l 8lde a proolaEatloA revoking a 

pior ootiltion&l pardon. The moooatlon by the Oove~aor 

:rould operat8 a8 a full aad fita dispo8itiOA 0s the qUO8tiOA 

of olemenoy by the Govermr, aad leave the mat- a8 thou& 

no suoh application had been We vhatlroever. Kcimover, ve 

are Qdvlsttd by the Governor~8 0rrioe that it has not beea 

his praatloe la any ea8e to set aside a revooatlon prevlou8ly 

iaaued but that he ha8 treated the matte3 a8 048 of original 

cognleeao~by theBoard upon aa oxQlaal l pplloatlon for 

clemenoy. The quoted laaguag8 should be ellmlnated. 

6. You' Sixth requ8st 18 80 broad md 80 ab8tZaOt 

that we vi11 not, in the oour8e 0s a legal oplnlo~, undertsh 

to COnrp118 the FniOl'ttWtiOll Otihd for. we SW be G&i, 

I:owever, to anttvcr any specirio question that may 8rlse at 

ay time. 

Very truly yours, 

ATTORRRX GRlCMUL OF -a, 

-. 

Oold S&ir d 

- AIsi8tPnt