April 23, 1963

Honorable Bob Johnson, Chairman Committee Pursuant to H.S.R. No. 236 House of Representatives Austin, Texas

Dear Mr. Johnson: @in ion No. C-60

Re: Authority of a member of the Legislature to sell printedmatter prepared at State expense.
Your request for an opinion reads as follows:

'Pursuantto H.S.R. 236, a Committee Is presently studying the charge and allegationsmade in speechesbefore the House on March 4, 1963, the samebeing printed in the House Journal of said date, pages 480-486. Copies of H.S.R. 236 and the House Journal of such date are enclosed.

"As Chairman of this Committee I hereby respectfullyrequest the assistance of your office in determiningwhether or not there exist rules, regulations, or laws which prohibit a member of the Legislature from sellingprintedmatter prepared at state expense.
"Ibelieve that a brief study of the Resolutionand the House Journalwill give you sufficientbackground to help us in this matter. Your prompt attentionwould be greatly appreciated in as much as the Committeehas but a brief time in which to file a report of such investigation."

House Simple ResolutionNo. 236 of the 58th Legislatureprovides:

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"WHRREAS, On March 4, 1963, two Members of the House of Representativesmade and leveled certain charges regarding the propriety of the activities of each other in connectionwith their service on an interim committee of the previous Session of the Legislature;and
"WHEREAS,The charges and allegations are printed in the House Journal for Monday, March 4, 1963, and question the propriety of the use of House facilities for the printing and dissemination of the printedmaterials and further questions the propriety of the reimbursementof the Members for expenses allegedly incurred; and
"WHEREAS,Such charges and allegations, cast a reflectionupon the dignity, integrity, and honest of each interim committee of the Fifty-seventh Legislatureand the entire House of Representatives of the Fifty-eighth Legislature;and
"WHEREAS,The Members of the Fifty-eighth Legislaturehave shown that they wish the public to have access to all the facts and circumstancesattendant to the operation of all levels of government to the end that the public confidence in governmentwill be preserves and enhanced;now, therefore,be it

"RESOLVEDby the House of Representatives of the Fifty-eight Legislature, That the Speaker be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint a Committee of five Members of the House to conduct an investigation into the alleged acts above referred to as well as any othermatter relating thereto and reportback to this House within thirty days; and, be it further
"RESOLVED,That said committee shallhave power to formulate its own rules of procedure and evidence,and to meet at such times and places as itmay deem best and shall elect its own Chairman."

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A careful study of the Constitutionand statutes of this State reveals only one Articleproviding for the distribution of printedmatter of the Legislatureprepared at State expense. Article 5429d,Vernon's Civil Statutes,provides:

"Section 1. The Presiding Officers of the House of Representativesand Senate shall appoint one (1) of their employees to perform the duty of distributing the Journal for each House respectively.

"Sec. 2. It shallbe the duty of such appointee to distribute to the Governor, to each Member of the Legislatureand upon request, to heads,of departments, a copy of the printed Journals of both Houses."
Article 5429f,Vernon's Civil Statutes,known as the LegislativeReorganizationAct of 1961, provides for the functions,

of various committees of the Legislatureand the conducting of hearings. Subsection (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 8 of Article 5429f provides:

"TheCommittee shallkeep a record of its proceedings, and it shallhave the power to hold suchmeetings as itmay deem necessary and at any plaEe in the State of Texas. The Committee shall also have power to issue process to witnesses, at any place in this State, to compel their attendance, and the production of all books, records and instruments, to issue attachmentswhere necessary to obtain compliancewith subpoenas or other process,which may be addressed to and served by either the Sergeant-at-Armsappointed by said Committee or by any peace officer of this State; and to cite for contempt, and cause to be prosecuted for contempt, anyone disobeying the subpoenas or other process lawfully issuedby it in themanner and according to the proceduresprovided in this Act and by any other provisions of General
Law. The Chairman of the Committee shall issue, in the name of the Committee, such subpoenasas a majority of the Committeemay direct. The Committee ishereby authorized to request the assistance of the State Auditor's Department, the Texas Legislative

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.

Hon. Bob Johnson, page 4 (C-60)

Council, the Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General'sDepartment and all other State agencies and officers, and it shallbe the duty of said departments, agencies and officers to assist the Committee when requested to do so. The Committee shallhave the power to inspect the records, documents and files of every State department,agency and officer, and of all municipal, county or other political subdivisionsof the State, and to examine into their duties, ties." responsibilitiesand activi-

(Emphasisadded).
Nowhere in Article 542gf is any provisionmade for the distributionto the public of a transcript of committee proceedings. Article 5429f, above quoted, obviously does not apply to the printedmatter referred to in your request.

In view of the foregoing,we have reached the conclusion that there is no provision providing for distribution of transcriptsof committeehearings to the public. Therefore, amember of the Legislaturemay not, at State expense, sell copies of a transcript to the public. If such copies are prepared at State expense, preparation of such copiesmust be for a governmentalpurpose, and not a private purpose. If an individualmember sells such copies to the general public, such fact is evidentiarythat the copieswere not prepared for a governmentalpurpose,but for a private purpose,which is not authorizedby law and is contrary to public policy. As stated above, however, we know of no provision, either in the Constitution, statutes or existing rules of the Legislature,which specificallyregulates the activities of individualmembers of the Legislature in distributingprintedmatter prepared at State expense. Therefore, in such instances the question is whether the printedmatter was prepared for a governmental or public purpose, or was prepared for a private purpose. If prepared for a private purpose, suchpreparation is contrary to law and the public policy of this State.

SUMMARY

Amember of the Legislature is not authorized to prepare, at State expense, printedmatter he intends to sell to the

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Hon. Bob Johnson,page 5 (c-60)

public, for the reason that printed matter prepared at State expensemust be used for governmental or public purposes and not for private purposes.

Yours very truly,

WAGGONER CARR Attorney General

John Reeves Assistant JR:ms
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman
Bill Allen Ben Harrison Pat Bailey

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone

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