August 15, 1957 

Honorable James A, Giddfngs Opinion No. W&2%9 

Acting Executive Dfrector 

Board for Texas State Hospi,- Re: Can the Comptroller approve 

tals and Special Schools payroi,ls submitted by the 

Box S, Capitol Station Board for ‘Texas State HosAIrstin, Texas pftals and Spe&al Schools 

which include salaries for 

‘lteachers~~% and related 

Dear Mr, Glddfngs : question, 

Your request for an Opfnfon, dated July 30s 1957$ 

states in substance that the budgets submftted by the various 

institutions under the jnrfsdfct:,on and control of yoo,r agency 

provide for the payment of teachers employed by said insti.tutions durir,g Lb? ens,nfng biennium from funcl? approprfated for 

tiedica:~ care and treatment, You further state that the Comptroller of Public Accounts has rai.sed the question as towtlsth~r 

?he s,ppropri,ation. to said fnstituti,ons for the ensuing Men,- 

ni~urn authorizes the employment and, payment af personne: wi,i-h 

the posl.tion ,titl~e of “teachers”, 

tiofl 

You h,ave, accnrdfngly D propounded for 011s considerathe f”ollowi,n.g ques,t%ons :

‘I,, 0 Can the ComptroXLer app;‘ove payrolls sub-, 

mitted blj thn Boa,rd, for Texas State Hospftals and 

Special Se!?,o&l.s wnich ,Snclude salaries fo:r 

“teacherslqY 

2, If the answer to the above ques,tfon is in 

the affi,rsatlve, may ,the salaries four the-9 aositions be paid from the appropriations fur meiica’l 

care and treatment? 

,Articlti 11 of Il;.~asr :;ill, Ns. ;.:yr:s .$c,ts 

Turk, Reqular Session, 1957$ page 915, 

‘5 ,,th Legi,,sla.= 

so~~rnnrS,ates ,flinds to 

the B(~ar*d for Texas State Hospitals atid Fr‘:ti;,i;. ~3hnt&s a,nd ti?e 

respective Institutions under Its jurisalctlon and control, 

and Section 2b (1) of said Article reads In part as fol”,ows: 
. -- 

-- - 

Honorable James A, Gfddfngs, page 2 (W-2299 

"SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO ALL HOSPITALS, 

HOMES, SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND AGENCIES OR 

OFFICES IN ARTICLE II 

"See. 2. Salary provfsfons, a, All annual 

salaries shall be paid in 12 equal monthly %nstallments except as otherwise prov%ded herefn, 

"b, Salary rates, (1) The Board for Texas 

Hospitals and Specfal Schools may employ personnel 

fn hosp%tals and fnstftutions only w%th%n the 

position titles shown and at an annual salary rate 

not to exceed those speefffed below! except for 

teachers, temporary labor, and certlf%ed specialfsts as prov%ded for %n thfs Article: (Emphas%s 

added) 

II 0 0 0 II 

"Teacher" %s not lfsted as an author%zed posftion 

tftle, It fs noted that the only reference to "teachers" in 

the foregofng sectron %s contained %n the underl%ned portfons 

thereof, However, subsectfon (3)d which follows, states: 

'sd 0Each classroom teacher or teacher of 

exceptional children fn each State School or Home 

specified in this Artfcle shall receive as a m%nimum salary the classroom or exceptional teacher#s 

monthly salary rate spec%f%ed in S.B, No. 116 

Acts of the 51.st Leg%slature, 1949, as amended, 

The governing board of each such State School or 

Home may recommend salary rates at amounts that 

wfll not exceed the salar%es for Mke posftions 

paid in the publfc schools fn the city in which 

such State School or Home fs located, 

"However3 such recommended salary rates in 

excess of the m%nimum amounts speeffied in S,B, 

116, as amended, and the salary rates of principals p supervfsors, and coaches in the specfal 

schools and homes specified in this Article, may 

not be paid wfthout the advance wrftten approval 

of the Governor after obtaining the advfce of the 

Leg%slat%ve Budget Board; but such approved rates 

shall never exceed the rates of pay for lfke positfons pafd in the public schools of the city in 

whfch the State School or home fs located," 
Honorable James A. Gfddfngs, Page 3 (WW-229) 

Article II of House Bill 133e page 917, also contains a reserve appropriation for special school teachers’ 

salaries “to implement any Increase in pay for school personnel granted by the 55th Legislature by amendment to S.B. 116, 

as amended” 0 Specfffed sums? for the foregoing purpose, are 

appropriated to various schools and fnstitutfons under the 

control of the Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools, 

At the outset we are confronted by the fact that 

“teachers” are not Ii--ted as one of the authorized position 

Mtles in Section 2 b (1) of Article II0 Admittedly, the language of said Section, when viewed alone, is sufficient to 

exclude the employment of personnel with posi~tion titles other 

than those specified therein, However, in resolving the answer to the first question propounded we are of the opinion 

that our attention must be focused upon all the pertinent provisions of Article II of House Bill 133 and not upon said 

Section alone, Only by so doing can the intention of the Legislature be reasonably ascertained and effectuated, 

The rule of construction by which we are guided En 

such cases is aptly stated by 39 Tex.Jur. 168, in the following 

terms : 

II 0 0 0 when it fs necessary to construe an 

Act in order to determine its proper meanfng, it 

is settled by a host of decfsions that the court 

should first endeavor to ascertain the Pegfslative intent, from a general view of the whole enactment, Such intent having been ascertained, the 

court will then seek to construe the statute so as 

to gfve effect to the purpose of the legislature, 

as ,to the whole and each material part of the law, 

even though this may Involve a departure from the 

strict letter of the law as written by the legislature,” 

The Supreme Gourt of Texas in the case of Wood v. 

State ex rel Lee, 126 S.W.2d 4, stated the rule as follows: 

“It is the settled law that statutes shqyT’?d 

be construed so as to carry out the legislative 

intent, and when $tich fr5ent is once ascertained, 

ft should be gfven effect, even though the literal 

meaning of the words used therein is not fcllowed. 

Also, statutes should never be given a construction that leads to uncertainty, fnjustice or confusion if it is possible to construe them otherwise, ., D o1v 
Honorable James A0 Giddings, Page 4 (W-229) 

Viewing the provisions of Article II of House Bill 

133 in their entirety, we think that the Legislature has manffested a clear intent that personnel should be employed by the 

Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools in the position 

title of teachers. To hold otherwise would be .to ignore the 

above cited provisions of said Article which, among other 

things 9 appropriates a reserve fund for teacher pay increases 

and sets forth the formula to be followed by the Board in setting ,the salaries for teachers, 

You are accordingly advised that in our opinion the 

Comptroller of Public Accounts is authorized to approve payrolls submitted by the Board for Texas State Hospitals and 

Special Schools which include salaries for “teacherswO 

It is also our opinion that said salaries may be paid 

from the appropriations for medical care and treatment made to 

the various schools and institutions under the jurisdiction of 

said Board, The items covering appropriations for medical care 

and treatment are generally phrased as follows: 

l’Medfcal Treatment Salaries and Wages (nontransferable) including the following series: 

medical, laboratory, x-ray, caseworker, rehabilitation, medical records, psychology, pharmacy, 

chaplain, nursing and attendants (Includes professlonal fees and services)” (Emphasfs added) 

The instructional services and educational guidance 

afforded by the teachers is clearly an integral part of the 

rehabilitat~ion program for each patient or student, For thi,s 

‘eason we believe that “teachers” are properly a part of the 

-ehabflitation series, 

SUMMARY 

The Comptroller of Public Accounts is authorfzed to approve payrolls submitted by the 

Board for Texas Statt H;,,j.,<tals and Speci,al 

Schools, durfng the ensuing biennium, which include saLaries for “teachersnO 
Honora!zle James A. Gfddfngs, page 5 (WW-229) 

The salaries for teachers may be paid 

Prom the appropriations ITOP medical care 

and treatment. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

LP:jl:wb 

BY 

Leonard Passmore 

Assistant 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

H, Grady Chandler, Chairman 

J, W. Wheeler 

Mark McLaughUn 

Z'VIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Gee, P. Blackburn