Dr. Henry A. 'Holle 

Commissioner of Health 

State Department of Health 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. W-442 

Re: The authority of the State 

Health Department to use 

funds collected as fees under 

Section 92 of the Texas Mental Hetilth Code, in spite of 

the fact that House Bill No. 

6 was not submitted to the 

State Comptroller for certiDear Dr. Holle: fication. 

You have requested an opinion concerning whether fees 

collected pursuant to the provisions of Article 5547, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, are available for expenditure. 

Section 92 of Article 5547, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

provides~: 

"(a) An application fee and a license fee shall 

accompany the application for a license. If the 

Department denies the license, only the license fee 

shall be returned. The application fee is Twentyfive Dollars ($25). The annual license fee payable 

on August 31, of each year is Fifty Dollars ($50). 

"(b) All fees collected under this chapter 

shall be deposited with the State Treasurer to the 

credit of the Department.' 

Section 6 of Article VIII of the Constitution of 

Texas provides: 
Dr. Henry A. Holle, Page 2 (W-442). 

"No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but 

in pursuance of specific appropriations made by law; 

nor shall any appropriation of money be made for a 

longer term than two years, except by the first 

Legislature to assemble under this Constitution, 

which may make the necessary appropriations to 

carry on the government until the assemblage of the 

sixteenth Legislature." 

This constitutional provision controls all appropriations from the State Treasury, and money not specifically appropriated by the Legislature cannot be withdrawn from the Treasury. 

Pickle v. Finley 91 Tex. 484, 44 S-W, 480 (1898); Lightfoot v. 

4 447, 

$%%n~"WW?% (1957) and WW-275 (19573. 

140 S.W. 8g (1911). Attor~yt~q~;ra;on 

presented is whether the language 'to the credii of the Department" is sufficient language to constitute a specific appropriation pursuant to the provisions of Section 6 of Article VIII of 

the Constitution of Texas. 

An appropriation is a setting apart from the public 

revenue of a certain sum of money for a specific object in such 

a manner that the executive officers of the government are 

authorized to use that money and no more for that object and 

for no other. Attorney Ceneral@s Opinion w-96 (1957) and 

authorities cited therein, It is noted that the language "to 

the credit of the Department" does not set apart the fees so 

deposited for use by the Department, nor does it state the purpose for which the fees, if set apart, could be used. 

It is our opinion that such language does not constitute an appropriation within the meaning of Section 6 of Article 

VIII of the Constitution of Texas, You are,therefore, advised 

that the fees so deposited in the Treasury pursuant to the provisions of Article 5547 are not available for expenditure. 

SUMMARY 

Fees collected pursuant to the 

provisions of Section 92 of Article 5547, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

required to be deposited in the 

State Treasury have not been 
Dr. Henry A. Holle, Page 3 (ww-442). 

appropriated by the Legislature, 

and are not, therefore, available 

for expenditure. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Sam Blackham 

Assistant 

;x'John Reeves 

Assistant 

SB:JR:jl 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

Riley Eugene Fletcher 

Ralph R. Rash 

Richard B. Stone 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: 

W, V, Ceppert