**OFFICE OF**  THE **AITORNEY GENERAL**  **OF** TEXAS **AUSTIN**

Honorable Lee Bredy, Comaleeloner, Department of Banking Austin, Texas

Webeg to ackno 0r,your letter 0r October 0, 1940, ue

r exeminaThe dlrrlculty

the cfflce.
the plan of this DeDartment that lssloner, Decs,rtmentel Exeminer Loan %:Dervlsor will actively in the act,.;al exeminetlon of banks and building and.loan associations wtienever their suocrvisory d-ties will ?ernit. "Your attention Is dlrected to the ract that under the current apcroorlatlon bill there 1s aprcvislon for the poslticn o? 'bookkeeper andbond clerk'. This Tosltlon is newf?lledHon. Lee Brady, Page 2
by a manwhowas rormerly an arRlctent examine*. It is our hope that by reorganizing hla work he Will be able, not onby to perform the duties of his Doeltlon, but will have some time available for other work. It has been suggested thet he could beet be used ln assisting either the Deputy Commlreloner, Departmental Examiner, or Bulldlng andLoan Supervisor, whenthore tmploytea art actively engaged In examinationa, by ptrronnlng apart of the detall work in connection with the examlnatlon. At times it may be desirable to have this employee assist the field examlntrs, his use being governed by the requirements of the tioment. Naturally, if thf6 employee 1s to be used as above suggested it will be necessary that he trevtl. Before putting this plah o? operation into effect I would **llkt** to eubmlt to you the following question: *Canthe State pay the travel expenses of the bookkeeper andbond oltrk of this Departmentwhen he Ie traveling in,connection wlth the work as above outllntd?’ Arider attached to the Departmental Appropriatlon Bill by the 45th Legislature (General Laws, 1937, p. 1491).provIded for transfer of employees, as follows:

#It shall be the duty of the head of any department to transfer anemployee of his orflce to anydesk or place within the department ,whennecessary to perform the duties of the department, snd for the.proper dlsoatch of buslnesf.’ This rider was omitted from the Appropriation El11 nassed by the 46th Legislature.

We understand from your letter, however, that you do not ccntemolate a trensfer of an employee but rather you contemolate utll1zir.g Rcart of the bookkeecer sr,dbond clerk’s time to el3. the reg2ila.r excminerz ?n their work; that the ssl;?ry of the bookkeeper andboredHon. Lee Brsdy - Page 3

clerk ~111 be paid as in the Approprlatlon Bill **conttm** plated, but that hla travellng expenses alone are wlthin the ecopt of your Inquiry.

Ii the question of traveling txptneee of the bookkeeper-bond **clerk** were not Involved, the question propounded by you would undoubtedly be oontrolled by our holding in Oplnlon No. 04139, wherein It was aald:

‘The above-quoted rider on salary payments (The 1937 Approprlatlon Bill) doe6 not prohibit a servlct or duty, but It requires that he **actually** perform the duties for which he 1s pald, If he perform6 the duties for which he 16being paid, and Is able, in addition thereto, to a6616t other ntot66ary activities of the department, wefind nothIng in the bill which would prevent the dtpartmtnt heed from 60directing. It is commonknowledge that the volume of **work** on various desks in the dirrtrtnt department6 fluctuates from time to tlmt, andwedo not thlnk It wae the intention of the Ltglrlature to prohibit the head of a department from dlrtcting an employee to perform additional duties or asslet with other work where the clrcumetancee require. Thle 16a eltuatlon to which the rule of reason mustbe applltd." Item 7 under the heading of Loan andBrokerage Division (1mDroperly placed, apparently,) of the current approprlatlon for the State Banking Department Is as follows:

**“ Traveling**  expense, Banking Department

............................ $19,000.00." In the very nature of this Item it contemslE.tes oayaent of the trsvel exgenet of eny person belonging tc the Banking Deoertment necessarily Incurred in trznrectlng State bueiness connected with that department. We think the Appropriation Act ltselr should be liberally construed with aview to effectuating the purpose6 for which the Leglsleture thus madeprevision. Much 1s left, of course, to the sound, offlclel discretion of the 98nk-Hon. Let Brady - page 4

Ing Commlesloner as to when such travel txpenet Ir necessary or proper. When, however, he determiner In the txtrclee of that sound, offlclal dlecrttlon that agiven strvlce and the lncldental travel txpenat connected therewith art ntcersary in the perrof?nanct of hl6 official duties, andhe la able and wllllng to **make** the necessary affidavit that the services have been perrozbtd, or more expllcltly, that the expense har been incurred In the prostoutlon or State busInt8s by,tht employee or hi6 departnent, the lttm mayproperly be paid rrom the traveling expense approprleted in Item 7 above.

TheImmtdIatt cast unmistakably rhows a moet commendable purpose on your part, as Baaklng Commlrsloner, to conserve the **services** of the employtt6 nowin the department, andto obtain the maxlmumstrvlce from each, In the most economical method available. This purpose 16not only commtndable but well within the splrlt ofthe law.

Truetlng that this will have answered your lnqulry, weare Very trulyyour8 ATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS

09-m 

### BY (6lgntd) Ocle Speer ASSiSte~nt

AF:ROVED

NCA’1, 1940 GersldC.Mann [s/ ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS