OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUBnN 

Ron. B&t FOrd, Ad&nIstrator 

Texas L&quor Control Beard 

Au&In, Texas 

Dear %Irr 

Opinion No. O-1608 

Rer May the Texas L 

Your request r0 

stated question has been 

this department. 

d by the Board 

Q to time ror 

a8 may be neaesaary 

@tIon of and obtaining evitl ens or the provielone of 

rotlsion wan written Into the 

01 aat upon the reaommendation 

of this Board to provide a auahlaning fund 

for ths payment of expenses that mI@ arise 

In the judgment or the Board In making inveetlgatlone or violations 0r the aot. Und er 

the general rule, of aourae, the appropriation BpeeItieallJr made In the amended a0t 

elfeatlve septembsr 1, 19157, was no logger 
Hon. Bert Pord, Page Z 

availbble after September 1, 1939, but the 

Boardimade further reooyendatlon to the 

Legislature for a fide* to the general 

appropriation bill whIah wae adopted and 

+hiah.~you will find appearing In that section of the appropriation bill providing 

appropriatiolJs for the Liquor Control Bcerd, 

reading as rollowe: 

“chit is further provided that receipts .raom the sale or oonflscated 

beverages an4 equipment as provided 

In ths .Texas 1Iquor aontrol aat shall 

be available for defraying expenses 

as stipulated In said act, and .the 

dame are hereby appropriated for said 

purposes.’ 

“It is presumed that this rMer to the 

appropriation aat aontlnued the effectiveness 

oi the: partioular provtalon above referred 

to In the Texas Liquor oontrol aat. 

Vurrently this Board is drawing upon 

wh!t ia known as the *ConiIsoated Liquor 

Fund, 1 ror the payment or salaries or speafal 

Investigators employed as the demand arises 

to supplement the work or cur regular forces. 

*We rpould like to know whether or not, 

in your opinion, slnae a seemingly broad exoeptlon to the general restrlations Or the 

appropAation aat ir provided for this Board, 

the Beard may draw upon the oonfiscated beverage fund ror the ,,,,rt pa or traveling expen:es 

bf lnsjieotcrrb lilro se paid rrom said iunti. 

The generil’ appropriation bill of the 46th 

Legislature or Tezas provider apgroprlatlons for the Texas 

Liquor Control Board and we tInd In the eeotion of the 

appropriation bill providing appropriations for the Texas 

Liquor cotirol Board the f 01lowIne rider, to-wit I 

“It Is further provided that rWeIPtt3 
Hon. Bert Ford, Page 3 

rrau the sale of aonfiraated bevera es and 

equlment am provided in the Texas i&UJr 

Control Aat shall be available ror defrayI@ 

expenses as rtIpul;ated In said aat, and the 

same are hersby appropriated ror said purposem.* 

Artiale 666-30, Vernon’s Texas Annotated Penal 

Code, 1923, reads aa follows: 

*Any IllIoIt beverage as that term Is 

derlned In this Aat, and all Illegal equipment for manufacturelillg any alcohollo beverages Is hereby dealared to be contraband and 

the same may be seized without warrant by 

the Board, or any one of Its agents or employees or by any peaae orrlaer and amy person found In the possession, or In oharge 

thereof, may be arrested without warrant. 

All oontraband aloohollo beverages so seized 

shall be turned over to dther the sheriff ‘of 

the aounty in which suoh seizure is made or 

to any authorized pepresentaflve or agent 

of the Beard. 

*The Board shall have the pawer and 

authority to assemble seizures of alcohoblo 

beverages and aonaentrate them at a plaab 

In thir state where the .eale thereof wIl1 

be deemed most advantageous. 

“All oontraband aloohollo beverages 

remaining in the hands of the eherlii shall 

be sold by him at publla auotlon to the highest bi4der, atter due notiae of such sale has 

been posted for a period ob at least ten (10) 

dapa, but no sali, of liquor shall be made 

to any person unlirrs he Is a permittee who Is 

privileged to have poesesslon themor. No 

dellvem Of liquor so sold shall be made t0 

any permittee unless and until the proper State 

tax stamps have been purohased and afflxed a6 

required by this Aat. 

It Is rurther provided that Immediately 

after the sale as herein provided,, no alahhlia 

biVWage aold ht pub110 auation by a sherI.fr 

shall be delivered within a period of five (5) 

days arter euah sale during whiah time the 
Hon. Bert For&, Page 4 

Board may In ite disaretion reject any bids 

and order t.he liquor disposed of In any 

manner herein provided, 

“It Is rurther provided however that 

In all euoh Instanaes where alooholla beverages are offered for sale at pub110 auation 

the Board shall have the, rlght and authority 

to bid thereon. In the event the Board Ie 

the highest bidder such alooholia beverages 

ehall be delivered to the Board artes the 

payment oi the expeneee oi the sale only and 

nhell be sold by the Board ae herein provided. 

*All alooholla beverages which may oome 

Into the passersion of the Board under the 

provisions of this ~8eotIon may be mold by the 

Board at either pub110 or private sale. 

*All Illegal equipment shall be dedtroyed; 

provided, however, that euah equlment which 

possesses any appreotible value shall be made 

Inoapable ti rurther illegal use and may then 

be rold by the Board or Administrator at prlrate rale. 

*All oosts and expense Inoldental to the 

seizure, male, and assembling of all contraband 

IllIaIt beverages and illegal equipment shall 

be deduated from the proceeds of the sale thereor. 

*The net proaeeds~from all sales as pro- 
Hon. Bert Ford, Pages 5 

whlah may bo mado for the use of the Bcmrd.” 

(underraorlng our8 1 

tlon 

It will .be noted that tlm above quoted eeoof the Texas Liquor Control Aot provides that lruoh 

t’und may be used rrom time to time for deiniylng suah 

expenses aa may be neoessarfr fnr the Investlg tl 

Andy obtaining svldenae for the violations or ~he”~rkIsiona or eaid Aat. ” 

It Is obYIous t&t .the Invcetl$ation of vlola- 

,~ tione of ths Taxas. L&quor Control Aat and the obtaining 

of evldenae of suoh vjo&atIons require travelin 

little, If any, Invegtigetlon~aould be ?fTT%X. 

obtained with referenoe t.o violations of th; Texas Liquor 

Oontrol Aot, without traveling. Traveling expenses of 

the Investigators of the Texas Liquor Control Beard would 

certainly therefore be a nsoessary ‘expense In the lnveatlgatlon of and the obtaining oi evldenoe of violations or 

thb Texas Liquor Control Aot. 

Thererore, you are respectfully advised that It 

Is the opinion of this Dapartment that your quaetion should 

be answered In the aifirmativa. 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNBT OEHERAL OF TEXAS 

BY 

WJF:AW 

APPROVED NOV 80; 1959 

(8) Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TRXAS 

Wm. J. Fanning 

Assistant 

APPROVED 

opinion oommltteeBY BWR 

ohairman