OFFICE OF THE All-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Gee. H. Sheppard 

cmptroller of Pub110 Accounts 

Auua tin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Your letter of F 

and also for telegraph, telenger aemloe. We, therefore, 

owing questions and reepectlve- 

'1. Is the Prison officlale authorized to 

incur claims for telegraph, telephone and remsager service and per for suoh clelms out of 

the $10,000 appropriation made for contingent 

eXpen0et 
-orable Gee. H. Sheppard, Page 2 

“2. Is the Prison offloials author%.ted 

td Inour olains for motor vehicle supplles and 

pay for same out of the Industrisl Revolving 

Fund created by the Forty-fourth Legislature, 

First Called Session, Page 1600, Chapter 403, 

of 1935, as the same Is appropristed In a speoial rider folloving the ltemlsatIo.ns in the 

Current Appropriation Bill? 

Vou will note from the trdwtriel Revolving Fund oreated by the above mentioned Aot of 

1935, that it required that the State Treasurer 

of Tums shall deposit sufflolent amount of 

noneys reoslved by him from the Qeaorali(msger 

of the Texas Prison 8 stem out 0r money emned 

byaIldbe1ongsngt0 tiT e State Prlron System In 

bank et Runtsvllle, Texas, for the purpose of 

l stablIshIug the Industrial Revolving Fund, 

vhioh fund lm to be wed by raid Prison System 

in th0 p~emlng 0f SUP~~IOS r0r th0 trri0~ 

lndwtrles or the Texas Prison System." 

As stated In hour letter, the Oenenrl Approprirtion 

Bill of the Regular Session of the Forty-eighth Leglalature 

(LB. 332) ukem iteaised appropriations of kZC,COC per year 

for motor supplies and 42,500 per year ror telegraph, telephone and messenger servloe for the Texas Prison System. 

This sot also makes an ltemlsed appropriation of $10,000 per 

year for 'Contingent Expenses.* Section 15(b) of the Ceneral 

Pkovlslons of this act provides: 

"The opproprlations herein provided are to 

be oonstruedas themaxlmum sums to be appropriated to end for the several purposes named 

herein, and the amounts are Intended to oover, 

and shall cover the entire oost of the respeotlve items imd the same shall not be supplemented from any other ~ouroes~ end, exoept as 

otherwise provided, no other expenditures shall 

be made, nor shall any other obligations be inourred by any depar$ment of thle State, provided, hovever, that nothing herein shall prevent any department head from paytng less than 

the maxlsnns amount set forth hereIn for any 

salaried posltlon.R 
4t;o 

Honorable Gee. Ii. Sheppard, Page 3 

In ouz Opinion No. O-1332 ve said vlth respect to 

&e:effeot of a provision ldentlosl with thls upon an appro- 

$riatlon for contingent expenses$ 

"Having due regard to the context ln which 

ve find the vord (contingent), and the speolflc 

aUthOris8tiOn for the us8 of such funds for such 

purposes, ve are impelled to the oonoluslon that 

the Lsglsl8ture has said substantially this: 

'We h.sve ettempted, so far as po&ble, to 

antlolpate every item of expenses, vhlch msy neoeaaarlly be Incurred in the operation of your department, but ve resllse th8t our judgment 88 to 

suoh aLatter may be lnexaot, from the very nature 

of things, and ve therefore sppropriste to, your 

departmeuat a sum of money generally avallabZe for 

operating expenses of your departpent, except as 

othervise herein speclfloally limited, to tske 

care of those employments apd othei'exuenses not 

herein speolfloelly provided f but hlh 

ne@esssrlly be required t o ena% your"de&rg&t 

properly to tiotlon.l" (Emphasis and parenthetiOs1 VOrd added) 

Since expenditures for telegreph, telephone and,messenger service have been 8pe~lflO8lly provided for in th&gpproprlatlon bill, ve feel that the appropristion for such servloe 

say not be supplemented by expenditures from the sppropriat,lon 

for contingent expenses. Consequently your first question 1s 

snsvered in the negative. 

In our Opinion No. O-2990 ve considered the Indud-' 

trial Revolving Fund of the Texas Prison System and its blennial "appropriation" in the Genelgl Appropriation Bills. 

In this connection ve said: 

"Au adding up of the amounts of the various 

specific Items of appropriation for the prPson 

system shows th8t the amounts of the revolviog 

funds are not included ln the tot818 , . . This 

fact, together with the requirement that the lndustrlal revolving fund be kept at its maximum 

at all times, espeoially when considered ln the 
461 

-orable Gee. H. 8heppard, Page 4 

light 0r section 3 or the sot orl.glally oreat- 

~lng the revolvlag fund, oleerly show thst it 

vas not intended by the Leglsbture that auoh 

revolrlng fund should be a supplemental or additional appropriation to those ltemlted elsevhem. It wss not Intended by the Ieglrlsture 

to do more, in creating th8 lndumtrirl revolving f'uud, than to amble oertaia purahases to 

be ndo by the syrta ror ouh. Wo awvor your 

l OWd q W8tiOArlXWt t by Ur b g & St vh4 r &0 III+ 

Ohu.8 are mado rrom the 3aduBtPlal revolvlag 

Sund, they should be ohsrged sgalnrt sppropriatioru mid41 r0r the rupport 0nd rintonu~i or 

the rlson rysta, and ruoh nvolving fund rJmuld 

not & oonrldend am a rupplaenta~rpproprlatlon to the regular uouats approprlatml ror the 

malntenuloo 0r the ryHmI." 

fn 0iw 0r thi8 opiait ti tbs rw thd th0 ituhod sppropristlon r0r motor rupplior ir nov uhmut0q, VO.*;"~‘ . 

feol~tbat JOW raoond qwrtlon mwt rho bo aarve~~d la fiho 

n4gatlve. 

Trusting that ths r0r0going fully aasvexm youa- inquirler, ve are 

Your8 very truly 

I ATTORUBY GBRBRAL OF TXAS 

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