TEEA’~~~HNEY GE&SAL 

OFTEXAS 

Au-. II. Trun 

Honorrue c. H. cwnerm 

State Audit& 

Au&&I, !rexa* 

opinion so. O-4907 

Rer Bnk overdraft in the local fuuds 

of state Eduoetioua1 Iustitutious. 

510 dll aokaouledge reoeipt of your let 

the oplnica of thi6 depwtamt. 

of 00tobw 5, 1242, requesting 

quote a1 followa: 

%I OWUeOtim with annual audito, now being made by this deparSmant, 

of $10 book8 and rewrils of the various State Educational ~a~t&itxm 

we hh~ enoo=tered a pra~tiw, m the legality of uhioh np need flour 

opinion in order to &se proper ocmsent and reooamendation in our 

Reports. 

"'ibis is a Pnotice (uhioh, inoidentally, is not general) of issuing 

aheaks agaimt boa1 Amd he& l ooounts is whioh there.are not suffioient 

ba1anwsto payths oheoks. In other wurds these are financial 

trawaotiona whiah result in rotual hank overdrafts in ~erw&r of the 

Looal Fwda +hioh are aubjeot:tos&ropriation, and reappropriation, by 

fhe tigialature - a method of finenoing by the college whioh may be 

questionable under existing statutes as it appears to have the effeot 

of supplementing Legislrtivo appropriations as well as perhaps extending 

tb State'8 oredit. Patunlly the reoipients.of these oheshs hold then, 

or the bank pays the& in Imtioiption of future collsotions of Fess of 

other rwenuer~. eto. I;O shall appreoiate your answer to the following 

queetionsr 

'(1) IS it legal for the Finenor Offioers of a State Eduor~+onal 

~,,~~~oplft, iwue &e&s against bsnvacoounts in uhioh there 

we not dfi&ent halames at the time to aover, on Looal .Fund 

Ao-ts uhioh ars subject to Legislative appropristion? 

, 

s(2) If fhs mswr to question PO. l'indioates an illegal practioe, 

wht is the legal &.stua of any and all suah cheohs7 

~,~~+sie your &wei to thsa.e'questionf probably muid not bs i 

'. affeoted ,b.the attitude or l otion oi the bsnk on nhioh the ohs&e : 

bad been drann,‘that is, whether or not they had aotually paid the 
- -. 

krIoraue c. E. cwnew - Pag.e 2. &No7 

a nd ewr y inIg n theibook r a n - wer dr a awant. ft c d l p p mxha tdy 

$lS,QaMLl 011 August Slst, lQ42, a sitw.tlOn that bas been a0l-e or 

less OOntinUOUe itl WE &EWtiCiUhr i.nnStWw, With tfm bu& haring b 

fulThhOd IlO WOUd~ t0 00WC those 0rsldmrts 8' the oollege, If 

aurasmaptiw that&e attitude acd aots of the hsnkbaveno boaring 

up t.te enwer to the dove 2uestions iu iaoorreot, we &all he 

plOased tc hvu you t&e that into ocnaideraticn.s 

lhe answer to ttm f*D questiwr pmpouuded In your mquert for aa opinn?on 

0al.b for an i11t4J~~tiOm Of Artlole 26b4d. %xaa Civil gt&cteU. 

?e Iare bssnuuable tc tindan interpretation of this ststste lyanyofthe 

oau‘*r ofthim Stlk,ihers+om ouranmers ta yourquest form opida 

am bad& an general legal pr%noiples as applied tc the hot situatl~ 8et 

out iuyuurletber. 

Artldle 26Md was CUiaotd ly tho %egislat?uu in 13SS, ihis cltatute provides 

that the @maaing boa&a cf the wvoral State edueatlwn?. instttut3w.e 

tbereinmentianedmayluyin contml of tke localinstit.Go~al inoane Lr 

ouryhg aut the hmtSon8 af an eduoatioLalinsbltutian,end tc eeleot 

degoaltory bsuks themfor; that trte end full acoormts stall lz~ *qt, hy 

said hoards, snd by the an@yees of such inetituti~na Of all ?@my ocl~ectod 

dud paid out, ttr, persacs to r;fiara yid, aud the plrposes for?Moh gadd; 

that mete reports sbsuld te printed b.lennially~ enc., oopies of r;bioh '. 

8mtabe funlieAledtatb0~to offio5Jals thcroInnanOd. 7t:sfurtdmr 

pmv%ded that tb%e law shall he euhscrvienb to :bo Cmnial appmprtati0n 

Mlls for the support of the as~eral insfi~t~~~s thu~~~~tiuzod. 

Sso. 1, (a) of the acts of the legi6laturo in 1941, nvCzlrg appmpriat3cx3 

for eduoational instituttons of bigherleaming reads as follows: 

-7hat all bslanoes in the instit~ti0nal fund cf thn snrar*l '.tatc 

s&oatiormrl Iustitutions named in the aot,at ',iti o:ono of t&a 

fiscal year oudiug August 21, 1942, +naLd.irg %.?.waos ‘in the 

revolving fund at that time, and the eutire InoOrc to saZd fwds 

.durlng each 0i.th.s tm fiscal years ending August 21, 1942, and 

August Sl, 1945, which are not ot!Mrdso appmprslated for oither 

or both of said years are hereby appmprlated forthe support, 

malnt-snsncs, operation, end impromtaent of said State Isstitutions 

during eacb of said years, respectively.' 

7.w do not find anytbiug in said statute nor in the said appropriation bill 

that msi&&s the school authcrities of the educational iustit~tionS In 

question in hwing ohooks on the looal f?md tank aOcoucts during the 

fisoil year, nithiu the limit of appmpriatiOn for the par, hut we think 

t,ht& mid s&o01 auth~ritios wnnot lawfully draw ohecks 011 such fuuds 

&tig~yfiswl year in exoess of the aQpropriatiommado by the 

legislatere for that year0 
:*omblo c. ii. c3mloss - Pago 3. 0.4907 

:ouaoi~opinloa~t~sdrrrmonloorl~d~kaacolefsin 

oxoaes of ths appropriation, by said sohool autlmritias, durkg any fbsal 

year, that- outstsndlng andunpaidattbe endof- fisoalyaar, ax-s' 

mlid asd osmot bo pid out of ths fiture rsvewes of suoh lastitutims. 

Yours very truly 

A'lWRRET GZIRXUL OF ‘GkS 

s/t. F. Pries 

w E. P. Frioo AsSistsnt 

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