:Dec?+ek 23,~ '1947 '. " 

: 

Hon. Ceoo ,H. Sheppard 

Comptroller of Public' Accounts 

Austin, Texas 

Opinioa,No. v-461 

Re: The designation of the 

"station" of a State 

employee as affecting 

reimbursement.of trav- 

.el expenses. 

De&Sir: 

Reference'.&3 made' to your .letter of.October 20,. 

requesting the opinion of..'this office ~cdnderning the au' 

thority of the State, So11 Conservatioq. Board.to designate 

as the *headquarters" of an- employee, a .place at which no 

official duties are expected 'to be p.erformsd., 

.' ' 

Section'2 (1i)b of then general provisions ap- 

.' 

pendsd't6 Senate B&No. 391, Regular Sessiqn,'.50th Legislature; 1947, being,the General Appropriations Bill 

for State departments and, agencies, provides: 

Vhe Comptroller shall not pay,:and~'. ,. 

no State officer or employee of any of the 

departments or other, agencies of the government shaU include~.in hls.traveling expense 

,acCount any amounts for meals and/or l.odging 

incurred~within the city or town where such 

officer or such employee is stationed. .Such 

e~mploye~es as are-stationed away from their : 

main office or headquarters who';arenot allowed traveling expenses where so stationed 

shall be allowed such expenses uhen called 

to their main office." 

The'words "station" and rheadquartersn in the 

above rider are not used in any technical sense, but In 

the ordinary accepted meaning0 

Article 10, Subsection .l); 

(Revised Civil Statutes, 

Giving to these words their 

ordinary meaning, in the light.of:.the context, the word 

. . 
. 

Hon. Geo. H.'Sheppbrd, Page 2 v-461 

"headquarters" contemplates the principal office of the 

agency employing the individual in question, while the 

word 18station11 contemplates the place where the~employee is required bylaw to perform his duties, or 

where he is by authority of law given a place at which 

he is to perform his duties, and from and to which he 

shall go as his duties require. The purpose of stationing officers and employees in connection with the 

discharge of their duties is to afford the most economical and effective means of servicing the State's business throughout the entire. geographic limits of the 

State. The place,at which the employee .is "stationed" 

does not necessarily mean the employee's,ordinary home, 

although an employee might be stationed at his-ordinary residence if the placing authority thought it advisable that the employee discharge his official duties 

at or from that location. Such: place of, "stationing" 

cannot be considered synonymous with the term "headquarters". The headquarters' for Texas State Soil Con- 

.servation hoard is .$a; Temple, whereas.it appears that 

the Board has district superviso,rs who are "etationedn 

at variouscitiesthroughout the .State: : 

. 

It .is not contemplated. thatthe st,ationing of 

.an employeo must be:p.e.rmanent for any definite period 

of time. It is sufficient that there be a manifestation of an Intention%&; definite placement, as distinguished from a direction forthe performance of a 

single isolated serv~ice.. The stationing might be'ex-- 

pressly temporary or it might be expressly permanent at 

the discretion of the placing authority, and the intention of the placem~ent authority in.stationing its 

employees would be' a governing factor. A temporary 

stationing might be changed to another temporary stationing or to a permanent one, and even.a '!permanent" 

station would be only relatively so,:indicating a stationing with no present stated limitationas to duration. 

No stationing of an emp1oyee.i.s contemplated 

except that which has connection with the discharge of 

.officicl duties of the employee. In'other words, the 

station of an employeo means the place from.which he 

officially operates and towhich he returns in the 

dischar~ge of the duties of his employment. It is our 

opinion that the Texas Soil Conservation Board is not 

authorized to designate as the station of an employee 

a place at which'or from which no official,duties are 
i i,~ 

., 

shone Geo; Ri~~Sheppard, Page' 3~' .Y-461'. ,' 

'.. 

., 

expected to be performed. It'is authorized to desig- 

.nate,the place from which Its district supervisors will; 

operate in their assigned territories, but it. is without authority to designate'as~the ,station of an employe~e a place at which;no official functionsare con- 

~templated,. : 

xe shall not endeavor to-apply the~opinions 

above enunciated to any given fact situation, ,as we .' 

.trust you will have no difficulty in establishing the 

.necessary.,facts to'which theseprinciples may be applied. 

SUIQ??RY 

The.T.exas State~.Soil Conservation' Board 

is not authorized to designate as the *'SW,- 

tion?of an employees a' place at.which no official duties are expec.ted~to be performed,~ 

but it 'is authorized%to designates such place : 

from which its employees willoperate offic.i- ._, 

allv in the performance,oE',their contemplat- _ 

.', 

DBI:bb 

.". .Yp&s ~very~truly, 

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: ATTORNEY G&RAL,GF TEXAS 

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:By.&TJ&&‘jJ& 

David B. Irons 

Administrative Assistant 

. . 

.~ 

Joe R. Greenhill; 

: ~'Executive Assistant 

ATTORNEY ~GENERAL' 

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