: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- .elexpenses. De&Sir:

Reference'.&3 made'to your .letterof.October 20,. requesting the opinion of..'this office~cdnderningthe au' thority of the State,So11 Conservatioq. Board.to designate
as the *headquarters" of an-employee, a .placeat which no official duties are expected 'tobe p.erformsd., .' ' Section'2 (1i)b of thengeneral provisions ap-

.'pendsd't6 Senate B&No. 391, Regular Sessiqn,'.50thLegislature; 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 ,acCountany 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 expenseswhere 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); (RevisedCivil Statutes, Giving to these words their ordinary meaning, in the light.of:.thecontext, 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 connectionwith the discharge of their duties is to afford the most economical and effectivemeans of servicing the State's business throughout the entire. geographic limits of the State. The place,atwhich the employee .is"stationed" does not necessarilymean the employee's,ordinary home, although an employeemight 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 synonymouswith the term "headquarters". The headquarters'for Texas State Soil Con- .servationhoard is .$a; Temple, whereas.it appears that the Board has district superviso,rs who are "etationedn at variouscitiesthroughout the .State: :

. It .isnot contemplated.thatthe st,ationingof
.anemployeomust 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 stationingmight 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 employeeswould be'a governing factor. A temporary stationingmight be changed to another temporary stationing or to a permanent one, and even.a '!permanent" stationwould be only relatively so,:indicating a stationing with no present stated limitationas to duration.

No stationing of an emp1oyee.i.scontemplated except that which has connectionwith the discharge of .officiclduties 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 arei i,~

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

., expected to be performed. It'is authorized to desig- .nate,theplace from which Its district supervisorswill; operate in their assigned territories, but it.is without authority to designate'as~the ,stationof 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, ,aswe .' .trustyou will have no difficulty in establishing the .necessary.,facts

to'which theseprinciples may be applied.
SUIQ??RY

The.T.exasState~.SoilConservation' Board is not authorized to designate as the *'SW,- tion?of an employeesa'place at.which no official duties are expec.ted~to be performed,~ but it 'isauthorized%to designatessuch place : from which its employees willoperate offic.i-._, allv in the performance,oE',theircontemplat-

_

.',

DBI:bb .". .Yp&s ~very~truly,

. . :ATTORNEY G&RAL,GF TEXAS

.' 

# :By.&TJ&&‘jJ&

David B. Irons Administrative Assistant . .

.~ Joe R. Greenhill; : ~'ExecutiveAssistant

ATTORNEY ~GENERAL'

.