. 

### 'TRE AITORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS
AUSJTIN. 'PNNASJ 78711 

### .lOEN l.. ElIA. A- o-AI. May 3, 1977

Honorable Paul Cromwell Opinion No. If- 987 Chairman Board of Pardons & Paroles Re: Representationof inmates Room 711, Stephen **F.** Austin by legislatorsbefore the Building Board of Pardons 6 Paroles. Austin, Texas 70701 Dear Mr. Cromwell: You inquire about the circumstancesunder which members of the Texas Legislaturemay represent inmates of Texas prisons before the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Before granting parole to a prisoner, the Board may interviewhim. Code Grim. Proc. art. 42.12, 9 15(c). By Board rule, inmate interviewsare conductedprivately and not as public hearings, a practice expresslypermittedby the Texas Open MeetingsAct. V.T.C.S. art. 6252-17, 9 2(p). Any personwho representsan inmate in his interviewwith the Board must submit an affidavit statingwhether he has received or will receive a fee forhis services. Code Grim. Proc. art. 42.12, S 18.
you ask whether legislatorsmay represent inmates for a fee in connectionwith such proceedings in view of the following provision: (a) No member of the legislature shall,

for compensation,represent another person before a state agency in the executive branch of state government unless:

(1)the representation ismade in a proceeding that is adversary in nature or other public hearing which is a matter **of** record.
. . . V.T.C.S. art. 6252-9b, S 7. The Board of Pardons and Paroles is a state agency in\, the executive branch. See V.T.C.S. art. 6252-9b, 9 2, (5)(A) -

p. 4104Honorable Paul Cromwell - page 2 (H-987)

(xiv)and (8)(A)(i). An inmate interview is neither public 

### nor adversary; therefore,members of the Legislaturemay not represent inmates in such an interview for a fee. 

### YOU also ask whether the Boardmay refuse to allow legislatorswho are receiving a fee to represent inmates of the Texas Department of Corrections. rules respecting the interviews. The Board has power tomake Article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedureprovides in part:

The Board may adopt such other reasonable rules not inconsistentwith law as it may deem proper or necessarywith respect to

. . . the conduct of parole hearings.,

. . . Sec. 15(d).

The Board shall formulate rules as to the submissionand presentationof information and arguments to the Board for and in behalf **of** any personswithin the jurisdiction of the Board. Sec. 18. Under theseprovisionswe believe the Board may adopt rules governing the qualificationsof persons who repre-

. sent inmatesbefore it; however, in order to be valid, an administrative rule discriminatingbetween personsmust have a reasonablebasis related to the purpose of the rule. Railroad Commissionv. Shell Oil Co., 161 S.W.Zd 1022, 1026 (Tex. 1942); Ground Water ConservationDist. **No.** 2 v.,Iiawley,304 S.W.Zd 764, 767 (Tex.Civ. App. -- Amarillo 1957)writ ref'd n.r.e. per cur&m, 306 S.W.2d 352 (Tex.1957). Ame forbidding legislators from representing inmates for a fee in closed proceedings before the Board merely reflects the statutory prohibition of article 6252-913,

and we believe it would be found to be reasonable. Of course, neither the rule nor the statute prohibit appearancesby legislatorswhen no fee is involved. SUMMARY Article 6252-9b, section 7 prevents legislators from representing inmates for a fee in private interviewswith the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Board may make a rule forbidding legislators from representing inmates for a fee in proceedings which are either nonadversaryor nonpublic.

p. 4105Honorable Paul Cromwell - page 3 (H-987)

Very trulyyours,

JOHN L. HILL Attorney General of Texas
APPROVED:

p. 4106