OfflCEOFTHEAlTORNEY GENERALOFTRXAE 

AUSTtN 

ther pertinent inof your letter oekttmnt a8 ioll.ou8t 

aoion legally destroy 

clng theta to *recor&k 

or eiPdl8r fOrnI? 

so destroy them, how 

eeerved before being 

Are the recorde of the Coxnmlessible as evidence in civil end 

poccedingo In the collrts Of 

upon being ldentifiud as mcht 

*4. Are photographhio, (such au 

recordak fllln ploture reoorda) photoutatio 

and aertified aopiee OP suah reeorde adaxlssiblet' 

I For oomenlenoe sake, we hrwe aunibered the questions propounded and will answer the a in that order. 
Ponorable Onllle D. _. 

If is aciadeedc to say that the Texas Unempl~,, 

memt Compeneatlon Coemdeelon, being a creature OS the 

etatuto as a governmental egency, has only those power8 

that are conSerred upon It by the statute, either oxpreeely or by necessary IrPplloation. 

The Unemplgment Compeneatlon uyetem for the 

State of Texas was oreated by 6.B. lo. 5, ch. 482 of the 

third called eeeelon 44th teglelature. By the ~arielone 

of that Act rarloue inetrueumte or document8 are to be 

filed 81th the Coeadeeion, divers proceeding8 ere to be 

had, and books and records of tarioue khde are required 

to be kept. There appears, however, to be no requirement 

for the registry or reoordation OS any InatrumDnt or document coming Into the hende of the Commission, neither does 

the Act contain any dlreotion whatsoever as to the preeerration aemnget the emhives of the departnmnt OS the various instrumOnt8, pepere, docummte and the like coedng 

Into Ifs poeeeeeion. Gb~louely, however, the law contemplates that such pepere, l.netmumnte, documents, books, aocounts, and the like, pertaining as they do to the edednietratlon of a depertment of the Governmmt., should be preserved. Rtbllo policy would require as eneh. XoreoYer, 

the Act expressly dealaree that *the Comndeeion mey es&e 

the State*8 record8 relating to the ededsletration of thle 

Act avallable to the Rellroad Etetlreeumt Board and nary f+arnleh the Ballroed Retireenmt Board at the expense OS such 

Board, euch copies thereof as the Rallroed Retireemt Board 

deem neoeeeary for Its purpoeee.~ TIIIs really *lies 

the requlreemnt Sor the preservation OS *records relating 

to the aded.aietratlonm oS the AM.. 

Of course, There a statute authorieee the recordstion OS an ine+rument the trenearlption mey be by the photogra#xlc process, as Tell as by calllgaphlo process. we so 

held in our Opinion lo. O-637. 80, also, mere certified 

copies of records are permitted, the coplee so Certified 

may be #oetatit as ~011 as typevrltten or hendmritten. 

1. The Commieelon mey not legally destroy any OS 

its records at any time, for, as we have seen, they aonetitute the permanent archiqee of that department, and 

there is no statute authorizing euch destruction. 

2, So lapse OS tlrne ~111 authorize the destruction 

of the records or documents constituting the aWhlYe8 of 

your departnxsnt in the absence OS a statute authorizing 

such destruction. 
Honorable Onille 6. Carpenter - Pago 3 

3. rhhe reoorde OS the Comedseion are edmieeible as 

eyldenCe in any Oaee where they are pertinent under the 

.gtabllehed rules of OvideIme, but the statute nowhere 

e&es them origina evidence merely because they constitute 

l part of the archlree of a public oSfloe. 

the B&d Civil Statutes, which Is as Sollove~ 

This question Is answered by lrtiole ~20 of 

gCoplee OS the records and filed papers 

of all pldllc oifioere asld custodians of 

records OS raimutee of boards, etc., aml 

courts of this State, certified to under 

the hand, and the seal if there be one, of 

the lawful possessor OS such reoorde, shall 

be admitted as evidence in all eases vhere 

the records themselves would be a&deeible. 

Wanelated copies OS all records in the land 

osflae certliied to under the hand of the 

translator, end the Commissioner o? the General Land Office, attested with the seal of 

said oSSlce,~ehall be prims facie evidence 

in all cases where the original records 

would be evidence.' 

Trusting that the anewera here given to your queetione ~111 be eatlefactory, We are 

Verytrulyyoure 

ATTOiilO3X GRli.ERAL OF TJ3X.)S 

OS-UR 

BY 

Aeelstant