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 aertifiedaopiee OP suah reeorde adaxlssiblet'

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

If is aciadeedc

to say that the Texas Unempl~,, memt CompeneatlonCoemdeelon,being a creature OS the etatuto as a governmentalegency,has only those power8 that are conSerredupon It by the statute, either oxpreeely or by necessaryIrPplloation.

The Unemplgment Compeneatlonuyetem for the **State** of Texas **was oreated**  by 6.B. lo. 5, ch. 482 of the third called eeeelon44th teglelature. By the ~arielone of that Act rarloue inetrueumteor document8 are to be filed 81th the Coeadeeion, divers proceeding8ere 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 dlreotionwhatsoever 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, pertainingas they do to the edednietratlon of a depertment of the Governmmt., shouldbe preserved. Rtbllo policywould require as eneh. XoreoYer, the Act expresslydealaree that *the Comndeeionmey es&e the State*8record8 relating to the ededsletrationof thle Act avallable to the RellroadEtetlreeumt Board and nary

f+arnleh the BallroedRetireenmtBoard at the expense OS such Board, euch copies thereofas the Rallroed Retireemt Board deem neoeeeary for Its purpoeee.~ TIIIs really *lies the requlreemnt Sor the preservationOS *records relating to the aded.aietratlonm oS the AM..
Of course,There a statute authorieee the recordstion OS an ine+rumentthe trenearlptionmey 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 typevrlttenor hendmritten.

1. The Commieelonmey not legally destroy any OS its records at any time, for, as we have seen, they aonetitute the permanentarchiqee of that department,and there is no statuteauthorizingeuch 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 pertinentunder the .gtabllehedrules of OvideIme,but the statute nowhere e&es them origina evidencemerely 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 oifioereasld custodiansof 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 possessorOS 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 Commissionero? the General Land Office, attestedwith the seal of said oSSlce,~ehall be prims facie evidence in all cases where the originalrecords would be evidence.' Trusting that the anewerahere given to your queetione ~111 be eatlefactory, We are
Verytrulyyoure
ATTOiilO3X

GRli.ERAL

OF TJ3X.)S

OS-UR BY
Aeelstant