June 4, 1990 

Hon. Frank M. Jackson Opinion No.M-644 

Executive Secretary 

Teacher Retirement System of Texas Re: Authority of the Board of 

314 W. 11th Street Trustees of the Teacher 

Austin, Texas 78701 Retirement System to invest trust funds of the 

System in home office 

facilities, including land, 

equipment, and office 

building to be used in ,, 

administering the System, 

and related questions. 

Dear Mr. Jackson: 

You have requested the opinion of this office regarding the 

following specific questions: 

"1. Does the State Board of Trustees of the 

Teacher Retirement System have authority to invest 

trust funds of the Teacher Retirement System in home 

office facilities including land, equipment and office 

building to be used in administering the System? 

"2 , If your answer to Question No. 1 is in the 

affirmative, does the State Board of Trustees of the 

Teacher Retirement System have authority to manage and 

control such buildings and grounds purchased or built 

with funds of the Teacher Retirement System? 

"3.~ If your answer to Question No. 2 is in the 

negative, would the State Board of Control have jurisdiction over such buildings and grounds. 

"4. If your answer to Question No. 2 is, in the 

affirmative, would the State Board of Trustees of the 

Teacher Retirement System have authority to pay expenses 

incurred for operating, maintaining, repairing and improving the buildings and grounds described in Question No. l?" 

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. . 

Hon. Frank M. Jackson. page 2 (M-644) 

The Teacher Retirement System was created~and is governed by 

Article 3, Section 48b, Constitution of Texas, which reads, in 

its pertinent part, as follows: 

"There is hereby created as an agency of the State 

of Texas the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the 

rights of membership inwhich, the retirement privileges 

and benefits thereunder, and the management and operations 

of which shall be governed by the provisions herein 

contained and by present or hereafter enacted Acts of 

the Legislature not inconsistent herewith. The general 

administration and responsibility for the proper operation of said system are hereby vested in a State Board 

of Trustees, to be known as the State Board of Trustees 

of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, . . . . Said 

Board is hereby authorized and empowered to invest and 

reinvest any of said moneys, securities, and assets, as 

well as the proceeds of any of such investments, . . . . 

or in home office facilities to be used in administering 

the Teacher Retirement System includinq land, equipment, 

and office building; . . .."( Emphasis added.) 

In view of the specific constitutional provision above quoted, 

your first question is answered in the affirmative. 

With regard to your second question, your attention is 

directed to Article 2922-4.09, Vernon's Civil Statutes, which 

reads, in part, as follows: 

“(a) General administration of and responsibility 

for proper operation of the Retirement System in 

accordance with the provisions of this chapter are 

vested in a State Board of Trustees . ...“ 

In response to a similar question, this office held in Attorney 

General's Opinion C-705 (1966) that the building constructed 

by the Texas Employees Retirement System was not subject to the 

control of the State Board of Control for the reason that such 

building was constructed with trust funds and assumed the same 

chracter as those funds. As a public trust, such structure was 

not subject to the authority vested in the State Board of Control 

by Article 665, Vernon's Civil Statutes. It is our opinion 

that the legal nature of the Employees Retirement System and the 

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Hon. Frank M. Jackson, page 3 (M-644) 

Teachers Retirement System is so legally similar in this respect 

that the holding expressed in Attorney General's Opinion C-705 

controls the present question. Accordingly, our opinion is that 

the State Board of Trustees of the Teacher Retirement System 

has authority to manage and control buildings and grounds purchased 

or built with funds of the Teacher Retirement System. 

In view of our affirmative answer to your second question, 

your third question is not answered. 

Article 2922.101, et seq., Vernon's.Civil Statutes, and 

Attorney General's Opinion C-705, supra, provide ample basis 

for our conclusion that the State Board of Trustees of the Teacher 

Retirement System has the necessary.authority to pay expenses 

incurred for operating, maintaining, repairing and improving 

the buildings and grounds described in Question No. 1. Accordingly, 

your fourth question is answered in the affirmative. 

SUMMARY 

The State Board of Trustees of the Teacher 

Retirement System has authority to invest trust 

funds of the Teacher Retirement System in home 

office facilities, including land, equipment and 

office building to be used in administering the 

System. 

The State Board of Trustees of the Teacher 

Retirement System has authority to manage and control 

the buildings and grounds purchased or built with 

these funds of the Teacher Retirement System. 

The State Board of Trustees of the Teacher 

Retirement System has authority to pay expenses 

incurred for operating, maintaining, repairing and 

improvingthe buildings and grounds so purchased. 

/-I 

y General of Texas 

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-. . 

Hon. Frank M. Jackson, page 4 (M-644) 

Prepared by Malcolm L. Quick 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Wayne R. Rodgers 

Earl Hines 

Jerry Roberts 

Brandon Bickett 

MEADE F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant 

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