### 661

OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

IionorableJohn 8. Winters Ez8outlve Dlrrotor State Department of Pub110Welfare Austin 3, Teraa

Eear Sir:

We are pleased to refly ,,$a ~&UP letter oi‘Be&aber 20, 1944, la whioh you reQu8rt the opinloa of this department on the above o&pti Y ed+ibJect.,. \,./’ .::’ The facts Oolltalned ‘0 ther&orandum rubmitted with yc)urletter ar8P4%+r8$ly~ ‘Ppat’~(t 8XtOrt8d $r5.00 oash from B on th8 proml#@ tt#t”whe (A)~ wod%d get B’s husband a grant of old age mSititaoC8.lTh8 fUil ice for thls extraorclin~y servlci*vas $68, r A charged B Oj $15.00 oash aad the balance to be paid out df,the old a&e asSi8tanCe grant after it vu obtaiwd;.~

e-s t. I\, ,;? i Ye ilr8Of t’heo&Ulop.ihat the abOV8 set Of iaCt8, if true; cenet$tuto a flolat$,@R of Bbotioa 32 0;



## r thepublic Yelie &it 

### of 1941, the~~Ba&being Pl’ticlb 6950, Vernon’8 rmnotateq~

civil..pt.ytss, which read8 u Sollows;



# “Jt sh& tieunlawful ror any attorney at lf&h olll,et$cirn99 in faot, or any other **person,** firm**h2.r** i%rp*ation vhatsower, representIna aw appllcBot ~‘rsolplent of assistance **to** the aged, to the ne& bliad, or to any llsedp dependent child, or for any child usUs.re service with resp8ct t0 any applicationbefOr the State Department, or any of its agenta, to charge a fee ior his services in excess of Ten Dollars ($10) ln aiding or reprcsentiag any such applicant before the State Department, or for any otherHonorable John Ii. Winters, page 2

service in 

### l

ldlng such apFIlcant to secure asslstanoa **or** servloe. It Shall 1ik8V188 be t?nlawful for any person, rum **or** oorForatlon, to advertise,hold hhS8lf out for or sollclt the procurement of assistance **or** aarvlce.”
SubS8Otlon (3) of s8CtiOll 34 9l’OVld88 the 98tity and reads in part as iollovs:

I **or** whoever violates **section** 32 or S8CtiO;l j3k this AOt, shallbe guilty of a mlsdormnor, and upon oonvlotlon thereof, shallbe fined eny sum not more than One fiundrsd Dollars
18100) or be lnprlroned **for** not less than sir )months, nor more than two both so fined and ~pvIson8d.n (2)years, **or** be

Further, you inquire whether or not it vould be la violation of Section 33 of the Publicu8lis.re Act of 1941 

### for the State Department to furnish the county attorney vlth whatever informationmay be eontalned in the case record of thehusband of the said B, andvhether or not the worker may appear la court and testify es to the lnformatlcnwhich she obtainedwhile octlng in the capacity of a worker ulth the State Iepartvbent.

Your second question 1sprompted by the Frotlslons of Seotlon33 (1),which reads as follovsr

"It shallbe unlavful, SXOeDt for 9urpoS88 dlr8OtIy OOiur8Ct8d vlth the administration of general asslstancs, old ax8 assistance, aid to theblind, or aid to dependent children. and in cccoraancewith the rules and ragtiatlons of **the** 3tate Department, for any person or persons to solicit,disclose, recelVe,mak8 us8 Of, Or t0 authorlse,k~oul~gly permit,pertlolpate la, or **aCqUieSC8 in**  the use Of, 8.nylist Of, Or naI~8s Of, **or** any information concerning,persons appiylug for **or** receiving such assistance,directlg **or** Indirectly derived Srom the records, Papers, filea, or COm~iCatiOnS Of the State I%F~tVWnt

### 663

or subdlvlslons or agenoles thereof,or acquired in the oours8 of 

### the performance of official duties

.” (Underscoring ours)

It isnoted 

### then that lnformatlori **secured** by the 3tate Eepartment in admlnlstering the variousprovlslons of this **Act** 1s confld8ntl@1, and ve thinkproperly so. The leglslatlv8intent 

### or the **public** policy **maifert** by Section 33, supra, 1sV8u 8Xpr8sS8d ln

### the 0888 Of Goopersberg v. Taylor, (Sup.ct. Of a. I. 1933) 266 If.Y. Supp. 359, Vherela the court, 10 

### construllrg a similar

### provlslo~ of **the pub**  lic **U8ifU8** law 0s **H8U**York, said:

I) The pub110 policy expressed In this statuti k’founded upon the d8slrablllty that the identity Of those **aCO8ptilAg.pUbliO r8118f**  shouldRot **be** dlsalos8d lest

### vorthy rsclpfents **be** discouraged from applying **tor** r8118f by reason Of **the** publloity to which theymight be subjected.

. . .* By Opinion go. G-2122, addressed toXonorable Geo. a. Sheppard, thisdepartaent held that the COnptrOlleP vas not authorized to furnish to the generalpub110 the old **age** warrant register and llst 0r olalms on file in that OfflC8.

Later, by Oplnlon Nor o-4976, addressed to Honorable Bomer Garrison, Jr., 

### Dlreotor Of the Department **Of Pub**  lic Safety, **V8** said:

"The PublloWelfare **Act of**  **1939,** repealed by Act8 of the 47th Legislature, contained a correspondingprovision **to** Section **33, suprar**  Refarrlng 

### to records Of the tipartlnentof Publicwelfare, the Act of 1939 provided 

### that such records shall be open t0 lnap8ctlon only t0 p8rsons duly **au** thorizedby the State, or the **Ullitsd** States, t0 Mik8 such Inspection in conIi8otlonvlth their Offlcialduties. The Act 0s 1941houever makes no such 8XC8ptlOu.
“It is therefore the opinion of this department that the State Department of Public **W81fW8 is**  **not** permitted to furnish theTexas DspartmeQt or public Safety with a list of names or Persons, 

### nor any information concerningperson8 applyingiionorableJohn 11. Winters, page 4

for or r808iVlEig l SSlStaQC8 through the State ~D8p&lPeQt Of Publicw8lfsF8."
You mill note then that this departnent, **by** its 3plnlons, has realouslyguarded th8 confidentialnature of this iQfOrMtiOn **iQ UU8S**  Vh8r8 the 1RfOrplatlOQ is to be used for 

### purposes in no way oonnected with the adainlstratlon 0s the provlslons 0s this

### Act.

Bovovor , Under the faOt8 here lnvo1vod, Ye **-8 or**  the oplniaa that 

### the informationr8qU8St8d is tobe used for **pUFpOS88 direOtly**  **oON&eOted** Vlth **th8** adril%iStP’stfOQ Of the Act. By the expresr terts of Section 33, you are authorfeed to furnish information,

. for purposes dlrootly connected vlth the adm.inlstrk~on of general asslstanoe.

. . ." Such informationmust be furnished in accordance with the rules and regulations adoptedby the State Depsrtaent as provided by Section 33 (2),which reads 8a follovst

"Therule-making power of the Stat8 Departm8nt shall include thepover to establish and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governlng the ouetodg, use, and pvoservatlon of the records, papers, fii8S, and communications of the State DopartPrent

and its local oifloers. Uhereever, underprovisions of law, names and addr8sses 0s r8olpl0nts of public asslstanco are fumlshed to or held by any other agency or department Of government, such agency or d8p8rtm8nt~of government shallbe required to adopt r8gulatlons nec**8SS&Lry** to prevent thepublication of lists thereof or their us8 for **purposes** not direotly oonnoctedvlth the admlnlstratlon of public asslstante." Examining the **Act** as a vhole, Ye find other pertinent provlslons:

"Sec. 4. The Stat8 Department shallbe changed with the adminlstratlon of the welfare activities of the State as hereinafter provided. The State Department shall:

n

. . . . -I

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Honorable John H. Winters, page 5

“(5) Asslat otherdepartmentr, agencier and lortitutionr of the local State and Federal GOTernmenta, vhen lo requested and 

### cooperate vlth such agencies vhen sxpedlent, in performing aerrices la oonformltywith the purpose. or this Act;
I

. . . .

” (Undderroorlw oum)
By theprovlrlonr or thlr Seatlou, when oonstrued in connection with otherprovlalonu oi the Act, it becomes your duty to iurnlrh theproneouting officer vlth ouch lnformation a8 may rhov or tend to ahov that a criminal act has occurred. Thatll, that theprorlrloaa OS Section 32 have been violated. This lnformatloo l hould be furnished in accordance vlth 

### rules promulgatedby the State 

### Department and only such lnformatlonaa 18necessary to ahov that a violation has occurred shouldbe furnlrhed. Perswal data coacernlng family statue , etc.,vhloh vould in no vay be relevant to a prosecution for a violation Ofprovision8 of thisAct, should not be furnlahed.

In adoptingruler ooncernlng the use of information in your posresslonby others,ve suggest you keep in mind 

### not only theprovisions of the statute, but also the legislative **latent** aa expressed la the Coopersberg came, supra.
We seeno objectloa

### to your rield **worker** appearing in court and offering ruoh testimony as the court may 

### ad&.

HTBD: db Trusting this fully anavera your inquiry,Ye are Very truly your8

Assistant

R. T. Bob Donahue