TB[E NEY GENERAL 

OF EXAS 

Mr. Will E. Odom Opinion No. C-748 

Chairman, Parks and 

Wildlife Commission Re: Whether the administration 

John H. Reagan Bldg. of the Lyndon B. Johnson 

Austin, Texas State Park Fund is an 

operation of the Parks 

and Wildlife Commission 

Dear Mr. Odom: and related questions. 

You have requested this office for an opinion 

concerning whether the administration of the Lyndon B. 

Johnson State Park Fund is a function and operation of 

the Parks and Wildlife Commission, and whether the administrators of such fund have acted properly in refusing to 

make public the names of donors to this fund and the 

amounts of such donations when the donor has requested 

that this information not be made public. 

Article 978I'-3a, Vernon’s Penal Code, consolldated the Game and Fish Commission and the State Parks 

Board into one department to be known as the Parks and 

Wildlife Department and the policy direction of such 

department was vested In the Parks and Wildlife Commission. 

Article 978f-3a further provided that all of the powers, 

duties and authority previously vested in the State Parks 

Board and the Game and Fish Commission should be transferred 

to the Parks and Wildlife Department. 

Section 5 of Article 978f-3a, provides in part 

that: 

II 

. . .that portion of the program administered by the Parks and Wildlife Department 

which deals with the operation, maintenance, 

and improvement of State Parks shall be financed from the General Revenue Fund, the 

State Parks Fund, other funds as mav be 

authorized by law, and such donations, 

grants, and gifts as may be received by 

said Department. . . . ‘I (Emphasis added) 

Article 6068, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which here- 

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. . 

Mr. will E. Odom, Page 2 (C-748) 

tofore dealt with the activities of the State Parks Board 

and which Is now applicable to the Parks and Wildlife Commission, provides in part that: 

“The said Board shall solicit donations 

to the State of tracts of land, large or small, 

to be used by the State for the purpose of 

Dubllc DaFks and/or recreational areas. and 

said Board is hereby authorized to accept in 

behalf of the State the title to any such 

tract or tracts of land. . . .” (Emphasis 

added) 

Article 6069, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which 

heretofore dealt with the activities of the State Parks 

Board and which Is now applicable to the Parks and Wildlife Commission, provides in part that: 

“Said Board shall make investigations of 

any tract or tracts of land, of any size whatsoever, In the State with a view of determining 

whether the same Is suitable for public park 

purposes, and, the terms on which it can be 

acquired. . . . The purpose of this law is 

to initiate a movement looking to the establlshment eventually of a system of State Parks for 

the benefit of the people, secured either by 

donations or purchase, or established on any 

land owned by the State available for such 

purpose. . . .” (Emphasis added) 

The foregoing statutes clearly reveal that one 

of the functions of the Parks and Wildlife Commission and 

the Parks and Wildlife Department is to encourage private 

interests to contribute to the development of the State 

Parks System by donations of land to the State of Texas 

to be used for parks and recreational purposes. The 

foregoing statutes, while encouraging such activities on 

the part of the Parks and Wildlife Commission and the 

Parks and Wildlife Department, do not specify any particular manner in which these activities will be carried out. 

In your letter requesting this opinion, you have 

made available to us a copy of the Constitution of the 

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Fund. The following are 

excerpts from the Constitution of the Lyndon B. Johnson 

State Park Fund: 

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Mr. will E. Odom, page 3 (c-748) 

. . . . 

“The Fund is created and shall be operated 

exclusively for charitable purposes. In furtherance of such purposes it shall be the specific 

object of the Fund to establish and maintain, 

in cooperation with the County of Gillespie, 

Texas, a state park for the State of Texas to 

be known as the ‘Lyndon B. Johnson State Park.’ 

11 

. . . . 

“The administrators of this Fund shall be 

empowered to solicit funds, acquire property 

and conduct such other ancillary activities 

as are necessary and incidental to its purpose. 

“Upon receipt of sufficient moneys to 

purchase land and make the necessary improvements, the park will be deeded to the State 

of Texas, and this Fund will terminate its 

existence. 

8, 

. . . . 

“Upon termination or dissolution all remaining 

assets of the Fund will be distributed to the Parks 

and Wildlife Department of the State of Texas for 

exclusively public purposes.” (Emphasis added) 

You have also stated in your letter requesting 

this opinion that: 

8, 

. . .the Parks and Wildlife Department has 

nothing to do with the receiving of contributions 

to the fund or the administration of the fund in 

any manner whatsoever. 

“The contributions are made to Will E. Odom, 

Trustee, Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Found, and 

the act is one of an Individual in a fiduciary 

capacity, receiving donations and In turn purchasing land from the funds so donated. 

“The lands are then conveyed, without cost, 

to the State of Texas, ‘Parks and Wlldlife Department in perpetuity for use as a park. . . . 

i 

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Mr. Will E. Odom, page 4 (C-748) 

“The only connection the members of the Parks 

and Wildlife Commission have is In setting up the 

trusteeship. . . . 

“Many contributions have been made to the 

fund with the understanding that the name of the 

contributor and the amount of the contribution 

would not be divulged to the public. The reason 

for this, of course, is personal to the individual 

contributor. I have felt that the request of any 

donor for such anonymity was reasonable and a 

privilege that should be accorded. 

,1 

. . . . ” (Emphasis added) 

In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion 

that it is obvious that the "Lyndon B. Johnson State Park 

Fund" Is not an operation or activity of the Parks and 

Wildlife Department or the Parks and Wildlife Commission, 

but is merely the means being used by private interests 

to obtain donations of funds to purchase property which 

will ultimately be deeded to the State of Texas for the 

creation of a State park to be known as the "Lyndon B. 

Johnson State Park.” Under the present arrangement, we 

are of the further opinion that the Parks and Wildlife 

Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department will 

have no Interest in the activities of the Lyndon B. 

Johnson State Park Fund until such time as the property 

to be used for such parks purposes Is deeded to the State 

of Texas. The fact that members of the Parks and Wildlife 

Commission are serving as administrators of the Lyndon 8. 

Johnson State Park Fund is Immaterial as the Information 

made available to us reveals that they are serving in such 

capacity in their individual rather than governmental 

capacity. 

As the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Fund Is 

an activity of private Interests rather than of the Parks 

and Wildlife Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department, It Is within the discretion of the administrators 

of such fund to determine whether the names of donors and 

the amounts of their contributions will be made public. 

SUMMARY 

------- 

The administration of the Lyndon B. Johnson 

State Park Fund, under the facts disclosed, is 

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Mr. Will E. Odom, page 5 (c-748) 

not an operation of the Parka and Wlldllfe Commlssion or the Parks and Wildlife Department. As 

the administration of the Lyndon B. Johnson State 

Park Fund is an operation of private interests 

rather than an operation of the Parks and Wildlife 

Commission or the Parks and Wildlife Department, 

the disclosure of the names of donors to such 

fund or the amounts of their contributions is 

a matter for the discretion of'the administrators 

of such fund. 

Very truly yours, 

WAGGONER CARR 

Attorney General 

PB: sck 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

John Banks 

J. C. Davis 

Wade Anderson 

Ralph Rash 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: T. B. Wrlght 

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