August 21, 1953 

Hon. H. A. Beckwith Opinion NO. s-86 

Chairman 

Board of Water Engineers Re: Legality of the Assistant 

302 West 15th Street 

Austin, Texas 

Secretary of the Board of 

Water Engineers to certify 

orders and other documents of the Board and to 

assume responsibility as 

custodJ.an of the files and 

Dear Mr. Beckwith: records of such Board. 

You have requested an opinion of this office 

on the following question: 

"This Board desires for you to give us 

your opinion as to the legality of the Assistant Secretary of the Board certifying 

to orders, decisions of record, papers, maps 

or other documents. Also, can the responsibility as custodian of the files and records 

be delegated to the Assistant Secretary of 

the Board?" 

Subdivisions 6, 7, and 16 of Article 7477, 

Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended by Chapter 357, Acts 

of the 53rd Legislature, 1953, p. 874, provide: 

"(6) The Board may appoint such other 

employees as may be deemed necessary for 

the efficient performance of the duties 

authorized and required of it by law. 

"(7) . D * The Secretary shall be custodian of all files and records of the Board. 

. . . 

"(16) Upon the apolication of any person and upon payment of the fees prescribed 

therefor in the rules and regulations of the 

Board, the Board shall furnish certified copies 
Hon. H. A. Beckwith, page 2 (S-86) 

of any of its proceedings or other official 

acts of record, or of any paper, map or 

document filed in the office of the Board, 

in connection nith the appropriation~of 

water, determination of water rights, or administration of water rights. Such certified 

copies under the hand of the Chairman or the 

Secretary, %nd the seal of the Board shall 

be admissible! in evidence in any court or 

administrative proceeding, In the same ~manner 

and with like effect as the original would 

be." 

Article 7488, V.C.S., provides: 

'The Board shall have power to make all 

needful rules for its government and proceedings ; and shall have a seal, the form of 

which it shall prescribe." 

The 53rd Legislature in the General Appropriation Act provides for the employment of a Business Manager and Secretary of the Board and an Assistant Secretary 

of the Board. The wordy "assistant" is 'universally 

defined as one who aids,. helps, or assists, while the 

word "deputy" is defined as a person appointed to act 

for another;,to substitute; to delegate; an agent; and 

in,the absence of any statutory provisions the assistant 

never acts officially for the principal. Niall v. State, 

129 S.W. 630 (Tex.Crim. 1910). But the fact that a 

deautv is described in a transaction as an assistant or 

vice versa will not invalidate his acta. 'Pierson v. 

State, 180 S.W. 1080 (Tex.Crim. 1915). 

In view of the foregoing, the answer to your 

question 1~s dependent upon the scope of the employment 

of the Assistant Secretary by the,Board of Water Engineers. 

If the Assistant Secretary is employed only for the purpose 

of aiding or assisting the Secretary of the Board, the 

Assistant Secretary would not be authorized to perform 

the duties of the Secretary imposed by law. However, if 

the employment is for the stated purpose of authorizing 

the Assistant to act for the Secretary of the Board and 

perform the duties of the Secretary of the Board in the 

absence of the Secretary, then such assistant would be 

in fact a "deputy" and would be authorized to certify 
. . . 

Hon. H. A. Beckwith, page 3 (S-86) 

orders, decisions of record, papers, maps and other 

documents, and any other duty imposed on the Secretary, 

including the responsibility of custodian of the files 

and records. In other words, the Board of Water 

Engineers has the authority to prescribe the duties of 

the Assistant Secretary, and such duties may include 

those outlined in your request. We are supported in 

this conclusion by the provisions of Section 1 of Article 3731a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, which provides: 

"Any written statement, certificate, 

record, return or report made by an officer 

of this state or of any governmental subdivision thereof, or by his deputy or 

employee, in the performance of the functions of his office shall be, so far as 

relevant, admitted in the courts of this 

state as evidence of the matter stated 

thereinfi s.ubjectto the provisions in Section 3. 

SUMMARY 

The Board of Water Engineers has authorityto prescribe the ci-uties of the Assistant 

Secretary of the Board, and such duties may 

include certifying to orders, decsTslorn3 of 

record, papers, maps and othe~r documents, and 

in the absence- of the Sec~retary to'authorize-the 

Assistant Secretary to act as custodian of 

the files and records. 

Yours very truly, 

APPKOVED: 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

County Affairs Division 

JORNBEN SREPPERD 

Attorney General 

Willis E. Gresham 

Reviewer 

Robert S. Trotti 

First Assistant 

Assistant 

JR:am