TEIEATTORNEY GEN&=zAL' 

0,FTEXAS 

Honorable J. M. Falkner 

Banking Commlesloner of Texas 

Austin 14, Texas 

Honorable Jesse James 

State Treasurer of Texas 

Austin 11, Texas 

Opinion No. c-127 

Gentlemen: 

9te: Reimbursement of travel expense8 

'for new members of the State Banklng and State Depository Boards. 

As ex-officio membera of both the State Banktng Board 

and:the State Depository Board, you have jointly requested 

our opinion on the above captioned queation. Formerly the 

Attorney General was a statutory member of each of these 

boards in addition to each of you; however a, recent enactment of the 58th Legislature removed the Attorney General 

from the.se,boards and ,provided that a citizen member be appointed. Since the three state officials previously serving on these boards lived in Austin, there was never any 

appropriation made for travel expenses as such was unneceasary. The problem now arises, and you request how'the c%tizen members serving on such boards may be reimbursed for 

travel 

states 

expenses. - 

Section 18 of Senate Bill 318 of the 58th Legislature 

as follows,: 

"The citizen members replacing the Attorney General. on the Boarde and Commleelons 

amended by this- Act shall be reimbursed for 

their actual .meala, lodging and incidental 

expenses ,when performing their dutierr a$ members of theirrespective Boards at all offlcial meetings of the,Board on the same 

basis aa Is provided for members of the LegIslature~ serving on Boards, Councils, Committees or CommiSeions, provided, however, that 

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Hon. J. M. Falkner, and 

Hon. Jesse James, page two (c- 127) 

the travel expenses herein provided shall 

not be paid but for fiftean (15) meetings 

of such Boards per year. Each member shall 

make out under oath an Itemized statement of 

the number of days engaged In attending official meetings of the Board and the amount 

of expenses when presenting same for~payment." 

Subsection d of Section 17 of House Bill 86, the 

General Appropriation Bill, states as follows: 

"Members of the Legislature who serve 

on any Board, Council, Committee of Commission shall receive actual expenses for meals, 

lodging, and incidental expenses not to exceed Twelve Dollars ($12) per day when traveling on official business inside~,the State; 

and shall be reimbursed for actual expenses 

incurred for meals, lodging, and Incidental 

expenses, when traveling on official business 

outside the State. Claims for reimbursements 

of such expenses'shall be presented on forms 

prescribed by the Comptroller. 

"When traveling on official business in- 

's,ide the State, such Members of the Legislature shall be reimbursed for mileage on the 

same basis as is provided In the Constitution 

for Members of the Legislature; and It Is 

further provided that the same mileage rates 

shall apply to necessary travel to points within the State other than the seat of government. . . .' 

No appropriation was made, however, for reimbursement 

for travel expenses incurred by the citizen members. 

Considering the problem with regard to the State Banking Board, vie find that there is no appropriation whatsoever 

for the Banking.Department other than one to cover operating 

space in the John'H. Reagan Office Building. It is further 

significant that Article 342-112 of .Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

the Banking Code of 1943; specifically states that: 

"The Commissioner shall, from,tlme to 

time aa directed by the Finance Commission, 

submit to such Commission a full and complete 

report of the receipts and expenditures of 

the Banking Department and the Finance Commission may from time to time examine the 

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Hon. J. M. Falkner, and 

Hon. Jesse James, page three (C-127) 

financial records of the Banking Department or cause them to be examined. In 

addition, the Banking Department shall be 

audited from time to time by the State Audltor in the same manner as other State Departments, and the actual costs of such 

audits shall be paid to the State Auditor 

from the funds of the Banking Department. 

Fees, penalties and revenues collected by 

the Banking Department from every sdurce 

whatsoever shall be retained and held by 

id Department, and no part of such fee's, 

z&alties and revenues shall ever be paid 

Into the General Revenue Fund of this State. 

All expenses incurred by the Banking Department shall be paid only~from such fees, 

penalties, and revenues, and no such expense 

shall ever be a charge against the funds of 

this State. The Finance Commlsslon shall 

adopt, and from time to time amend, budgets 

which shall direct .the purposes, and prescribe the amounts, for which the fees, 

penalties and revenues of the Banking bepartm&t'shall be expended; and th Finance Commission shall, as of December 51, 1951, and 

annually thereafter, report to the Governor 

of the State of Texas the receipts and disbursements of the Banking Department for 

each calendar year; and shall within the 

first sixty (60) days of each succeeding 

Regular Session of the Legislature make a 

report to the appropriate committees of the 

House and Senate charged with considering 

legislation ertaining to banking." (lQnphasis added P . 

Many opinions from.this office have held that the 

expenses of the Banking Department and the Banking Board 

may be paid out of any revenues collected by the Department, whether from penalties, fees, examinations or otherwise. The Finance Commission provides In its budget the 

amounts allocated for the various purposes. Attorney General's Opinions Nos. NW-725 (1959). WW-1095 (1961); and C-88 

(1963). Opinion No. WW-500 (1958) stated: 

"Since the above quoted' portion of Artlcle 342-112 provides that all expenses Incurred 

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Hon. J. M. Falkner, and 

Hon. Jesse James, page four (C-1?7) 

by the Banking Department shall be paid 

only from such fees, penalties and revenues, 

and the expenses incurred on behalf of the 

Banking Department for the services of the 

Court Reporter being legitimate expenses, 

you are advised that the Finance Commission 

of Texas may authorize the payment of these 

obligations." 

Since we have previously held that the Finance Commission may setaside ~fu~nds to satisfy 'expenses incurred 

by the State Banking Board, we advise you that such Commission may likewise set aside funds to cover travel expenses of the new cltizen'member of the Banking Board. 

A different situation exists as to the citizen member of the State Depository Board. The Flnance~ Commission 

has no authority to budget funds for this purpose as it Is 

not properly an expense incurred by the State Banking Board 

or State Bank~ing Department. The Treasurer's office has a 

line item appropriation for travel expenses for its own 

departmental employees only. It therefore follows that there 

are no existing funds to reimburse the citizen member of~the 

State Depository Board for his travel expenses. However, 

Senate ~111 318 constitutes pre-existing law, so as to enable 

a subsequent Legislature to make an appropriation to reimburse 

the citizen member for his prior travel expenses. 

SUMMARY 

The citizen member replacing the Attorney General on the State Banking Board 

may be reimbursed for his travel expenses 

by funds set aside by the Finance Commission of Texas. 

There are no existing funds to cover 

travel expenses of the citizen member replacing the Attorney General on the State 

Depository Board. 

Yotirs very truly, 

FDW:ms 

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Hon. J. M. Falkner, and 

Hon. Jesse James, page five (C-127) 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Milton Richardson 

John Reeves 

Dudley McCalla 

J. C. Davis 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

By: Stanton Stone 

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