OFFICE OF THE A‘ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Hon. Julian xontgom~ry State RI&may Engineer Austin, Tax68

oan Aaooolatlon eed of repronietratioa and he States and The Aasooiatlon Road; Admin5stration

IParking preeorlbed ior 6uOh roadr. All or the l-elatlona of thlr Departmentwith the Pub110 Roads Admlnlstratlonam vitally arreotsd by the polioisr formulatedby the A!3aOOiation and rhould thie Department be deprived ot Its mtmberahip In auohHon. Julian 2ontgomery,Eage 2

k33oolatIon,it would hare no roloe In the prepratlon, approval.,

dlsap:roval,adoption or nonadoptlon of ruoh polioleeand pro.ordures submitted to the Fubllc Road8 AdministratIonfor adoption
as requirementsand standards to be imposedupon all State Highway Departmenta. Ror would this Departmenthare **a** roloe in determiningrtloh highway6 of thlr Stat4 should be lnoludcd ln the Onlted States road8 sy8tem, or in the aarking or method a? narking of auoh roada. It In our opinion that the80 things arc neossaary and vital to the proper conrtruotlonand malntenanos or a oorrolatedsyetem OS state hlghwayr and, es cuoh, make the annual membership fees eligible for payment out of the 3tate ~lghway Pund.w

Our examinationof the material oubmltted to ua indicatesthat ths paragraphabove quotod ooncisalystats8 the purpose3 and operation 0r the Amerloan **Assoofatlon** 0r state Blghway orrio1als. The deslrabllltyof maintaining membership in this association is obvious. In this oonneotlon, we quote the tollowlng exoerpt tron that portion of the apysoprlation

bill for 1940 whloh applies to the Highway Department:

*Provided further,that all funds or balanose of funds on hand Septe&er 1, 1939, and all fund6 ocalng into the State Highway Fund, and derlred 

### rromregistrationfees or from other aouroe8, arter deduotlng the total of the rpeulflo appropriation8 hsrein aado, **are** hereby **appropriated** to the state Rlghway Deputment for the establishmentOS a ayatem of Stat? hlghwap and the oonetruotlonand maintenance thereof, aa contemplatedand ret forth in aald chapter 1, Tltl6 ll6, and chapter 188, m6ralLava o? the Re@.ar Seaaion OS the 39th Leglrl~ture,and amendnents theseto...”

Artlo 6673 of Chapter 1, Title 116, Vernon*s AnnotatedClvll Statutes of Texas, provibes that the Eighway Commission 1s .tohave control and 13 to maintain State Elghways in Texas.

Artlole 6074 provides that the Legislatureshall make appropriation8for~themaintenanqe and rut@ng expenses

or the D6pahE6nt, shall fix the oompenratlonand number of employees,and the oompeneatlonof the Commlsslon,and states that *all money’herclnauthorized to b6 appropriated

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Hon. Julian Aiontgonery, Page 3

for the operation of the Departmentand the purchase of equlpmeat shall be paid fros the State Ri&hway Lund, and the remalnder of said fund shall be **expended** by the Comzls3lon for the furtheranceof public road **construction** and the establishment of a **system** OS State highwaysas herein PTOVlded~"

Artiole 6074q-4 reads as follows:

*All f'urther

lmprorcnontof said State Ilfghway System shall be made under the eroluuaive and dlreot oontrol of the State !Tlghway Department and with appoprlations made by the Legislatureout OS the State Tlghrray Fund. Surveys,plan3 and speclfioations and estinates for all further construction and Improvensntof said System shall be made, prepared and paid for by the stata Highway Department. :?o

further lmprorcmcntof said System shall be made with the aid of or with any moneys furnished by the oousltios except the acquisition of rights of way rhloh may be furnishedby the oounties, thel.?

subdIvision or defined road districts. Rut this shall in no wise aftect the aarrying out of any binding oontractsnow existingbetween the State El&way Departmentaad the Codssionera court OS any county, fw suoh county, or for kny detlned road dlstrlot. system ot State Highways fn the developaaent of-the and the ma&te~aance thereor, the state Hlghivay Com~&s1on shall, from funds arallable to the Stats Highway Depart!zcnt, provide8

. . ?(a) Bar tde 'etfloient malntenaaoe of all hlghways oomprisiag’the -State3ystem.
m(b) for the~construotlon. ln.oooDeratlon

with the Federal Government to the extent of Federal Aid to the St&e. of hiahways of dtUab1.S type ot the Rreatest mblla necerrslt~.
m(o) Tar the oon~truotionof highways,perfecting and sxtending a oorrelatedspstem of State~Eighways,independently froa State Funds.*

In Oplnlon no. O-1318, to the J?onorable Roy Loventhal, Chairman of the Llvostock 3enltary Conmissionof Texas, this departmentheld that the Livestock 3anltary Co&sslon could

not pay memborshlp dues in the United~States Livestock sanltarp Aesooiatlon from the funds allotted this Com4l3sl~n by the Legi31aturer since the TLe@slaturehad made no authorlsation for any suah expenditure. 'Xe do not feel, however, that

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Hon. Julian Ilontgomery, Fags 4

the same sltaatlonIs presented by your opinion request. It Is evident Srom the above-quoted languageof the departmental ap~opriatlon bill that the State Highra~r Departzzent has at its ooamand all funds ooming Into the State Highway Fund after the deduotsonof speoific approprIatIonsfor use In oonstruction**and** maintenance of State highways,as provided by Chapter 1, TItlc ll6, Vernon.8 AnnotatedCivil Statute3 0s Texas. The Artlolcs quoted from this Chapter and Title atate oonolselyand olearly the intentionof the Legislature to place under the oontrol of the Highway Department the oontrol,maintenanceand turthcrenoc of the syaten of State highways In Texas.

ArtIole 6674q-4, 3upra, unequlrooallystate3 that the State Highway Codselon shall provide for the aonetruction of highwaysof durable type In cooperation with the Federal Governmentto the extant of Federal Aid to the State. hthcr, Sootlon 11 r Art1 1 ES7 Code of Texas, autho%tcs V 1 An t t d Fenal ~ee~lgh%y ~~%&!ntn~aao~acsIry, **designate** and mark Intrastateaad lntorstatehighways,and to pxovIde a systacl for marking end placing algns upon suoh highways, uhloh oorrolateswith the signing and marking of highways ln other States.

Bearing In mind,that the funds for the operations above discussedare made available to the State Highway Department by the departaentalapproprIatIonbill In the provision rhloh we have quoted and.p~crlouslyreferred to, It necessarily follows that the ?iIghway ~.Dcpartment

Is authorized to make aa expenditure. whtoh- $8~In furtheranoe of the purpoecs and alas reflectedby.the statutes contained In Chapter 1 of Title lU, Vernon*8 Annotated Civil Statutes.

It is the opinion of'thls deparfmcnt that mcmbershlp In the AmcrlcanAesooiation of State Highway OffloIals is In oomplianae

with the spirit and letter of these statut,cs. The quoted portion of your letter 

## at January SBth states a complete and logicalbasis for oon3IderIngmembership of the Texas SIghwayDepartment In this Aa3ooIatIonhighly desIrablei it not neocssary. The objcotand aim3 of the associationare in complete aocordwith the IntentIon cxpreasedby the LegIslature

.
We thereforeadrlac you that It 1s the opinion ot this departmentthat the Texas Elghway Departmentma7 maintain Its membershipin the American Asaooiatlonof state Rlghway OrrIoIals,and that mcmbcrahIp fees arc proper17payableHon. Julian Koontgomery, Fag:e 5

from the State Iiighway Fund appropriatedby the Lsglelaturs in the De~rtmental AppropriationBill.

RC:pbp 

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Yours very truly