Dear Sir8 44 don I&. O-5690 Rer %&her SaB. 266, 48th Leg., R.S. withmspeot torentals, applies to rentals or 108~0s of land in whiah
no building is involved.
Acknowledgment is hereia made of your letter of Ootober 19, 1943, wherein you request a oonstmotion of **Acts** 1943, 48th Legislature, Regular Session, Senate Bill 266, governing rentalawith speoial reference to rentals or leases of latid

by the Righeay Department to be used for tmperary erection of State-ownedearehouse~s or for storage space for materials and equiRsmat used by said departsmut in the prosecution of its work. I,,

Senate Bill 266, Sections 1, 2 and 3, proride as followss

"Section 1. Hereafter all departasmts andagencies of the State government,whenrental apace is needed for aarrying oa the essential functions of suohagencies or departments of the State Government, shall suhait to the State Board of Control a request therefor, giving the type, kind, aed~siee of building needed, togetherwith any other necessary descriptiom, end stating the purpose for which itwill be used and the need therefor.

'Sec. 2. The State Board of Control, upon receipt of suchrequest, and if the money has been made available to pay therental thereon, and if, ia the disoretion of the Board suoh spaae is needed, shall forthwith advertise in a newsmper, whioh has been regularly published and circulated in the city, or town, where such rental space is sought, for bids on such **rental** spaoe, for the
uses indicated and for a period of not to exceed tn0 years. After such bide have been received by the State Board of Control at its principal offloe ill Austin. Texas, and publioly opened, the award for suchrental coatractwill be made to the lowest and beat bidder, and upon suoh other terms as maybe agreed upon- The terms of the contract, together with the notice of the award of the State bard of Controlwill be suhnitted to the Attorney &eral of Tex88,who aill cause to be prepared and exeouted in acoordanoewith theterms of the agreement, suoh oontraot in quadruplicat9 one of which will be kept by each party thereto, one by the State Board of Control, and one by the Attorney General of TECO%S 0 The parties to suoh contra& will be the department or **sgenmoy**of the government using the space as lessee and the party renting the spaoe as lesSOr-Honorable Do C. Greer, page 2 (O-5690)

"Sea* 3. Within thirty days after the effective date of this A&, all departments anda genoies of the State Government at this time leasing or renting space from any parson, firm, or corporationwhomsoever,will cause to be prepared and delivered tothe State Board of Control in Austin, Texas, a copy of any written rental or lease 

### l gmemeat

now in force and current, or any statement of any oral understanding upon whioh any lease or rental pablia funds am being expended, ff such action has not already been taken."

In Opinion No. O-5566, this Department advised (the Ccsnptroller) with respect to the constructionand applioation of Senate E&l1 266 to storage rentals on automobiles and other cwdities, in the oourse of which opinion,
we said:

"The subjeotmatter - the essenoe- of Senate E!Ul 266 is the 'rental spaeel when needed by an agenoy or deDartanent of the State gorenmvsnt.. It oontemsates not only the rental oontraot but St obrmtemplatss that the eubjeofmatter of the contract - the space needed room, offies, or other quarters, - b the spaoe such asthat of a building, to be oooupisd by thea geaoy ordspartment, or its employees, in the carrying on of an essential govermnentalfunotion. In other vmrds, the subjeotmatter of the rental, it is oomtapla~,will be under the control, for the time being, of the agency or department,astiefena *rental' is generally understood. The word trentals is one of a well understoodmeaning,~ and presumtively it was so used by the Legislature. Furthermore,this oonstruotion comportswith the general purpose ofthe aot.”

The underscored wording of the above opiniDn we believe is equally applicable to the~faots of this opinion: that is, the "rental spaoes oontmuplated by Senate Bill 268 is space within a building, room, office, or other quarters, and it nms imbmrdd that there be a taking **ovur** of said quarters for the oocupanay of theagenoy or depariaaent, or its employees, in the arrying on of its essential governmental funotion.

.Senate Bill 266 providesthat when a State de~rtment or agency needs rental spaoe to oarry on its essential functions, it shall submit to the State Board of Control **a** request therefor, "giving the type, kind, and siae of the building needed, together with any other necessary description

. . ." Clearly, whenever the words "rental s&moe" or "spaoe" are used throughout tbe.wholedot, theyrefer to and contemphte space needed in-a building or other like quarters. The said general words "rental spaoee and espaoe" as used in the **Act** are limited and modified by the speoifio clause in the statute requiring the depam&e& needing spaoe to submit **a** request therefor "giving the type, kind and size of the building needed;" they were not so used-as to be con8tnted in their widest
sense but should be held **as** applying only to the thing enumerate, "buildings*
or quarters ofihe same kind and class. Had the Legislature oontemplated in its enaotment the rental or lease of land asp distinguished fromtherental of space in a building, it is reasonable to suppose it would have definitely indioated that intention bytbe aaployment of words specifioally applicable to lands or land spacooHonorable 

### D., C. Greer,page 3 (O-5690)

Furthermore,

theordimPlyfunctions of thegreat

majorityof &ate departments

andagencies

arenot suchas will ordinarily clothethem with incidental

powersor authority to leasolsndfor the oarrying outof theirnurposesa In theabsenoeof suchnecessary inoidautal

pwer, 

### or of a statute

vestingauthority

in the &ate department oragenoy to leaseor reQnt landforits gevermnental purposes,

thatpowerremainsand liesih the'tigislatureeSenateBill266 confers authority

**oa** 

### the %atO Boardof Control to enteroontraots fortherentalof space. The contract whichthe State HighwayDsplr-hnent contemplates

OOBS~~iag 

### is **a** 

### leaseof landas distinguished

froma contra&?

forrentalspace ina building or 1

### ikequarters. Applyingthe ocmmonandusualmeaningto the anrdsaa usedin the statute, it is reasonable,

ws tNnk, to conolude theLegislature

didnot oontanplate We execution

of landleasesor 

### rentals by theStateBoardof Control notingforand throughthe otherStatedeporlxaonts and 

### l genoies.

It is therefore

theopinionofthis department thatSenateBill 266doesnot applyto therentingor 

### leasing-of landiawhioh no building is involved.
Verytruly yours

ATTCRREY

GEBERALOF TEEM
By /s/ChesterE. Ollison

Chester E. Olliscm

Assistant APPROVEDNOV 4, 1943 I*/GroverSellers FIRSTASSISTAXC ATXORNEY 

### GENERAL APPROVED Opiniom..CcsWttee =V?flB CW