Honorable Geo. W.Cox, M.D.

State Health Officer Texas Board of Health Austin, Texas

Dear Doctor COX: Opinion NO.

### 0-6798 Re: Authority to dispcse of certain personal property no; needed by aState hospital.

Inyour letter of August 24, 1945, you have requested anonlnion from this office reliti\:e tc the above subject and,.Foour+letter containirr,g;,,the,request':aMZ the pertinent facts is quoted:

"By warranty deed dated June 28, 

### 1945, the trustees of the London Independent School Dis

### triot,Rusk County, Texas, et al conveyed to the State of 'Lexas for the use andbenefit of the State department of fiealth 

### 3.47 acres of land,

apart of the T. J. &.rtin original survey, arssk County, Texas, together with aten-classroom school building, water tower, deep well andother appurtenances and improvements located thereon, for aconsideration of $20,000. cash-in-hand paid.

"The State Realth Officer and the State Board of Health are ccnverting the school building into r-i120-bed hospital for the maintenance and treatment of venereal~ disease patinets. The classrooms have composition blackboards onthe walls, The County Superintendent of Public Instruction of Smith County, Texas, proposes to
remove the composition blackboards, chalk troughs, andholdings, re-finish where the blackboards

were removed, andpaint the wslls for the blackboards, meldings and chalk troughs. These blackboards, moldings andchalk troughs are cr nouse to the Texas State Department OFHealth andthe medical Officer in Charge wants them removed.Honorable Geo. 1. Cox, Iby.B., Page 2C-6798

"The science room in the school building has 

### 7science tables with water, gas andW#!dr connections. These tables have acid-proof sinks and are valuable in the teaching of chemistry, but are of

novalue tomthe building as ahospital.

"The roof of the building is partly clBafhtile andparly composition asphalt andgravel. o classes of roof have some leaks andconsiderable water flows through the roof into the building in heavy storms. Aproposition has been madeby a competent, experienced, builder tc repair the roof, downspouts andother fixtures in consideration of receiving in payment the 7science tables.

"Weunderstand under exist!ng law that if we should sell' the blackboards andscience tables through the Board cf Control, wewill be required to deposit the proceeds in the general fund of the State Treasury.

"Wewis'n you to advise us a'~:ether wecan legally exchmge the bLackboards andscience tables for the repair of the walls and the roof."

Thequestion here presented is whether public personal property which is nolonger needed maybe exchanged for work or services necessary in the repair of apublic building. Noauthority for such anexchange has been found but to the contrary it appears that the disposition of the public personal prcperty menticned in your letter should be governed by Article 

### 666, Vernon's Annctated Civil Statutes of Texas as amended which provides as follows:

"All property belonging to the state, regardless of where it is located, under the control of anydepartment, commission, board, or other state agency, with the exception of state eleemosynary Institutlrns, colle:;es, andinstituticns cf higher learning, when it shall.beccme unfit for usa, or shall be nolonger needed, shall beplaced under the jurisdiction of the Board of Control'; and the Board of Gontrol shall sell such rcrerty after advertising it not less than four (1 .' )days in anewspaper fn the county wherein the property is situ- ,ated. Provided, horvever, that if nonewspaper isHonorable **GOO.** W. **COX,** M.D.9 page 3O-6798

published in the, county $$herein the property is situated, notice cf said ‘sale setting out the time andplace of sale andthe,property to be sold shall be posted in three (3) public places, one be?~ng in .acourt house in the county wherein the property is situated. Provided, however, that if the value of such personal property is less than One Hundred ($100.00) Uollars andnot sufficient to justify the cost of advertisement in newspapers
cs outlined above, the Board of Control maysell such property in 

### anymanner that it deems for the best interest of the state. Themoney from the sale of such property, less the expsfise of advertising the sale, shall be deposited in the Stat,e Treasury to the credit of the Geaeral Hevenue &u~d,~ Andprovided further, that anyproperty placedrin ” the hands of the %oard of Control, as outlined herein, maybe transferred by the Board of Control to any department, corm&ssion, board or state agency in need of same, and the debit and credit shall be made o

’nthe basis that such prcpeqty can be purchased in the market at the time of the transfer, if amarket exists, and if not, at its actual or intrinsic value 8,sset bythe,board of Control. The Board of Control shall ma&,%@written report to the Comptroller after each sale. Thereport shall in~$l$de the following items:

“1. ivatneof the newspaper and the dates of advertisement of notice of sale; or if pcsted, the date and place of posting.

“2. Each article received.



### “3. The price for which each article was sold.



## “4. Thename andaddress cf the person to whomeach angdcle was sold.

“‘This report shall be signed bythe 3oard&f Control and amember of the dep@r&$nt, commission, board or state a:;ency baring ccntrol of the property before sale. ‘I’

The above quoted statute requires that in the disposition of State property asale thereof must be madepursuant to the procedures set forth and the only exceptions. .

Honorable Gee. h'. **COX,** M.D. page 4O-6798

to such requirements are "state eleemosynary institutions, colleges and institutions of higher learning." It is not believed that the State Board of Health or any of its divisions come within these exceptions. It follows therefore that the science tables and the blackboards or the school equipment in question must be sold pursuant tc this Article andthe proceeds from such sale deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Revenue h'und.

It appears that the necessary repairs tc the public building described in your request should be accomplished pursuant to Article 670 and 673, Revised Statutes of Texas as amended which provide as follows:

"T'e Board shall prepare plans andspecifi- I? cations for improvement andrepairs to public buildings or property of the State, andshall superintend through its division of ‘-public Buildings andgrounds, the construction cf said work when such supervision is not otherwise especially provided for by law." (Article 670)

"?ghenneeded improvements or repairs for respective buildings and offices are aalled to the attention of the Woard by the heads of such departments or offices, the Board shall prcvide for such repairs or improvements, and they shall be ma&under its diWction." (Article 673)

The foregoing $onsidered, you are advised that it is the opinion of this office that under nocircumstances may the school equinment in question be exchanged for the services necessary in repairing the building and that the 

### nqwpsarg repairs to the building can only be accomplished by the Beard of Control pursuant to the Articles above menticned.
Very truly yours

ATTORNEYGENERALOFTEXAS

BY 1

Jackson Littleto&

Assistant:.

THISOPINION CONSIDEREMAND APPROVEDIN LIMITEDCONFERENCE