Honorable Gsorg6H. Sheppard 

Con@roller of Fublio Aocmmt6 

Austin, Ten6 

Dear Hr. sheppwi, Opinion No. O-2580 

I&J: EXPnditur6 of appropriation for 

suppli6e for fisoal y6ar ending 

AUg.. 31, U4C for suppliss to be 

delivexwd duriag fi6Od year ending Aug. 31, 1941. 

In your letter of May 20, 1940, you 6tate that you antioipot6 there 

till be 6 ba1anO6 in your appropriation Of #ll,CCC.CC for supplies for th6 fi6.. 

Oal year ending &lgUSf 31, 1940, and that YOU desire to ~66 the 66166 for pl+ 

oh86ing SUpp1166 in the mmth of August, which 6Upp1i6S 6my cr m6y not be d6lip 

ered'durlng the mongth of *nguEt, 1940 for the general maintenance of th6 Camp 

troll6r's D6p6rbnmnt. 

You ask th6 OpiXiOn of thir dE&artmsnt upon the question whether you 

are l uthoriz6d to mak6 6uoh puroha60 and pg for the 6=6 out of the appropric 

tion made for the fisoal yuar ending Augu6t 51, 1946. 

S6otion 1 of the G6nnerrl Appropriation Bill, Imom! a6 Senate Bill 

427, A6t6 Ibw Bsndon, 46th Legislature, begins a6 follarrsr 

"Tbnt the 66v6ral 61x66 of mon6y hsrein speoifisd or 60 mnohth6reoP a6 may be 

necessary, are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the State Tr6a6ury not 

otberrise appropriated or out of special funds a6 may be shown, for the support 

Pnd miintsnc+?a of the s6vural depu-t6mnts andagencies of the Stat6 goven666nt 

for the two year period beginning Septsmber 1, 1939, and ending August 31, 1941.6 

In it66cLaiPg tha appropriatia for the vwious departmsntr coverad in 

such till, the Lagislatur6 follow& the ~006dur6 indioated below: 

'For the year6 ending 

.AuguEt a.# 1940 August 31, 1941 

"Itan . . . #ll,Kww #11,000.00 

Itmns obviously thedesing and purpose of the Legislature, in 

POlloWing thi6 procedure, as it ims be66 in the pa6t, to provide ~616 certain 

6vm of money for the exp6nditur66 necessary to oarry on the aotivities of the 

vpriou6 d6pBti6nt6 for the fisoal year 6nding August 21, l9p 6nd a sapuats 

a& distinot SUII of moxmy forth6 8516 pWpO66 for the fisoal year ending 

August 31, 19410 The itsm provided for the fisoal par ending August 31, 1940 
Hone Geo. H. Sheppard, page 2 (O-2390) 

is intended to be available only for such expenditures as ar6 neoe66u-y to ourg 

on th6 iunotion6 Ofthat deparbmt during that fi6Oal year. Th6 66me 16 true 

with reference to the itsmr provided forthe fisoal year ending August 31, 1941. 

The item worlded for the fisoal yeu ending August 31, 1940 is not available to 

defray expenditures neoessary to oarxy on the funotiona of the deprtmsnt during I 

the fisoal year Ending August 31, 1941, and oonr6rsEly, the it661 provided forth6 

fisoal year ending August 31, 1941 is not aVailahl6 for erpenditures in ovryiag 

on the fwmtions of the department for the fiscal year sading August 31, 1940. 

w Unexpended hlanoes inthe appropriations for the fisorl year ending August 

31, 1940 are not intended t6 b6 l railabl6 to aupplem6nt th6 wsount6 provided for 

oarrying on the funotions of the departmmt forth6 fisoal year ending August 31, 

1941, lxrt on the contrary, pooh uwxpended lmlanaoes lap6se Se6 Fulmore V. Lane 

(Sup. ct.) 140 S.H. 405, 1062. 

It would 66661 from your SiXtSment that tha 6Upplie6 mry or may not be 

delivered during the.month of August 1940, that you desire to purohase such sup 

plies for us6 in ar@ng on the fuuotions of your deph6nt during the fissal 

year ending Aupt 31, 1941. From what we have saidabove, it follows that thi6 

may not b don.. 

Rs do not hold that 6upplie6 pIWOha66d duii~the Outit-fiEO*l y6ar 

for the operation and maintenance of a deyahent during the year may not bs prid 

for out of the current year*6 appropriation simply because, through error in judgmsat, more thU4 n6 neo666aIy naS ordered. Qoverrwnt is a going lm6in66s *noern, and muoh of that lmriners must of woessity be 16ft to the honest disoretion 

of tho66 to mhmn m6nagem6nt 16 Oonfided. In the very nature of things6 eraof estimte6 ar6 impoEslbl6: md lSgiSlatiV6 6naObB66ItE mU6t be interpreted, if possible, 

in the light of the reiliti66. Of oour6e, therefore, supplies m6y be #d for out 

of the year'6 appropriation, though a prt of them may be Oarried over for use during the next fiscal year. lfe 6imply hold herein that the balanoe in 6n appropriation for supplies for the operation sad maintsnance of a departmmt for on6 fisorl 

ysm my not ba deliberatedly used for the pWOha66 of supplies not needed for the 

ourrent par's operations, bt intended for use only in the subsequent fiscal year. 

Very truly your6 

ATTORNEY GElWIN, OF l’EXA2 

By /s/R. IL Fairohild 

RRF:m:egw 

R. ll. Fairohild 

Assistant 

APF’ROVED JULY 26, 1940 

/s/ GERM2 C. b!ANN 

ATl!ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

This opinion oonsidersd and 

approved in limited conference.