JIM MA-X-I-OX August 8, 1990 

AmmxEY GENERAI. 

Honorable Benjamin Euresti, Jr. Opinion No. JM-1204 

Cameron County Attorney 

Cameron County Courthouse Re: Whether an uncompensa974 E. Harrison Street ted commissioner of a counBrownsville, Texas 78520 ty housing authority may 

receive mileage credits 

attributable to authority 

travel (RQ-1979) 

Dear Mr. Euresti: 

You ask four questions regarding the use of airline 

mileage credits accrued by commissioners1 of the Cameron 

County Housing. Authority (hereinafter the authority). The 

credits are attributable to travel on behalf of and paid for 

by the authority. 

You first ask whether a commissioner may use such 

credits for his personal use. Chapter 392 of the Local 

Government Code governs county housing authorities but 

contains no provisions directly relevant to your inquiry. 

However, section 392.035 denies commissioners any compensation but entitles them to receive reimbursement for 

necessary travel expenses. That provision, prior to its 

codification in the Local Government Code, was strictly 

construed to disallow.payment of a monthly travel allowance. 

Housina Auth. of Harlinaen v. State ex rel Velasauez, 539 

S.W.Zd 911 (Tex. Civ. App. - Corpus Christi 1976, writ ref'd 

n.r.e.). The court emphasized the fact that travel expense 

payments are made from public money and determined that the 

part of the $50 travel allowance over the amount of actual 

travel expenses represented compensation in violation of the 

statute. BY extension, that opinion disallows a 

commissioner from personally collecting the compensation 

1. Although you ask about "board members," "commissioners" is the title given in chapter 392 of the Local 

Government Code. 

P. 6375 
Honorable Benjamin Euresti, Jr. - Page 2 (JM-1204) 

represented by airline mileage credits. Of course, if the 

mileage credits could not be used for public purposes, use 

of them by a housing authority commissioner would not 

constitute compensation. 

Also, we note that it is the responsibility of the 

authority, not any individual commissioner, to establish an 

accounting system with the airlines or travel agency to 

provide for the authority to receive the travel credits for 

future use by the authority. Absent such an arrangement, we 

do not think that a court would find a violation of the 

Penal Code. See aeneru State Ethics Advisory Opinion 

1984-6 (1984). 

Second, you ask whether the use of the mileage credits 

should be limited to travel on behalf of the authority. If 

the authority can not arrange to have mileage discounts 

assigned to the credit of the authority, per se, then the 

credits assigned to individual commissioners should be used 

for authority travel. 

in your third question, you ask whether the housing 

authority may request copies of mileage credit statements 

from individuals. In the same manner that any employer may 

require its officers and employees to account for property 

belonging to the employer and in the possession of its 

employees, a housing authority may require its officers and 

employees to account for its property that is in the possession of its officers. See also wina Auth. of Harlinaen, 

Eaxar at 916. 

Finally, you ask whether the authority may sell mileage 

credits to the individuals involved. Section 392.056(c) of 

the Local Government Code allows a housing authority to. sell 

its personal property. Thus, we believe that the authority 

is authorized to sell mileage credits earned as a result of 

authority travel, subject, of course, to constitutional 

requirements that it receive an adequate ouid ore ou 0. Tex. 

Con&. art. III, 5 52. 

SUMMARY 

A commissioner of a county housing 

authority is not entitled to compensation. 

Therefore, he may not receive airline mileage 

credits earned on the basis of authority 

travel. A county housing authority may 

require that individuals supply copies of 

P- 6376 
Honorable Benjamin Euresti, Jr. - Page 3 (JM-1204) 

mileage credit statements, where the credits 

are accrued from travel on behalf of the 

authority. A county housing authority may 

sell its personal property, including airline 

mileage credits. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARYEELIER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

Lou MCCREARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAELBY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RENEA HICKS 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Karen C. Gladney 

Assistant Attorney General 

P. 6377