## THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS

HonorableD.~W. Stakes General Manager' Texas.Prlson System Huntsville, Texas

Dear Mr. Stakes: OpinionNo. O-6794 Re: Payment of taxes due~countg and schooldistricts,by Texas Prison System, In absence of the specific appropiration.

We have your request for an opinion set out in the followingquestion:

"In the absence of a specific appropriation providing for payment of taxes due countiesand schooldistricts, can the Texas Prison System pay such taxes from prison income?"
Section 6 of Article 8 of the Texas Constitutionreads
as follows:

"Nomoney shall be drawn from the Treasury but Fn pursuance of suecificappropriationsbv law; nor shall ang appropriation of money be made for a longer term than two gears, except by the first Legislature to assemble under this Constitution,which may make the necessary appropriations to carry on the government until the assemblage of the sixteenthLegislature.
Article 7150, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, as amended by act of the Regular Session of the 49th Legislature, 1945, Chapter 298, page 470, (H.B. 289) reads as follows:

"Article7150. (7507) (5065). Exemption from taxation.
"The followingproperty shall be exempt from taxation; to-wit:

* o
. . . . . "Subsection4. All property,whether realHonorable T. W. Stakes, page 2 o-6794

or personal,belonging exclusively to this State, or any political subdivision thereof, or the United States, except that in each county in this State, where the State of Texas has or may acquire and own land for the purpose of establishing thereon State farms and employing thereon convict labor on State account, ,thepenitentiaryboard or board of penitentiary commissioners, or other officers of the penitentiaryhaving the management of the same, shallrender said land for taxes to the tax assessor of said county and to the tax assessor of each independentschooldistrict inwhich'sald property, or any part thereof, is located; and the taxes on same shall be assessed and collected in themanner required by law for the assessment and collection of other taxes; provided, that said taxes shallbe assessed and collected for county and independentschool district purposes only; and said county and independent schooldistrict taxes, includingall current taxes and all delinquent taxes, shall be paid annually out of the General Revenue Fund of the State. In arriving at the amount to be paid in taxes to the counties the value of the land only shallbe consideredand not the value of the buildings and other improvementsowned by the State and situated on said land."

. . . D

. We have examined Chapter 378, Acts of the Regular Session of the 49th Legislature,being Senate Bill 317, providing for "Appropriations--StateExecutive and AdministrativeDepartments and Agencies". An appropriation Is made in that bill for the Texas Prison System, but there isno specificappropriation for payment of taxes to be paid to counties and school districts on state owned land. The bill contains the followingat the conclusion of specific sums appropriated, to-wit:

'For the purpose of efficiency and economically purchasing suppliesand materials necessary for the operationand maintenance of the Prison System's shoe shop,print shop, garment factory, textilemill, sugarmill, canningplant, agriculturaland livestockprogram, license plate plant, brick plant, tannery, and any other industryof the Prison System, and forthe processing,packaging and distributing the goods producedby the Prison Industries there is hereby reappropriated foreach year of the biennium beginning September 1, 1945, the Prison Industrial.RevolvingFund of Fifty Thousand

Dollars createdby Chapter 403 (R.B. the First Called Session of the 44thHonorable T. W. Stakes, page 3 o-6794

Legislature and deposited in equal amounts in the First Rational Bank and the Huntsville National Bank inHuntsville, Texas, subject to and with the benefits contemplated in the provisions of saidAct. The Prison IndustrialRevolving Fund in the State Treasury and all deposits thereto during the biennium beginning September 1, 1945, are appropriated for eachyear of the biennium and all withdrawals from the Prison IndustrialRevolving Fund in the State Treasury made in carrying out said Chapter403, shallbe made on Vouchers of the Prison System signed by the General Manager and Auditor of the Prison System and approved by the State Board of Control and the State Comptroller. The Comptroller shall issue hiswarrants in payment of said vouchers,when properly signed and approved, out of any money in said TreasuryAccount. "Revolvingexpense fund Twenty-fiveThousand ($25,OOO.OO)Dollars is continued and reappropriated until September 1, 1947, to be deposited equally in the First National Bank ofHuntsville and the Huntsville Rational Bank, and each of saidbanks shall depositwith the General Manager of the Prison System bonds of seourlty to be approved by the PrisonBoard and the Attorney General of the State of Texas to secure said deposits. 11

. . . . . "Provided,however, that fundswhich may be deposited in the State Treasur nium beglnnlng September 1, % during the bien19 5, from the sale of goods or productsproduaed or processedby the Prison System, in excess of the amounts necessary to reimburse all Prison ReQOlQing Funds carried in the Huntsville banks, are hereby appropriated for the constructlon,during the biennium, of Cell-~Blocks, Buildings, and Engineering and ArchitecturalFees, any such constructionwork so undertaken to be first approved by a majority of the members of the Texas Prison-Board,provided suoh'amount shall not exceed $150,000.00,and provided further that any balance in the'State Treasury in the-'Prison IndustrialReQolvlng~Fund~at the end of saidbiennium in excess of $50,000.00 shallbe transferred to the General Revenue Fund; and that any balance in the State Treasury in the Texas PrisonFundat,the end of said biennium in excess of $50,000.00 shallbe transferred to the ffeneral Revenue Fund."..

Honorable T. W. Stakes, page 4 o-6794

Itwill be noted from the above that funds from the sale of goods and productsproduced and processedby the Prison System, in excess of the amounts necessary to reimburse all Prison RevolvingFunds are appropriated-'for construction of Cell Blocks, Buildings;~and~~gineeriiigand Architectural Fees; not to'exceed $150,000.00and any~balande in the State Treasury in the .PrisonIndustrialRevolving Fund, at the end of said bienniumin excess of'$50,000.00 shallbe turned back to theGeneral Revenue Fund, and any balance in the State Treasury in the TexasPrison Fund at the end of'saidbienni-,
urnin excess of $50,000.00 shall likewisebe transferred to the General Revenue Fund.

. .

We do not find any appropriation for the purpose of paying taxes and itwill be seen that the Legislatureprovided ' the methods of assessing the taxes and the manner of arriving at the amount, as well as providing that payments shall,be made out of the General Revenue Fund but failed~tomake an appropriation of the money with which to pay such taxes.

In the case of Rational Biscuit Co. v. 'theState, 135 S. W. (26)687, the Supreme Court of Texas said the following:

"As ,'ust

stated, ,..i -' one of the provisions of

. Section ofArticle 8 of our Constitutionrequires all appropriationsof money out of the State's Treasury'to be specific. It is settled that no particular form of words is required to render an appropriation specificwithin themeaning of the constitutionalprovision under discussion. It is sufficient if the-Legislature authorizes the expenditureby law, and specifies the purpose for which the ap ropriation is made.

. . . . (Underscoringours P

"In spite of the above rules of law, we think that this attempted appropriation falls short of meeting the constitutionalrequirements that it be specific

. . , . . It is indefiniteas to amount, or even as to a maximum amount, leaving that matter, not to the Legislature,but to another branch of the Government, the courts to determine. We do not believe that such an appropriation of money out of~the State Treasurymeets the constitutional requirements that it shall be specific.

It is the opinion of this department that in the absence of a specificappropriationproviding for payment of taxes due counties and schooldistricts, the Texas Prison System cannot pay taxes from Prison income.Honorable T. W, Stakes, page 5 o-6794

Yours very truly

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By s/Jos.V. Frnka Jos.V. Friika Assistant

JVF:ddt:ac

APPROVES SEP 4, 1945 s/carlos C. Ashley FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEYGENERAL