THE ATTOKNEY GENERAL 

OPTEXA~ 

October 5@ 1948 

Hon. C, H. Cavness 

State Auditor 

Austin, Texas 

Attention: 

Mr. William A. Harrison 

Opinion No. V-696 

Dear Sir:- 

Re: Effective dates of clemency proclamations and 

the legality of payment 

of discharge funds 5 

years after a conditional pardon is granted, 

In your letter of reoent date you request an 

opinion by this department upon the following 

"Under Section 10 of Article 6203, 

Vernon's R, C, S., the Texas Prison Systern is required to pay $i5aO0 to each parolee who receives a Conditional Pardon, 

questions: 

"In checking the records of the Texas 

Prison System we find that during the oalendar year 1948 the Prison System has made 

payments to parolees who received Conditional Pardons back in the year 1943* Is 

this procedure legal in view of our twoyear Statute of Limitation? 

"In our examination of Clemency Proclamations signed by the Governor, we find 

that the Texas Prison System is following 

the practice of starting Clemency on the 

date the convict is released from Prison, 

in view of the fact that specified dates 

are not shown in the Clemency Proclametions, 

"This procedure has caused confusion 

as no one seems to know whether such 
. . 

Hon. C. H. Cavness - Page 2 (V-696) 

Clemency should become effective as of 

the date of the Proclamation or as of the 

date the prisoner is released from Prison. 

Xi11 you please advise whet procedure 

should be followed?” 

Section 10 of Article 6203 of Vernon’s Civil 

Statutes is as follows: 

YJpon the discharge of any prisoner 

upon parole, either under the provisions of 

this Act, or through the exercise by the 

Governor of executive clemency, independent 

of this Act, such person so paroled, shall 

be furnished by the proper officers of the 

State Prison Board with such clothing as is 

usually furnished to prisoners upon discharge from prison in this State together 

with a railroad non-transferable ticket 

from the place of his discharge to the place 

of his conviction and sentence, and in addition thereto the sum of $5.00,” 

The current appropriation for the Texas Prison System contains the following rider: 

“Discharged convicts revolving fund, 

Twenty-five Thousand ($25,000.00) Dollars 

is continued and reappropriated until September 1, 1949, to be deposited equally in 

the First National Bank 01 Huntsville and 

the Huntsville National Bank, and each of 

said Banks shall deposit with the General 

Manager of the Prison System, bonds or security to be approved by the Prison Board 

and the Attorney General of the State of 

Texas to secure said deposit, and this eppropriation is made under and by virtue of 

the law of the Acts of the First Called Session of the 43rd Legislature, page 228, 

Chapter 104, and it is the intent of the 

Legislature to carry this Act out in full 

as provided for in Chapter 104, Acts of the 

First Called Session of the 43rd Legislature, and all discharged, paroled, or pardoned convicts shall be paid out of this 

fund from moneys earned from any source of 

the Prison System and deposited to this 
C. H. Cavness - Page 3 (V-696) 

fund under the provisions of said Chapter 

104 of the Acts of the First Called Session of the 43rd Legislature,” 

The Prison iievolving Fund thus appropriated is 

a part of the State monies, and the appropriation there 

made is a part of the biennial appropriation and as such 

expires at the end of the biennium, 

Answering your questions in the order in which 

they are above repeated, we beg to advise: 

It is the opinion of this office that biennial 

appropriations are meant to cover items and claims for 

the current period for which the appropriations are made, 

and may not be used for purposes such as you mention of 

paying claims arising prior to such appropriations. 

Undoubtedly, an appropriation could be made to 

pay an existing liability antedating the Act if the language used clearly evIdencea SW& iltentlm, but no such 

intention appears in the rider quoted, Your first question, therefore, is answered in the negative., 

An executive clemency is the Act of the Governor 

evidenced by his .proclamation. The legal effeot of the 

proclamation is.to tender to the ooavict the clemency 

therein drfined, and in the terms and upon the conditions 

therein stated, Any clemency (especially one involving 

conditions) must be accepted by the convict before it becomes effective, Ex parte Frazier, 239 S, W, 972; Ex 

parts Davenport, 7 S- WD (2d) 589, For computing the 

time of the clemency, therefore, the period begins when 

the proclamation io made known to thr Brirol Hanagor, the 

prisoner haa accepted thm same and has bmon l otuallj IOleased thereunder 0 

The l pBrowiatio& of the ourrtit bismium 

to the Texap Prirr &Lqak@ for paying $5.00 to 

a convict reoeiving a oallitioral par&n rry 

amt be use& to pay these conviots whcse coalitional pardons were issuea prior to the Apprrpriation Act. 

A olemenoy to a convict released from 

prison is computed, as to time, rru ths (Iay 
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Hon. C. H. Cavness - Page 4 (v-696) 

such convict is released from the Prison. 

Yours very truly, 

0S:wb 

ATTOIXN~Y GBNERAL OF TiXAS 

BY a& 

Ocie Speer 

Assistant 

ATTO.RNEY GENERAL