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Mr. William J. Burke Executive Director State Board of Control Austin,Texas OPINIONNO.WW-523
Re: Under the terms of Senate Bill 190 are improvements (houses,outbuildings,,etc.) acquired by the Highway Department in connectionwith the right-of-waybuilding program, correctly considered as surplusproperty and related questions.
Dear Mr. Burke:
In your letter attaching a copy of a report preparedby Mr. Don Cavness,your Chief Clerk,you requested our opinion on various related questionsunder the terms of Senate Bill 190. We interpretyour request to refer to Senate Bill 190, Acts of the 55th Legislature, Chapter 414, Page 1247, Codified as Article 666, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes,known as the Salvage and SurplusAct of 1957, and will proceed on this assumption. Your letter in part reads as follows:

1. "Under the terms of the Senate Bill 190 are improvements (houses,out buildings, etc,) acquired by the Highway Department in connectionwith the right of way and Highway Building program correctly consideredas surplusproperty? The language of Section Two of Senate Bill 190 appears to indicate items which are classified as personal property of State agencieswhich appear on the inventory records of the various agencies are different (innature) from the improve- ,mentslisted above. 2. "Should the Board of Controlunder the terms of the Highway program attempt to handle the sale of improvementsacquired in connection with the right of way under the terms of SenateBill 190? Your attention is called to Paragraph 3 and 5 of the attached report.. .

Hon. William J. Burke Page - 2 - 

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3. "If,under the terms of Senate Bill 190, the Board of Control shouldbe the one to handle the disposal of such acquired improvements, can the Board of Control, in the interests of expediency,accuracy,and controldelegate the authorityc~foo:~the~,.disposal of such improvements to the Highway Department?" Section 2 of the Act reads as follows:
"It is the purpose of this Act to save the State money and recover as much money as possible for the State by giving the Board of Controlauthority to implement the transfer and use the best means of sale and disposal of all serviceable statepersonal property no longer needed by the stateagencies, and authority to use the bestmeans for the saleand disposal of all state-ownedpersonal property that is depleted,worn out, damaged or consumed to the extent that it is no longerusable." (EmphasisAdded) Section 3 of the Act reads in part as follows: 11' (d) "Property"means personal property, and does not mean real-wrouerts, or any interest in real property, Personalproperty affixed to real property may be soldunder this law if its removal and disposition is to carry out a lawful objectiveunder this law or any other law. (EmphasisAdded) ” I(e) "Surplusproperty"means any personal property which is in excess of the needs of any state agency and which is not required for its foreseeable needs. Surpluspropertymay be used or new, but possesses someusefulness for the purpose for which it was intended or for some other purpose.'"
In answer to your first question, it is our opinion that the improvementsmentioned in your letter are to be considered as surplusproperty and dis of thisAct. Sections 3 (d Posed of in accordancewith provisions and (e)of the Act clearly reflect the legislative intent to bring within this Act such improvements affixed to realty when their removal or disposition is to carry out a lawful objectiveunder any law. These improvements have been acquiredby the Highway Departmentunder their delegated authority to construct and maintain highways andHon. William J. Burke Page - 3 - (WW-523)

when no longer required for their present and foreseeable needs theymust be disposed of as directed by this Act.
In answer to your secondquestion, it is our opinion that it is the Board of Control'sduty to'dispose of these improvements in accordancewith law once the Highway Department notifies them that the improvementsare no longer needed. While disposal of these improvementsmay'present certaindifficulties to the Board, we believe that the Act clearly sets out the procedures to be followedindisposing of such improvements.
In answer to your third question,we are of the opinion that the Board of Control can delegate the authority for the disposal of such improvements to the Highway Departmentunder the rules and regulations setup by the Board. This authority is clearly reaffirmedby Section 11 of the Act which states "it is the intent of the Legislature that the Board may authorize an agency to dispose of surplus or salvageproperty where the agency demonstrates to the Board its ability to make suchdispositionunder the ruled and regulations set up by the Board, as provided for herein...."
SUMMARY Improvements (houses,out buildings, etc.) acquired by the Highway Department in connection with right-of-wayand highway building programs are correctly consideredas surplus propertyunder the terms of the Salvage and Surplus Act and the Board of Controlmust dispose of these improvements in accordancewith this Act once the Highway Department notifies them that these improvementsare no longer needed. The authority for the disposal of such improvements can be delegated to the Highway Department. Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General

ERC:mh By: DWARD A. CAZARES AssistantHon. William J. Burke Page - 4 -

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE George P. Blackburn, Chairman Ernest John Flowers Houghton Brownlee, Jr.
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: W. V. Geppert (w-523)