. 1 

Maroh 29, 1957 

Honorable Dawson Bryant 

County Attorney 

Kent County 

Jayton, Texas 

Opinion NO. ~~-81 

Re:.The issuance and legal 

obligatibn of. time~uarrants by Jayton.Rural 

High School District 

Dear Mr. Bryant: 

7:; Arty. 2786(e), 

. . . 

You request the opinion of this office+pon..the 

questions presented in your letter, as follows:, 

"At.the beginning of the current.school 

ye+- beginning on.September ,l, 1956, ok, 

sho+ry th.ereafter, the Jay$on..Ru&?al..Hig& 

School"Distrrct had just'komplete'd ~&~~nbu:'~ 

gch?oJ,,p&ant consisting.,of.a.new~.grade 

~'-schodl, high school; auditorium and gym:, 

" -:iI+stnm.:'.~Th& scool district was.in needjof.~ 

'~?kquir$&nt fdr.the .varlous schoolrooms, be& 

and lu,nchroom in order that classes ~could'~,' 

,be,soperly:.conducted during. the pt?esentL. 

j ‘.~iml~iiO$ year; The“school,had,enougR.,furids.,~ 

' @i+vould':ti@celire .enou&availab)e findb 

.: <. .~~~asP"'dourdea~:during,~the 'pew. tb.'h* _'aJa,, 

teacher~~~~~&~+lL;i;, ;~'iaainte~nceiar;a~~~o~~~~.,. -:,_ 

tiop,,q,Lth-+,sma~l surplus .left ovqr.; ,hov- '. 

everi“the::,school,districtid~d~not.~sue.enough 

fund~':'&~'of-:curyent available, fundb.to..pu$+ 

chase.~~~fie-'xiece'ssary equipment Andy to eqtiip;;:~ 

scho6l.propertyr~~ The:Board'of Trus$ees'order- 

.edthe :necessary,equipment durlng.the prehent 

schoo& yeaT with~the intention of borrowing 

~ki6ney;by :'ibsuing 'time-warrents to,pay for s&e, 

,Such.tqultient,cost wellover the sum.of:' 

#25,000.00. Upon receiving the equipment in' 

September and October of 1956, instead of issuing time-warrants to obtain then funds.necessary for such purpose which warrants would 

have been dravlng interest, the Board of Trustees paid for such equipment out of available 
Honorable Dawson Bryant, page 2 (~~-81) 

funds with the intention of ls~ulng the 

time-warrants later in the school year 

when the need arose for the money. NOW 

the school is ln need of funds to replace 

that which was sperit on the equipment and 

they now desire to issue interest-bearing 

time warrants in the amount of $25,000.00. 

"1 . Can the Jayton Rural High School DEBtrict issue interest-bearing time warrants 

under Article 2786e Texas Revised Civil 

Statutes under the above circumstances? 

"2. Would such time warrants be a legal 

obligation of such School District?" 

"interest-bear1 time warrant" is defined in Se%o?imof Article ~2786(3, V.C.S., as being a 

"p-omlssory note, interest-bearing time warrant, obllgatlon or other evidence of indebtedness issued under this 

Act," and the statute authorizes payment of the warrants with 

tax moneys to be levied and collected in future years. 

It 1s clear that neither bonds nor warrants may be 

issued for any purpose not authorized by 6tatutory or constitftutbnal provlslons, the leading case on the subject being 

Lasater +. Lopez, 110 Tex. 179, 217 S.W. 373. 

In effect, it 1s proposed to replenish the "current 

available funds" of the dl&rlCt by the Issuance of time warrants. Such a 

in Article 2786 

rpose 1s clearly not one of those enumerated 

p"~ e), V.C.S., which are as follows: 

11 to repair and renovate school bulldl&;'purchase school buildings and school 

equlpment; to equip school properties with 

necessary heating, water, sanitary, lunchroom and electric facilities; . . ." 

Issuance of time warrants for the purpose stated is 

not authorized by Article 2786(e), V.C.S., and If they were 

Issued they would be void. 
Honorable Dawson Bryant, page 3 (~~-81) 

Under Article 2786(e~), V.C.S., time warrants may not be legally issued by a 

school district for the purpose of replenishing the "current available funds" 

of the district, and, if ISsued, would 

not be legal obligations of the district. 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney Cjeneral 

Byk"+ 

Howard W. May8 

Assistant 

HUM-s 

APPROVED: 

OPINION CiMMITTEE 

By: H. Grady Chandler, Chairman