PlRiOE DANIEL

A-YN- OENRIRAx. .renwry 24, 1948
Hon. Qeo. H. Shepperd Comptroller of Public Accounts Austin, 

### Texas opinion No. v-482 Rer The necessity for stete owned educetiona 1 inatitutionr to wke wrtaia .purchaw thrciugh the Bosrd of Control Deer Nr. Sheppepd~:

York, opin$on request dot& J?oiremb&20, i.94'7, is aa Pollowsr

"I hive been pSesented Vitlj seyeral~ rc-~ counts for .the,~pUFCheeeof lumber, sheet-rook, g1ms axid$$C.

“me purihaees ‘bare osde for tbe purport’ .of making needed repeLra at l State ownad edu~ oationel Institution., Such repairs were made by .peraona employed by the sohools, come Feoeiring a m?nthly w8ge, others so muchper 

### hour or day. These supplies vere purahaeed dlmot by the schools and not by the State Board OS,Control. *?leaae advise ii I bati~legrlly pear t& payment the rttrched aocounts in the’ form %a vhloh they are preuented to me, or should I forward them to the Stete Board of Control for their rpproval.

‘It would be greatly rppreclated if in enmrerlng this request you would dmw the line of demarcation aa to the authority of the Board of Directore of the 8ohoola and the State Borrd of Control, in the expendltwe ot etate funds for building materiela rud equipment.. -

Hon. Oeoi Ii. Shepperd - Page 2 

### (V-482)

“In connection with this request please refer to your Opinion No. 

### O-3768and Article 

### 634 of the Revised Civil Statutes*” The authority end method of the Boerd of Control to makepurchases for ‘State institutions is set out in Articles 

### 631to 

### 664,V.C.S. Particularly pertinent to your inquiry me Articles 

### 634,634a and 

### 660,which respectively provide t

‘Art. 

### 6342 ‘TheB,oerd of Control shall purcti,ee all the supplies used by each De

### parhtent of the Jtate Qovernment, including the St&e Prison System, end eech eleemoegnery Utstitution,‘~Ro,rmal school, AgHculturel 6133 Mechanioel College, University 

### of Texas, and.e$& und eW!.other Stete Schools 

### or Dep.srtmWts of the Stete ffovernment heretofore or hereafter created. Such suppILes to inelude furni.ture and flxturee, technical instruments and books. and all other thlnns r&u&red by the different departments’ 05 inet1tutions, except etrtctlg perishable goods *” @w-Q’ ad+4 ~\

“ThenB’osrd of Control shall In Ellapublic contra~ote to be let or awarded by it invite bide end furnish proposals t-othose dealrow of

’ bidd:lng ‘on’such forms es it may deem-proper,. .SsrldBoerd msy’place any person, firm or eorporetlon ‘so ’ desiring oh:8 State melling 1istUhloh seid list aMel entitle said holder' to e copy of the propose1 on any contreat that ‘$a,to ’be lets. ; . en,“, ‘, *Art. 

### 660. In csse of emergency, and whelk ertioles ere necessary end needed by any i.nstitution’~~end if ‘ia impraatlceble to Include them inthe annual contract, the superinten&nt shell ‘melhea requiaitio ’n for same to:.tke Board of Control; and the Board msy forthwith purchaee such article in the open market.” One of the dccounts which acaompanled your request was submitted by the. University of Texas and covered the lnstalletlon of ’8 plate glass top for the serving counter in their ,cafeterla

. Undbubtedly, this item should have been purchased through the Board of Control In eccordante with the provisions of the above quoted statutes,Hon. Geo. H. Sheppard - Page 3 IV-482)



### However, since the supplies “were purchased direct by the schools end not by the State Board of Control,” the question IS whether they maynowbe approved and paid. In this connection wewish t3 call your attention to Attorney Generel 1s Opinion No. O-2612. The question raised was whether the Board of Control could ratify a contract 

### for the purchase of supplies madeby the State Board of Vocational Bducation. The conclusion, 8s expressed in a quotation from the opinion wa

82

“If 

### the items of purchase in the present

. case were suoh sS that the purchase should have been madeupon competitive bids, then the Board of Control would have no authority to approve the audit for payment. If, on the other hand, the items were of such nsture aa that the Board could have purchased themwithout competitive bide, then the Board in its discretion would ,have the euthority to approve the o&aim the effect of which approval would in our opinion be a substantial compllence with the stat-~ utes of purcI&aBeand would entitle the o~leimto 

### be passed for 

### 8 warrant of payment.” Foll’&ing~ ,t4e principles expressed in that oplnloo, we hold that if

’ the purchase made,bg the Unlveralty was suah aa should have been submitted to the Board of Control for competitive bids, then the contract made

### for tihe glass ~a-: unauthorieed, and oannot be approved. But if the facts were such that thenpurchase might have been considered an ‘,etaergenoy” purcQaee under Article 660, then no compktltive bids 

### were required; end the Board of Control maynowadopt then Unlversl.ty~s oontract as its own.

Ae to how this particular purchase should be clssslfied we expr:e~aa: no. opinion since that depends upon the actual fecta aurroundlng the transaction, to be determi.ned by the Board of Cotitrol. It might be entirely poaelb1.e to aonslder a~,rep.sitito a 

### aervlng counter, which Is needed every day, as an “emergency” pur&aae.

Turning nowto the eccounte submltted by SamHouaton State Teachers College, wewish to call your attention to Artiole 2647, Section 1, which reeds 1~ part:

“1. The Board of 

### ‘

Regents of the State Teachers’ College is charged with the 

### reaponalbility of the general control and management of all State Teachers I Colleges for_

Roll.Geo. H. Sheppard - Page 4 (v-482)

white persons and mayerect, equip and repair bulldings; e L os’ In former Attorney General Is Opinion No. O-3768, to which you refer, this Department held that the State Board of Control was not required to approve the plans and designs or let contracts for the construction of the bulldlngs or other major improvements at the State’s higher educational institutions. Weadhere to that holding.

Since the purchases at SamHouston State Teachers College were for the purpose of constructing additional classroom apace, we belleve that they fall within the category of a “major permanent Improvement” and 

### as such need not be,approved by the Board of Control.

1. Purc*aes of supplies,, furniture, and fixtures for the University of Texas should be madethrough the :Board-of Control. .However, the Boati, megratify a contract madeby the Univezraitg for the purchase of glass, if the Board finds that It was an emergency purchase. Art. 634,.:634a .a& 660, V.C.S. Opinion O-2612. 2. The Ba,rd of Control need not approve the purchase of building materials used for a major permanent Improvement at SamHouston State Teachers College. i.011No., G-2647. Art. 26,47V.C.S., OplnYours very truly ATTORNEXGENRRAL

OFTRXAS

BY Assistant

APPROVEDa

-EXECUTIVEASSISTANT