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 ina titutionr 

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,~pUFCheee of 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 much per 

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-3768 and Article 

634 of the Revised Civil Statutes*” 

The authority end method of the Boerd of Control 

to make purchases for ‘State institutions is set out in Articles 631 to 664, V.C.S. Particularly pertinent to your 

inquiry me Articles 634, 634a and 660, which respectively 

provide t 

‘Art. 6342 ‘The B,oerd of Control shall 

purcti,ee all the supplies used by each Deparhtent 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 ~\ 

“Then B’osrd of Control shall In Ella public contra~ote to be let or awarded by it invite bide end furnish proposals t-o those dealrow of’ bidd:lng ‘on’ such forms es it may 

deem-proper,. .Ssrld Boerd 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 ‘melhe a 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 may now be approved and paid. In 

this connection we wish 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 made by the State Board of Vocational Bducation. The conclusion, 8s expressed in a quotation from the 

opinion wa 8 2 

“If the items of purchase in the present . 

case were suoh sS that the purchase should 

have been made upon 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 them without 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&aBe and 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 then purchase might have been considered an ‘,etaergenoy” purcQaee under Article 660, then no compktltive bids 

were required; end the Board of Control may now adopt 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.siti to a aervlng counter, which Is needed every 

day, as an “emergency” pur&aae. 

Turning now to the eccounte submltted by Sam Houaton State Teachers College, we wish 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 may erect, 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. We adhere to that holding. 

Since the purchases at Sam Houston 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 

made through the :Board -of Control. .However, 

the Boati, meg ratify a contract made by 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 Sam Houston 

State Teachers College. 

i.011 No., G-2647. 

Art. 26,47 V.C.S., OplnYours very truly 

ATTORNEXGENRRAL OFTRXAS 

BY 

Assistant 

APPROVEDa 

-EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT