HonorableL, A, Woods State Superintendentof Fublio instruction Austin, Texas
Dear Mr. 'Kcods: Opinion Xc, 0-55!7 R0: Employmenthnd supervisionof emp!oyoeswho keep the records of the State BoaPd of Edumtion.
Your recent request of this department for 8r1opinion regarding the above subjects reads as follows:
"In a recent opinionyou held that ,theState Doard of &dumtion and the State 9oard forVocational +Jducwtloo are one and the same* and that the duty of distributingFedarrj! subs,idins

for vocationa? subjects is an additional responsi.bi1ity ,tc be ciemed by the Statr. Board of Education, aridthat the State Supar<nter,den~t, who 1s EX Officio Secretary of the State Board of Educwtion is also Ex Off'lc;~o Secretary of the State Board forVoo~t;onel Edwation. "Article 2662 of the Revised Civil Statutes states that "The Stwsn Superintendentshall fi1.e SIX reports, doomants and papers ,transa,ittad to him and the State Ecard by cowty OF city mhoo:! offioers, and fcm all other sources pertaining to putlio stihhoo'ls, awd keep B comp:~eta index of the same," '"Article

2666 of the Revised CivilWxtutes, which prescrtbes the duties of the State Superintendent,provides, in pert, that *Fe shall exa&ne and approve all accounts against the school funds that are ,tc be paid by the State Treasurer, and upon such epproval,'the Comptroller shall be authorized ,to draw his vjarrar!t. Hemay employ suoh clerks to perform the duties of his office 8s may be authorizedby appropriPtions therefor,' "The Stat+ Superintendenthas considered it his fun&ion to keep a record of the businesswhich the Board has transacted,both financi*l and otherwise, Is it no,tB fact that the State Superintendentis authorized,under the provisions of Article 2662, ,to keep all records - of the State Board of Education? "Article 2656, referrod to above, specifically states that the State Superintendentmay employ suah clerks to perform the duties of his office as may be authorizedby approprietion~therefor. Sircet theHonorable L, A, Woods - page 2

State Superintendent is responsible for all records dealingwith the Stats Board of &due&ion, and the records, both financia:i and otherwises are kept by persons for whom the Legislature~RS appropriated salaries, is it not a fact that the auditors, secretepiesand other persons responsiblefor keeping these records, ,whose posi,tions

are listed in the appropriation for the State Department of Eduaation, are to be consideredemployees of the State Superintendentof Puhlio Instructionand subjectto his supemisions?" Article 2662, R. C. S. is correctly quoted in your letter, except that a comma precedes the clause, 'pertainingto public school,'" It is clear, therefore, that saidArticle only requ!res the State Superintendentto file and keep a complete index of a:l:I reports, documents and papers covered thereby and which pertain to public schools. -- Said Article was passed by our Legislhture in 1905,<:ndhas never been changed, Reports, dooments and papers pertaining tovocetional education and rehabilitationdo not pertain to pub:ldc schools, and are not covered by saidArticle, Tf we should bemistsken in this conclusion, saidArticle has been superseded insofsr as reports,,documents and papers pertaining to vocational education and rehabilitation pro concerned. The passage of ourvocational eduoetionand rehabilitation statuteswas effectedmany years nfter 1905, %ey therefore supersedeall previous statutes in confliot therewith. For en extended discussion of said statutes, see our former Opinior! No, 0-571fi, Article 2656, R. C. So 0 nas also coveredby said former Opinion No, O-5716, as ~611~ a8 by our former. Confertwice Opinion No. 2905. As heretofore stated in Opinion No.. O-6716, "i-t

wes pointed out In Conference Opinion NO~ 2905 **** ,thetthis Article (2656) authorized the State Superintendentto appoint olerkswhere there are approprfa,Uons made for that purpose and where such eletiks we to perform the duties - I~- of his office, -- '"It

was furtherheld therein that saidArticle (2656)was inspplicable to employeesengaged in the vocational eduaational divisions and ,that

such employees are not clerks of the State Supwintendend, As was therein observed, the employment of personnel,under the ststu,tes and state-federalplans relative to vocational eduoation, is by specific legislativerecognition the finc'tion of the State Board for Vocational Education,"
In our former Opinion STOP O-5828, which dealtwith the creation of the original Eoard of Education and the creation of the present State board of Education, their powers and duties, 'wepointed out thate
" *here certain duties are conferredby the Legislatureupon 5 designated officer, the Legislature is the only authority .wherebysaid dutiesmay be withdram or conferredupon others, By "certainduties' ismeant, of course, those duties whioh the i~egislature has power to confer,"Honorable L. A. Woods - page 3 O-5917

Therefore,when the Legislature designated the Stats Board cf Education as the State Board of Vocational Education, and .impossd upon it the added duties of promotingvocational education and rehabilitation in Texas, said Boardwas empowered to employ and supervise the necessary personnel for their accomplishment. I?csuch power pws given the State Superintendentof Public Instruction,and ncne can be implied frcm the present provisions of cur statutes, The Stats Superintendent is the statutoryexofficio Secretary of said Board. Article 2675b-3,V. A. C. S. Since his duties as such are not enwwwted in saidArticle, he should perform such duties as are ordinarilyperformedby a secretary. Keeping a completerecord of the Board's proceedings is certainlyone of his duties. This is commonly referred to as keeping the minutes of said Board. By "minutes" is meant "The official recordmade of the transactionsor proceedingsat a meeting or an organized body, as of the stockholdersor directors of a corporation." Webster's &w InternationalDictionary, Second Edi.,ticn.
"A 'Secretary'is an official scribe; an amanuensis or,writer; a person employed to write orders, records and the like, The term is practically synonymous with 'clerk'." Griffinva Town of Corydon,Ky. 44 sew’
. 629. "Secretary" is also defined as "An official scribe, amanuensis, or writer: a person employed to write letters, despatohes,orders, public or private papers, records, and the like." This last definition is from 66 C. J. 1269, and is quoted in the Texas CivilAppeals cass of Mauritz v. Schwind, 101 S. W'.(2) 1085, 1090, The foregoing statements and definitions era sufficient in soape to ccver the dutieswhich are ordinarily performed by a secretary,
It should be noted that the duties set forth in Articles 2662 and 2656,V, A. C, S., are duties imposedupon the State Superintendent as such, and not as ex-officio secretaryof the board,
Inview of the foregoing, cur answers to both questions submitted are in the negative. Very truly yours ATTOR&m GENERAL OF T?XAS

By s/L. A, Flewellen LHF-&~-WC ,Assistant APPROVED APRIL 6, 1944 ./Get. P. BlackburnATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE By BWB CHAImN