Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

TECE ;~TTOECNEY GENERAL OF -XAS Commissioner Raymond W. Vowel1 Opinion No. M- 1274 State Department of Public Welfare John H. Reagan Building Re: Authority of the Austin, Texas. 78701 Department of Public Welfare to contract with the State Building Commission for renovations in the John H. Reagan Dear Mr. Vowell: Building. ,We acknowledge receipt of your recent opinion request involving the above captioned matter and in which you ask the following question: "May the State Department of Public Welfare contract with the State Building Commission for the renovation of the fifth floor of the John H. Reagan State Office Building, for the renovation of other portions of that building to accomodate the installation of computers and other equipment and for the improvement of the defective elevator system currently in use In that building?" You have further advised concerning this question as follows: "The fifth floor of the John H. Reagan State Office Huilding is currently occupied by the State Department of Agriculture, the Hoard of Pardons and Paroles and the Tourist Development Agency. When the Stephen F. Austin State Office Building, presently under construction,is completed, those agencies will vacate their office space in the Reagan Building and will -6253- Commissioner Raymond W. Vowell, page 2 (M-1274) relocate in the Austin Building. The office space then to be vacated by those agencies has been allocated to the Department of Public Welfare by the Building Commission and the Board of Control. "In order to accomodate the needs of the agencies presently occupying the Reagan Building's fifth floor, partitions have been installed. Upon occupation by the Department of Public Welfare, such partitions will have to be removed or reordered if the office space requirements of the Department's staff are to be met. "The Department further desires to replace or improve the Reagan Building's elevator system, which has had a history of malfunctions, and to renovate its Reagan Building spaceto accomodate the installa- tion of computers and other equipment." It is our opinion that your Department has the legal authority to achieve the above ends through con- tract with the Building Commission. Article 678m, Section 3, Vernon's Civil Statutes, confers authority upon the Building Commission to 11 9 . . acquire necessary real and personal property, modernize, remodel, build and equip buildings for State purposes, and make contracts necessary to carry oustand effectuate the purposes herein mentioned in keeping with appro- priations authorized by the Legislature . . . (Emphasis Added.) The authority of the Building Commission to contract with other state agencies is oursuant to the above statute. Attorney General O~iniona NOS: WW-1120(1961); c-78(196$); and M-695(1970). A state agency, such as the Department of Public Welfare, is clearly authorized by Article 4413(32), Section 3, Vernon's Civil Statutes, to enter into and perform -6254- . 1 Commissioner Raymond W. Vowell, page 3 (M-1274) written contracts with other state agencies for furnishing necessary authorized special or technical services and to reimburse the other agency therefor. The mode of payments and transfer of funds should be provided for the inter- a ency contract in conformity with Section 6 of Article 4813(32) and Section 8, subdivision (D) of Article 678f. In Attorney General Opinion No. M-695, supra, it was held that building repairs and remodeling are deemed special or technical services within the purview and meaning of this statute as well as within the scope of the authorized purposes specified in Article 678m, Section 3, supra. You have advised that the funds for the renovation are to be expended out of federal monies which may be used for this purpose and will be disbursed from your "Federal Public Welfare Administration Fund." We also note that in the event such federal funds should be deemed state funds, Article V of Senate Bill No. 1, 3rd. C.S., 62nd. Leg., 1972, might become relevant, wherein it is provided: "None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be expended for removing walls, partitions or any other permanent part of the first and second State office buildings except for such renovations that may be'necessary for new offices or depart- ments moving into the building, unless otherwise authorized and provided for elsewhere in this Act, or-upon the approval of the State Hoard of Control."@mphasls Added.) In executing any such contract, the Legislature has provided through appropriate statutes that when improve- ments or repairs are needed in the proper care and main- tenance of State-owned buildings maintained by the Hoard of Control, such as is the case with the John H. Reagan State Office Building, the Board shall make and provide for such repairs or improvements, including space allotment, to be made under its direction. See Articles 678f, Section 2(A), 673 and 665, Vernon's Civil Statutes. These -6255- Commissioner Raymond W. Vowell, page 4 (M-1274) statutes must be construed in par1 materia with Articles 678m, Section .3, and 441x(32), and consequently it is necessary that the Board of Control be joined as a party to the proposed contract. We are advised that the Board of Control is agreeable to the proposed project and expenditures, and your question is therefore answered in the affirmative, subject to the approval of the Board of Control which must be a party to the contract. To the extent that any prior opinions of this office hold in effect that the Board of Control is not a necessary party to a contract where it has become the using agency as to State-owned buildings maintained by the Board, such opinions are hereby overruled in such respect. -SUMMARY- The State Department of Public Welfare may contract with the State Building Com- mission and the Board of Control for the renovation of the fifth floor of the John H. Reagan State Office Building, for the renovation of other portions of that building to accomodate the installation of computers and other equipment, and for the improvement of the defective elevator system currently in use in that building. al of Texas Prepared by Kerns Taylor Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. B. Allen, Acting Chairman -6256- Commissioner Raymond W. Vowell, page 5 (M-1274) John Banks J. C. Davis Roland Carleon Harry Green SAMUEL D. MCDANIEL Staff Legal Assistant ALFRED WALKER Executive Assistant NOLA WHITE First Aesistant -6257-