Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable Jerry Sadler Opinion No. C-671 Commlesloner Oeneral Land Office Re: Whether appraisers em- Austin, Texas ployed by the Veterans' Land Board may attend an appraisal school at Texas A&M University and have their reglatratlon fees Dear Mr. Sadler: paid by the State. _ You have requested the opinion of this office regard- ing the.~subjectquestlon. In this connection,your letter of requeat Is quoted, In part, as follows: "The American Soclei;yof Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers anticipatesholding an appraisal school at A&M University, Collb e Station, Texas, between June 13 - 17, 196 8 , with a registration fee of $75 being charged per person taking the course. Such a training Bchool would,be most beneficial to the apprals- ers employed by the VeterM8' Land Board of the. State of Texas. I feel that such a training school would reap benefits to the state, and It Is my desire to send several appraisers from thfe office to this school if we can legally register them In the name of th$ State of Texas tid pay their registrationfee. Further Investigationhas revealed that Texas A&M.Unlvers$tyIs sponsoring the appraisal school, but that the school Is being conducted under the direction of the American Society of Farm Manager8 and Rural Appraisers. Membership In the said Society Is llmlted, and It Is not required that one be a member of then. Society to attend the appraisal school. Further, the reglstra- tlon fees for the school are to be paid to the Society, and not to Texas A&M. In prior questions of this nature, this office has consistentlyemployed two basic criteria: (1) Whether the training described will be directly and substantiallyused to -3234- Ron, Jerry Sadler, page 2 (c-671) facilitatethe governmentaldutiee and functions of the State agency requesting such training; and (2) Do the facts establish that there is a reasonable, subatantlaland direct relationship between the purpose of the training and the accomplishmentof the governmentalfunctions entrusted.tothe em loyee? Attorney Gen- eral's Opinions WW-83 (1957), WW-223 (1957p,WW-433 (1958). In Attorney General's Opinion W-505 (1958), this of- fice approved the attendance of the Chief Appraiser,,the Executive Secretary, and an attorney of the Veterans' Land Board at an ap- praisal conference, utilizing basically the same criteria set forth above. From the facts presented, we see no dlstlnctlonbetween the fact situation and that presented In Attorney General's Op- inion WW-505. Accord~lngly,you are advised that It Is the opinion of this office that Attorney General’s Opinion W-505 (1958) controls the.questlon of whether the attendance of Veterans' Land Board appraisers at appraisal schools constitutesa com- pliance with the criteria set forth, supra. .Theattendance of your appraisers at the school would facilitatethe governmental duties and functions of the State, and there Is a direct relatlon- ship between the purpose of the training and the accomplishment of the governmentalfunctions of the employee. Section 18, Article V, General AppropriationAct of the 59th Leglelature, 1965, pertaining to expenditureof money for dues or registration in joining or attending any type of organization,has no application to the facts submitted by you, so long as the State employees do not join the organization. Merely taking a course of Instruction Is not joining or attend- . lng any type of organization. SUMMARY Appraisers employed by the Veterans' Land Board may attend an appraisal school at Texas A&M University, and have their registrationfees paid by the State. Yours very truly, WAQGORER CARR Attorney General MLQ:ms:mkh Assistant -3235- ” - Hon. Jerry Sadler, page 3 (c-671) APPROVED: OPINIOIUCO?mITTE W. V. Geppert, Chairman w. 0. shultz John Reeves JohnBanks Arthur Sandlln APPROVEDFORTHEATTORNEY WNERAL BYr T. B. Wright -3236-