Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable Robert S. Calvert Opinion No. C-486 Captroller of Publio Aooounts Awtin, Tex86 Rer C8lOUl8tfOn of per diem under Seotlon 15(S) 6f Artlole V, ?ia6e ‘Bill 12, Acts 59th Le&slsture, 1965, where an em loyee leaves Austin St 1 ~30 S.m., travels to D8llar, seaures lod&g 8nd returns to A$~l&tt&fo11ow%n& day lkt3I’ HZ’. C81VePtr : . . You have requerrted an opinion fTom thla office upon the question ofr D .what per diem, in pour opinion, a State &&oyee would be entitled to for each d8y of 8 trip mkde on 8 quarterly b8siB under the followlnfg oondltlonnr “An employee leaves Austin at 8:30 s.m., travels to Dallas, secures lodging, and teturns to Auetin on the following day at 5 p.m. Section 15(a) of Article V of HOUseBill 1% Act8 59th Legiklature, 1965, Regular Ses810nr the Qeneral Appropriation Bill, provides In part that: “R&e of allowanoe. Each employee traveling on State business lneide the boundaries of the State of Texas shall be allowed, In lieu of aotu8l expenses incurred for meals and lodging, a Slat per dlem rate of not to exceed twelve dollars ($12) provided there Is attached to his expense account when submitted 8 “Paid” bill or receipt from a commercial hotel, motel, or other oommeraisl lodging eetsbliehment Sor his Mdglng, but pro- vided further that If such receipt is not submitted, the flat er diem rate shall not exceed seven dollars ( P7)." -2296- - - Hon. Robert S. Calve&, page 2 (c-486) Section 15(b) of Article V of House Bill 12 provides that: ‘^ / “Day defined. In aomputing the rates of per diem allowance in lieu of subsistence Sor contfnuous travel OS more than twenty-four (24) hours, the calendar day (midnight to midnight) trill be the unit, and for fractional parts OS 8 day at the commencementor ending of such oontin- uous travel constituting a travel period, one- fourth (l/4$ of the rate for a calendar day will be allowed for each period of six (6) hours or fraction thereof. A fraction of a per diem period is defined to be two (2) hours or more. The Sour (4) parts of the calendar day for in or out of stste travel shall be 86 follows, (1) 12:Ol 8.lll. to 6~00 8.m. (2) 6:01 a.m. to 12:OO a.m. (3) 12ro; p.m. to 6roo p.m. (4) 6:01 p.m. to 12:oo p.m. Under the faots submitted to us in your opinion re- quest, a State employee leaving Austin, TeuLs, at 8r3O a.m. for Dallas, Texas, and returning to Austin, Texas, at 5:30 p.m.‘on the following day would be,entitled to be reimbursed, pursuant to Section 15(b) of Article V of Houae Bill 12, for three (3) quarters in the calendar day in which he depart,ed for Dallas and for three (3) quarters in the Sollowing calendar day upon which he returned to Austin from Dallas. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 15(a) of Article V of House Bill 12, we are of the opinion that IS such employee attached to his expense account, when subtsltted, a ‘paid” bill or receipt from a commercial hotel, motel or other commercial lodging establishment for his lodgings on the night he was re- quired to spend away from Austin, Texas, such emplo ee would be entitled to receive the sum of Three Dollars ($3.00 7 for esch of the three (3) quarters he ~88 away from his designated head- quarters on the calendar day of his departure from Austin and the sum of Three Dollars ($3.00) Sor each OS the three (3) quar- ters he was away from his designated headquarters on the calendar day of his return to Austin. However, If such employee Sails to attach to his expense account, when submitted, a ‘paid” bill or receipt from a commercial hotel, motel or other commercial lodg- ing establishment for his lodging8 on the night he was required to spend sway from Austin, Texas9 such employee w?uklonly be entitled to receive the sum of One Dollar and Seventy-five Cents ($1.75) for each of the three (3) quarters he was away from his designated headquarters on the calendar day of hia departure from -229-l- . Xon. Robert 8. Cslvert, page 3 (C-486) Austin, and the sum of One Dollar and Seventy-five Cents ($1.75) for each OS the three (3) _ quqtero _he ~8s sway from hle designated he8dquarters on the calendar day or his return to Austin. In oonneotlon with the foregoing, we ere of the opinion th8t In the event 8 State employee Is required to travel Srom his designated headqu8rters and remain elther overnight or for several night@, then in such event , such employee would be en- titled to a per dlkn reimbursement, pursuant to Section 15(S) and Section 15 b) of Article V of House Bill 12, at the rate of Three Dollars t $3.00) per QWrter for each quarter he Is sway from hls.deslgnated headquarters, provided that euch employee submIte with his expense aoaount 8 "paid" blll'or receipt from the oommerclal hotel, motel or other oommeralsl lodging eatablieh- ment where he ObtSinOd lodging for each of the nights he u8a re- quired to be sway from his designated headquarters. SUMMARY A State employee rewired to trsvel frcm hio designated headquarters and remain overnight would be entitled to a per diem reimbursement, pursuant to Section 15(a) and Section 15(b) of Article V OS House Bill 12, A&s 59th Legislature, 1965, the Oener8l A proprlation Bill, at the rate of Three Dollsrs ( 'i 3.00) per Quarter for each quarter he is awry from his designated headquarters, pro- vided that such employee submits with his expenee aaaount 8 "paid" bill or receipt Sron the oommercl8l hotel, motel or other commercial lodging establish- ment where he obtained his lodgm. Very truly yours, WAWOXXR CARR Attorney General -2298~ Hon. Robert 9. Calvert, Page 4 (C-ti) MPROVED: OPINIONCOMMrM'KE W. 0. Shulte, Chairman SamKelley Charles Swsnner JohnBanks Robert Flowers APPROVEDFORTHEATTORNEY OENEfML BY: T. B. Wrigght .. -2299,