August 18, 1961
Honorable H. R. Nleman, Jr. Opinion No. WW-1120
Executive Director
State Building Commission Re: Authority of the State
State Office Building Building Commission to
Austin 1, Texas obtain services and
enter Into contracts
with other State
Dear Mr. Nieman: Agencies.
You have requested an opinion as to the legal
authority of the State Building Commission to obtain
services and enter into contracts with other State
Agencies or Departments of State Government regardless
of the approval of any other State Agency.
The factual background of this request is
as follows: The Comptroller of Public Accounts returned
a State of Texas Purchase Voucher submitted to it by
the State Building Commission, and requested that such
purchase vouch,erbe approved by the Board of Control.
The payee under this purchase voucher was the Texas
Highway Department, and the services rendered to the
State Building Commission by the Texas Highway Depart-
ment were for soil testing and analyses for the State
Building Commission in the Capitol Area Expansion Plan
Program and for copies of logs and tabulation data
pertinent thereto. The charges for such services amounted
to $435.00. These services were rendered by the Texas
Highway Department pursuant to a contract previously
entered into by and between the State Building Commis-
sion and the Texas Highway Department. The purchase
voucher contained upon it, as authority for such
contract and the payment for the services rendered, a
reference to Section ,$I
of Senate Bill 134, Acts 54th
Legislature, Regular Session, such bill being codified
as Article 678i1,Vernon's Civil Statutes.
Section 5 of Article 678~1,Vernon's Civil
Statutes provlces that:
'The Commission is authorized
to take any action and enter into s
contracts necessary3 providxr the
Honorable K.R. Nieman, Jr., page 2 @W-1120)
obtalnlng of sites m Q,R planning,
&&puning dIlg construction --
of the
building a memorlals provided for
by Section 51-b, Article III of the
Constitution, and the Commission la
also authorized to take any action
R@# enter Into any gontra;;: tii;btain
sites which it deem% nece ry
order to provide for the orderly
future development of the State Bulld-
lng Program which is contemplated by
this Act, Insofar as appropriations
permit. . ~~omtnisslon M call
w &he +eias Hlahway DeDartment to
& aDDroDrlate tests and analyses
of
-- the natural materials at the site
of each bulldlnu constructeq
to insure that foundations of’siid
buildings will be adeqtate for the
life of the buildings. (Emphasis
added )
Section 8 of Article 678~1, Vernon’s Civil
Statutes, provides that:
?he Commlssion shall have the
authority to call on any DeDartment
of State Government & assist 14 &R
carrvu out the duties of the Com-
mission. And particularly, It shall
be the duty of the Board of Control
to do and perform such acts and func-
tions In connection with this Act as
the Commission may direct; and to that
end any portion of the money appro-
priated to the Commission may be
allocated by the Commission to the
Board of Control and expended by it
under the direction of the Commission
in carrying out the provisions of this
Act." (Emphasis added)
The above quoted provisions of Article 678m
would constitute sufficient authority for the State
Building Commission to obtain the services of and enter
into contracts with other state a encies. In Attorney
General’s Opinion No. W-349 (1958), this office held,
In passing upon the validity of a proposed contract
between the State Bullding Commission and the Texas State
Historical Survey Committee in which the Texas State
Historical Survey CommIttee was to provide certain
. I
Honorable H. R. Nleman, Jr., page 3 (W-1120)
services for the State Building Commission, that there
was authority for such contract under the provisions of
Article 678~.
The provisions set forth in Article 678111do
not designate as a requirement that such contracts be
approved by the Board of Control. Consequently, we are
of the opinion that contracts pursuant to Article 678~
are not required to be approved by the Board of Control.
SUMMARY
Contracts entered into by the
State Building Commlsslon with
other State Agencies pursuant to
the p,rovlsionsof Article 678111
do not require the approval of
the Board of Control.
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
PB:lgb
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman
Elmer McVey
Morgan Nesbitt
Bob Eric Shannon
Thomas Burrus
REiVIEWl3DFORTHEAT'I0RNFXGENERAL
BY: Howard W. May8