Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Hay 15, 1950 : Hon. loyue L. Kelly, Rxeoutive Dlreotor Board ~forTexas State IjospitOls. aridSpaclal Sohools Austin, Texas opinion NO. v-lq56. Be: The 1bgCrlityo? paying the trswl expenae 0r State employed doctora and nurses otterding Dear sir: schools and alLnioa. 'ikferenoe la made 60 your resent request whloh reada.ia pati aa hollows: %otion 14 of 8. B. Bo:321, Pots 51at Xieglalatum~ B.S. 1949, provfdes aa' r0iiars: m%eavea for Courses di Btudg: The' Board.may all&r physloians,regls'tered nursea, and other profeaaional6mployeea a raaaooable tlma Vlthout loss of salary to attend raoagrileedaohools.'andolinloo oomlwted by apprbved aohoola and aasoaia- tious. "The above provialoaraa undoubtedly intended to ba a re+nactment of aubseotldn (d) of Seatlon 3, S.B. %Q. 374, ALots50th Legialatura, upon ubioh latter provision your Opinion No. VA51 waa handed dam on Daoember 11, 1947. Recently, aoms of our Supalrlnteudantahave InterpretadOpinion Ao. V-451 to mean that they are entltlad to raimbasement for expenses lnausmad la traveling to arujfrow madioal aohoola they have ohoaen to attend, plus room and boati, whila~them, and tuiti,onexpenses. . . . "'Youropinion on this qwatton of whether or not we oan pay any or 011 of the folloviug expanses under Seotion 14 la requaated: (1) travel to and from the , Eon. Moyne L. Kelly, page 2 (v-1056) J medical aahool; (2) room and board while at- tending school; and (3) tuition expenses.." In Attorney general Opinion Ho. V-451, In which a similar provision was under consideration,it waa held that the attendance of suah achoola by the dootora of State horpitals was State's business. Seotlon 8 of House Bill 321, Aots.51st L&g.,,R. .'S. 1949, oh.553, p.1070 (Approprlatfona- State Hospitals and Speolel Schools) provides In part: 9revel~ngRxpenses: (a) Reimburse- ment for expenses lneurred during travel on State bwinesa shall be made under rules and regulationspromulgated by the Board, provld- ed however that In no case shall allowanaea for mileage on personel cars and peZ;diem al- lowanoes exaeed the maximuma allowed In the departmentalappropriationbill,,and further provlded.thatreimbursementshall not be al- lowed for items not ouatanarilp allowed by the Comptroller of Public Aoo~uuta. "(b) All railroad and other transpor- tation shall be paid In oash and properly llated In expense aeoounts rendered. Tax exemption certificates for transportation ahall,be used in all cases where the State is exempt from the payment of Government tax under Federal provielons;and awh state offlolel or employee shall be required to obtain such tax exemption oertWlcates from transportationcompany before lnaurrlng the expense'aud shall not be entitled to a reCBr fund of same on his expense aooount." ~Subdlvlslow f end g of Subseotlon~(12) of Sea- tlon 2 of Rowe Bill 322, Acts 51at Leg., R.S. 1949, ah. 615, p.1208 (departmentalappropriationbill) provide In part: "f. Unlessotherwlse apeolfloallgpro- vided by the Statutes, It Is provided that -any officer or employee who travels on offl- zlal State business and who used his own oar while 80 doing shall be relmbuFsed for the use of said car on the basis of the total mileage traveled during any oalendar month - J . - Bon. ~ogne L. Kelly, .page3 (V-1056) at the ~follovlngrate: Slx oenta (64) per mile for the flristthousand (1,000) miles 'travelad and five oents (5#).perq ll,efor 'eaoh mile traveled In exaeaa of one thou- rand (1,000)'milea.,. .~. ig. Al.1employeea travellag at the kx- pense.of.the State are hereby flmited to the amount 0r Four Dollarz..($4) r day for meals and a total of Six Dollars (r6) per day for meals and lodging, It belngspeoirioally pro- vided that the employees shall ijbtalnreceipts for all Items of expansg olailsed'exoeptmdals, and shall fi,le.suohreoetpta vlt~:@iedrduly itemleed and sworn expen8e aooodlntp;. . ." Slnae.t& atthanae by physiolana .rkglsta& nursea, and other pr'ofesaiOna1 employees of tha State eleemoaynary lt%?$Ltutlotmof recognized sahaola and olin- laa conducted W.approved sohoofs and asadolatiossIs Stateta,buslneas. and.in ~viewof the for&gal it la our opln%orrthat'the Boai-dfor Texaa $61~ andSpe6ial,&hools ii!authorioed to pay travel exx- penas to and from the'mediaal sohoola aa well 68 the expense bf room and board while attending skoh.sahoola; However, awh expense Is limited to not exceeding the maximuma alloied under the DepartmentalAppropriation Bill. _' While we have mantloned apealflo pro&alons for salary and travel expense payments while.oafiglng out aaalgned duties awh as theae, there U no pFovialon of general statuti ,orIn the ouzwnt appr6priatlonbill authorizingra$mbunemant to the physicians,aglatered puraea, and &her profeaalonkl employees of the State eleemoaynary institutionsfor tuitibn paid by them to awh aohools. It la the rule that lnoffioer or employee la allowed only auoh ootnpe~atlon and emoluments aa are ex- pwasly conferred upon him as remuneration for the dla- dhar e of his offlolal duties aa an agent of the State. Mobafla v. City of Rookdale, 112 Tex. 209, 246 s.w.654 It r ii th t any publto offloer or agent who demands expezea"Et !olnt out-.aome,statuteauthorizing Its allowanoe. It Is therefire apparent that.ln order for the physlolans, registered nuraea, and other prafea-, slonal employees of the State eleemoaynary iMtitUtiOt36 tombe entitled to reimbrursement for the oxpease of tul- tlon incurred by them ln~attandlngmoognOzed aahoola, . Hon. Hoyne L. Kelly, page 4 (V-1056. there must exlst,some statutory prOvl8ion for the rllow- anoe ard payment 0r the aame. Slnoe there is no provision In the statutes or speQifl0 Item In the appropriationbill~aontemplatingre- lmbursementby the State for awh e%pendltwe, you are reapeatfully ldvlaed that the,expenseIncurred for awh tuition by the phyalolana,regl&ered nurses, and employ- ees of the State eleemosynaryinstitutionsmay not be paid. SUMMARY : The Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools is authoriced to pay the trav- el expense to and.frommedloal schools as veil as room and board of phyalolans, .registered nurae8, and other ~ofeaaional'employees.of the State elee~oaynary inatitutlonswhile st- tending swh sohoola aondwted by approved”. schools and aaaoalatlom. 'Ad?. inlon'V-451; H.B. 321, A&8.51& Leg., B.S. 13 9/oh.553j. p.1070. However,theti:ia n9 ruthorlty for the pryzhent of any tuition to 8uoh sohoola. Your8 yery ~truly; PRICE DA& :APPRCWED: Attorney General "$.,a. Daviq, Jr. '. County Affairs Dlvi8io~ ,JoeGreeahlll First A~sslatOnt : : .BA:lW :