Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

December 16, 1949 Hon. Robert S. Calvert Comptroller of Public Accounts Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-974 Re: The correct persons from North Texas State College and from Texas Stat6 Col- lege fop Women to approve amounts for payment by the..&ate Comptroller. Dear Sir: ,. Your inquiry con&m the authority of the Boards 'af,~Regents of the North Texas State Cbllege and the Texas-'State College for Women to designate eomeone other than a memberof the Board to approve accounts presented,to'ypt.for.paynmnt out of the General Revenue Fund of this State. You inform us that under the prea- ent practice '%ha persons approving the accounts aiw : designated as.Seoretary or Treasurer to the Board of Re- gents, but draw compensation as Business Manager or for some other services rendered their respective institu- tions." The ~followlng excerpt from the minutes of the Board of Regents of the North Texas State College, dated July 7, 1949 is submitted along with your request for an opinion:' "Authorieation for State.voucher slg- -natures "Upon motion of Regent . . . aeoonded by Regent . . ., the vote being 9 'ayes* and 0 '~OmJ', it was ordered: "That the following College officials be designated to sign and approve vouchers dram on State Funds appropriated to North Texas State College for payment of such item Hon. Robert S. Calvert - Page 2 (V-974) as salaries, maintenance, equipment, travel, repairs, improvements and lands, when such vouchers are drawn in conformity with the annual budget approved by the Board of Re- gents : “D. Bo d, Comptroller, or Rober t Caldwell, Secretary fo the Board of Regents.” We assume that an authorization similar in form to,that quoted above has been passed by the Board of Regents of the Texas State College for Women. It is well settled that In the absence of express legis- lative authority so to do, a State Board may not dele- gate any of Its authority which involves the exerolae of dl,scretion. but may delegate only ministerial funo- tione. Viebnter Y. Teias 6c Pacific kotor Co., 140 Tex. 131, 166 S W 2d 76 (leez)$ Attorney General Opinions V-286 and. &;36. With this principle before us we shall flrat discuss the situation with regard to the North Texas state colhge. ,Rb%. 691, Aote Slat Leg. R.S. oh. 268, p. 476 (Art. 26Sla+ V.C .S. ) reorganized the, North Texas Stats Teaohera College; ohanged its name to that aon- - tioned above; removed, It from the oontrol of the Board*‘ of:Begents oi the State Teacherr,,Colleger; and, provld- ed for, ,the establishment of and oontrol by a’ Board of Regent8 ier the reorganized College. With regild to the powers grantedto this newly formed Board of Regentits, geetion 2 of H.B. 691 provlder~in part: n The first meeting of the Board ahall &*h;ld at a time and place designated w the Gdvernor . At thl~~meetfng the, Board shall organlse by eleotlng a ohairman, and such other offloers aa ,lt ma deem neoemary. Thereafter, the Chairman rhal 9 oonvene the Board of Regents to consider any businese oonneoted with maid Collegr whenever he deema It expedient .“~ Soot&on 3 of.the Bill prooidtwin part: II All powera, duties, rS&ita, ob- llg&n~ ;nd functions of the Board of Re- gents OS the State Teaoherr Collegrr an these relate to North Texas State Teaohers College &all be vested in and for performanoe b Board of Regents of lorth Texae State Co1 loge .uie Hon. Robert S. Calvert - Page 3 (V-974) to be executed and adm5nistered by said Board under the provisions of this Act and the laws of Texas.." Thus, In order to determine the power of the newly created Board with regard to the problem presented here we must refer to the statute which defines the pow- ers of ~the Board of Regents of the State Teachers Col- leges, Article .2647, V.C.S. SubdivIsIon 7 of that statute provides: "All appropriations made by the Legls- lature ~for the support and maintenance oft the State Teaohers Colleges, for the pur- chase of land or buildings for the use of such schools, for the erection or repair of buildings; for the purchase of apparatus, libraries, or eqzlipment ~of.eany kind or for anv other 5murovement of any kind. shall be" ~d5&mrsed u&r the dlreatlbn and-authority of the board of regents; and said board shall~have' the power to formulate and estab- lish such rules for the general control and -management of the State normal schools for % ~whlte teachers:for the auditing and apuro- val of accounts, and for the lsauance b? vouchers and warrants as 5n their opinion may be necessary for the efficient adni5n5s- tration of such schools.R Manifestly then, once the Board has "directed and author5zedn the purpose for which funds shaXS'~be dis- bursed, It may "~formulate rules for . . . approva%cof :ao- counts and for Issuance of vouchers and warrants' should It deemthis necessary for efficient administration. This approval or authorization for disbursement of funds may be made In the budget or by any other Board~action which Itemizes the expenditures with sufficient partlcular5ty so that your office will be able to ascertain that the vouchers are Issued in complianoe therewith. Whether the Board action is sufficiently wxpllclt to constitute the' exercise of Its discretion, leaving only m5nlsterlal funa- tions to the Issuing officers, may be deternclned by you in-eaoh tease as the voucher is presented. The Texas State College for Women is governed by its separate Board of Regents, and Article 262S,'V.C.S., the statute which created the Board, provides In part: Hon. Robert S. Calvert - Page 4 (V-,974) ” The Board of Regents shall have t&e'piwer Incident to their position and to the same extent, so far as may be applicable and shall receive like compen- satlon as Is conferred by law on regents of the State University; said-Board of Re- gents shall elect a president, a secretary and a treasurer whose terms of office shall be two years. . . The treasurer shall re- ceive and disburse all money under the di- rectlon of the Board." Thus the Board of Regents of this College is given the same powers as the Board of Regents of The University of Texas, so far as they are applicable. In Article 2594, V.C.S. this latter Board Is given the Pol- loring authority w5th regard to expenditures: "All expenditures may be made by the order.of the board of regents, and the same shall be ~pald on warrants from the Comptroller based on vouchers approved by the chairman of the board or by some offl- oer of the University designated by him in writing to the comptroller, and counter- signed by the secretary of the board, or by some other officer of~the University desig- nated by said secretary In writing to the Comptroller." By virtue of this authority and the assump- ~tion that the Board of Regents of the the Texas State College for Women has authorized the expenditures In an itemized budget or by other order of the Board, It may appoint someone other than a member of the Board to ap- prove the vouchers for the expenditures. Thus we find statutory authority for .a delega- tion of the function of approving accounts by the 'Boards of,Regants of both colleges mentioned in your request. Hence, any delegation of this sort, after approval of the expenditures by the Boards of Regents, would not conflict ita.2 way with the well-settled rule on delegation above This is true both on the basis of express legls- latlve*author5ty and the consideration that once th, Board has acted in approving the expenditure of the appropriated funds for certain purposes, the approval of payment of funds 5n conformance therewith 5s ministerial In nature. Hon. Robert S. Calvert - Pago 5 (v-974) The Boards of Regents of the North Texas State College and Texas State College for WGqen may appoint persons other than members of the Board as officers of the Col- leges.~ The Boards may, after approving ex- penditures for operation of the Colleges, designate someone other than a member of the Board to approve accounts to be presented to the State Comptroller of Public Accounts for payment ifi accordance with prior approval by the Board. Yours very truly, ATTORNEY GENERALOF TEXAS B;p&E. Jaoobeon EJ:wb Assistant