I‘HE A-O-Y GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Au- 11. -
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNW GEWBRAL
October 11, 1949
Haa, Claude Isbell Opinion No. V-931.
Executive Secretary
Board of Regents Re8 Use of proeeeds 6f bonds
State Teachers College6 iseuedunder Art. VIZ,
Austin, Texas Sec. 17 of Texas Conati-
tutiono
Dear Sir,
Ye refer to your inquiry rrom which we quotet
‘lo. At the least Texas State Teaohers
College, Commerce, Texas, in a bulLding
heretofore oonetructed and ocoupied by the
Department of Journalism and designated a8
Dealey- Ball, space was provided for a Col-
lege Printing Shop. Question. Would-the
College be authorl,eed to purchase $50,000
worth of printing equlpment out~of the pro-
ceeds mentioned In Article 7; Seotlon 17,
of the Constitution of Texas, to be placed
in such building?
"2. Could any pdrtionof the funds
provided for by Article 7 Section 17 of the
Constitution of the State of Texas be used
by any Collegefor the purposes or oloarlng,
grading, drainage or other surface improves
Bents on a certain portion of the campus,
anticipating subsequent ereotion of build-
lnge thereon?
“3.’ Could funds provided for by Arti-
cle 7 Section 17 of the Constitution of the
State of Texas be used by any College ior
the purpose of converting a gymnasium for
the exclusive use of Women’s Department of
Physical F&cation?”
With respect to your first question, thlr o?-
fice is further informed by official8 of the college
that the building, Dealey Hall, was acquired while Arti-
cle VII, Section 17 of the Constitution ~8s in Utlgatiou
Eon. Claude Isbell, page 2 (V-931)
214 S,W,2d 844 (Tex, 01~; App.
’ It WM acqUlMd with funds other
than those provided by that Constitutional Amendment.
Title in fee simple rests in the State for the use and
benefit of the college, Space in Dealey Hall was set
aside for a college prlntlng shop (to be operated in
connection with the Department of Jouvnallsm). Suoh
space has never been equipped, lnltlally or otherwise,
fork that purpose0
Section 17, Article VII, of the Constitution
of Texas, the College Building Amendment, provides in
parts
” there 1s hereby levied
a State’ai Galorem tax on property oh iiGe
cents (5#) 1 i . for the purpose of acqulr-
lng, constructing and lnltlally equlpplng
bulldings or other permanent improvements
at the designated InStltUtlons of higher
1earnlng;~and the governing board of eaoh
of such institutions of higher learning is
fully authorized to pledge all or any part
of said funds allotted to suoh lnetltutlon
as hereinafter provided, to 8eouPe bonds
or notes Issued for the purpose of acqUlr-
lng, constructing ana lnltlally equipping
such buildings or other permanent l.mp*ove~
ments at said respective lnstitUthm3r . *
” e and all such designated instl-
tutlona’o). higher learning which partlcl-
pate in e , . such funds shall not there-
after’receive any other state funds for the
acquiring or constructing of bu%lU a or
other pemnanent Improvements . . .” ercw
la case of calamity).
In our oplnlon No, V-848, outlining the his-
tory of the amendment, we held It was Intended by the
Legislature and the people to provide primarily for
the construction or acquisition of buildings, and the
construction or acquisition of other permanent improve-
ments and that there is no provision therein.fcur the
repair of existing buildings with such funds;
The question for declsl.on here la whether
that amendment a8.n be construed to authorite the use of
the funds provided therein for “lnltlally equipping” a
Hon. Claude Isbell, page 3 (V-931)
building for college printing shop purposes which was
acquired after the amendment became effectlve~from~eourc-
es other than thoee provided in the ain’endment.
It 3.6 our Interpretation that Article VII,
Section 17 was Intended to provide for the construction
or acqulslkon of buildings and other permanent Improve-
ments and for the lnltlally equipping of
or permanent improvements. There Is no
amendment for “Initially equlpplng” existing buildings
or buildings acquired from sources other t+ those pro-
vided In the amendment, Nor do the express provisions
of that amendment warrant such a construction by lmpl$-
cati on.
It vi11 be noted also that the amendment does
not say “for the purpose of acqtirl~, constructing s
lnltlally 6qulapiaE; build+ 8 . . . It uses the con-
Jun$tlve word and rater &han the disjunctive word
The woti “a.nd”.as used herein when considered
ai$ with the spIrIt and context of’the amendment, pre-
cludes,‘we believe, construction thereof as being lnter-
changeable with “or.” 2 Sutherland’s Statutory Construc-
tlon (3rd Ed. 1943) 450, Sec. 4923,
Accordingly, Dsaley Hall not having been ac-
quired or constructed wlth~ConstitutIona1 Amendment
building funds (Tex. Const., Art. VII, Sec. 17), those
funds may not be used for initially equipping this
builaiag,
Cacernlng your seuond question, the amendment
authorizes the governing board of the college to pledge
the tax funds to be provided to secure bond0 or note8 Ia-
sued for the purpose of conatruoting bulldlngs or other
) permanent improvements at the respective InstItutIonsi
You state that’ the college (pursuant to and lntialpatIng
subsequent erection of a new bulldlng) desires nov to
use a portbn~or its amendment funds for clearing, grad-
ing, drainage, and other surface Improvement8 on that
part of the campus on which the building Is to be oon-
strutted. We think that such Improvements may properly
be considered either as “other permanent improvements”
or as necessarily incidental to the construction of a
new building on the campus. The funds provided and to
be allotted under the amendment may be expended by then
governing beard bf the college for the p\urposes stated.
For WYBP to your thlPd question, we quote
from Opinion HO; v-848 as follower
Hon. Claude Isbell, page 4 (V-931)
“It 1s conceivable that the shell of a
building could be so completely remade and
altered that the college would be conslder-
ed as thereby ‘acquiring’ or ~constructing t
a new bulldlng or Improvement . o . We have
no particular fact8 before ‘us and vi11 not
attempt to lay down any hard and fast line
as to when there la an ‘acquirlngr or (con-
structlon~ and when thePe Is a repairing or
alteration. The matter rests in the first
Instance wlthln the sound discretion of the
governing boapds of the various lnstltutlone.
The responslbllltg MS placed there by the
people ln the adoption of the amendment,
The good faith and sound judgment of such
governing boards will be given due respect
by the courts should their decisions be
questioned.”
Fw?ther, Opinion Xo. V-848 among other matters held that
money received from college amendment bonds nmy not be
used to make ~epalrs to existing buildings.
Only those buildingsolr other pernaracnt
improvements acquired OP constructed with
Constitutional Amendment buLlding funds %x0
Cons& Art. VIS, Sea* 17) may be initial L
equipped at the expense of Chat fund.
Those funds may be used f a purposes of
cleqMng, @ad&kg, Winage, OF other SW@-
race dmprovements on a portion of IBat Texas
State Teachers College campus, enticlpat
subsequent erectionof buildings thereanw9’ th
college amendmentfunds.
4
Yours very truly,
ATTORRE’OFSERAL
Y OF TXXAS
-
Chester 2. Oll.isoo
Aasleknt