Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE A’ITORNEY GENERAL OF ?‘EXAS AUSTIN POW mtor or questing an opinion or this deptbtmoat upon d question has been roaaioed. he Forty-Sooenth roadlnc ot.the all1 life inauranoe oonpan- " 8 are to bo disposed of . gmont or annual rental "Under the p~ovlsions'ofthishw no have sub- mitted tcthe Comptrollcwrequoet for vouoher to pay ror the bend 0r owmdian o~irr~rb.ihmk80nor I s Ronorable0. P. Lookhart, Chairman, Fagage 2 . Dallas, Texan. Thlo Custodian has boon duly appointed by the Conmissionero. 110Is required by us to be bonded In tho amouut of $30,000.00 to protoot the aare handling or seourltlos under hIA oare and oontrol, The eoouritles whloh he has ohar@ of at the preeent time approximate $63,OOO,OOO.O0. "The Comptrollerunder dato 0r August 4 has doollnod to pay thI5 oxponno, oItIz@ us to opIn- Ion rrom your Dopartment dated September 16, 1933, and renaored by Aselntant Attorney General Caynor Kendall, whioh opZnIon the Comptroller oon- aiders prohibit8 him from paying the exponsoo In this oase.W IIounoI3111No. 263, Acts or the 47th Le@el.ature, 1941,anonaIn(:!irtIola4742 of Chaptor 3, Title 70, Revised Civil Statute5 0r Texas, reads as r0ihff5: W'Yvory oompany making deposit under the provlsions of this Chapter shall pay to the Life Innurnnoe Commlssloneror the ame 0r Texan for 5aoh oortlfioatoplaood on ro~lstoroa polIolo or annuity bond5 Issued by the company, after thG orI&Inal or first dopoolt Is made hereunaer, a rO0 or l?vonty-five(25) oents; and the ree 80 rc Oelved ahallbe disposed Of by the said Life In- aurano CommIssIoneras r0il0wa: "1. The payment of the annual rental or biro of tho safety doposlt tireprOOf box or vault mentioned In Artlole 4741. "'2. The $aymvmont ot.the oomponaaglonand ex- ponoe or a oompatont ana ielIable repreoantatlve of the Llfo Inouranoo CommInnlonor,to~be appointed by him, who shnll have diroot char@ of the Beour- ltloa and safety deponit boxos,oontalnlngthe name, and through whom and under whoso auperViaIOn the Inouranoe oonpany may have aooess to Ita seourltlee ror ths.purpos~eeprovIdGd in this Ohapter. : nonorable0, I’.Lookhart, Chairman, page 3 l"'3* The payment o r tho expense Inourred in OoMootion with the oertifioatIon,regfstra- tlon, end valuation of ouoh polIoIes or annuity bonds. "“4. The Balance or suoh reea shall bo paid to the State Treasurer to the oredlt of the general fund.* “300. 2. The fact that thare is now no ado- quate law pormIttInG ths payment of the cxpensos Inourred in OOMfJOtfOII with tho oortI~Ioat;on, ro~lstration,and valuation of poliolea registered and Osrtlfled to under the provisions or Artlole 4741 of the Rovlsed Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, out or the fees paid by tho insuranoa oompanles Issuing;such reclstored polioieo, orontes an emer- conoy and an Imperative pub110 nooosslty that the ConstitutionalRule roqulrlng ~thatbills be read on three several day% in saoh IIousobe susponaed, and the same Is horoby suspended, and thatithis hot shall take effeot and be In foroe f&n and+ after Its passage, and it Is so enaotsd.* Senate Bill No. 4.23,Aota of the 47th LcgIslature, 19,$l, whloh Is the ayproprlatlonbill for oxeoutlve and ad- ministrativedepartments of th6 sts~toSovcrnmont, under the heodIn&of “Boara of Insuranoe Oommlssloners?provldae ln partl “ill fess rooelvod under tho provisions of Artlole 4742 shall bo deposited In the State Treasury ana properly disposed of as provided by law. All or so mUCh thoreoi as may he noo- eoaary are heroby appropriatedfor saJ.aries, naIr;tcnanoo, travel and oontln@ont oxponsae nooossary for admlnIsterIn~the provisions of Artlolo 4740, 474l and 4742 of the Revised CIvIl Statutes, and by amendments thereto, during eaoh or tho flsoal years ending August 31, 1942, aa AU@lSt 31, 1943.' I llonornbls 0. P. Lookhart, Chiirman, Page i!, . Y!eunderstand that the oustodlnn above mentioned is not requlrod by law to bo bonded, howvar, the Board of InnuranaeCo.~~lt~loners has determined in its discretion that,the,auntodlan shell be bondod in the amount of $30,000 to proteot the safe handling of soourlties under his oare and oontrol. find in the appropriationbill relatlvo to the ?‘/e TnnurnnoeDepartnant’ofthe State of Toxna oei%aln nppro- prlationnfor insurance and bond premluus. Eo~~vcr, we think that these appropriationato pay bond ~prei;liuz~no must bo usad to pay the premiums on bonds required by Ian. It appearsthnt the appropriationbill provlUes no surpof money speoifioallyfor the payment pf bond premiuma of the above mentionedoustodiq. 44 stated in our Opinion Xo. O-20921 “It 15 the rule that an officer or agent of the state Is allowed only such oompensationand e.qolumentsas are expressly oonferred upon him a6 rs:auneratlonfor the 4isoharGe of his offioial duties 44 an aGent of the state. MoCalla'vo. City of !7ookdalo,112 Tox. 209, 246 s. ‘A’. 654, It fol- lovrsthat any publio offioer or agent who dcqande mileaca, fees or expenson must point out some . stntute authorizing its allowanoe. hhere a autj+ requiring an expenditureof money is imposed upon a publio offloer or aCent, and no provision 1s made to defray the asme, auoh an offioer or agent Is deoned to be repaid for expenses inourred in the dlsohnrjioof suoh d&y by whatever oompensa- tion is allowed ana paid to him for his servioes as auoh pubMo agant.W It la therofore apparent’., that in order for the abovemontionea custodian to be entitled to reimbursement for the expenses inourrad by him in furnishing the bond re- quiredby tho Board of Inauranoe Contaiasloners, thore must erlatsome statutory provision for the allowanoe an4 payment .,“2i iionorab1.a 0. P, Lookhart, Chairman, Page 5 of the*same. There is no provision of tho’&snoraletntutos or the ourrent appropriationbill, that VIOhave bcon able to find, find. whloh authorizes reinbursamontta tho above msn- oustodlanfor axpensoa lnourrod by him in furnlsh- tioned 6ustodlan Oo~lmlssloners. . ing the bon4 required by the Boer4 of Insuranoo Oo~lmlsslonera. :;lnoethare is no provision ot the statute or speoitloitem In the appropriationbill contemplatingrolm- bursamnntby the stats to the oustodian for tho expenoos Incurrodby him in furnlshin(:tho bond requlrod by tho Doard of Innuranoe Conmissioners,you aro respootfully advlsad that It is the opinion of this dopartmont that suoh bond ’ rro:alurns oan not be lawfully paid by the ,?tate,but the promlumsot such bond should be pal4 personally by the ouetodian. Trusting that the i0regoi.w fully answers pow inquiry,we are APPROVEDAUG 21, 1941 w* w , ,.’ ATTORblEY GENmL OF TEXAS