.
Hon.-Homer Garrison, Jr.,
Director,~Department of Public Safety
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir:
Opinion No. O-1758
9.3: S.B.;427, regular session
46%h Legislature, 1939,--
General Appropriation Bill--
Department of Public Safety
Items 1 and 2 Maintenance and
Klscellaneous..~.
This will acknowle~dgereceipt of your letter of December 5, 1939,
prepounding to this department for a legal opinion the following
queatlons:
"Would this Department be authorized to expend portions of Item
2 in each of these instances for the purchase of motor equipment
supplies consisting of fuel and lubricants and to expend por-
tions of the amounts provided for Item 2 in each instance for
labor involved in lubricatlng,Department motor vehicles?"
'The classifications of expenditures for the License and Xeight
Division under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous! are as follows:
Gll. 'Travel& Transportation expenses, automobile
maintenance. . . . . . . .~. . . . . . . . . . .~17,300.00
2. Motor equipment, parts, supplies, fixtures,
other equipment and supplies, printing,
stationery, telegraph, telephone, rentals,
teletypewriters, express, freight, postage,
repairs, maintenance, hospitalization and
medical services when injured in line of
duty, funeral expenses when deathresults from
injuries inourred in line of duty, surety
bonds, loademeters, radios, first aid supplies
and all other necessary expenses. . . . . . . . )ll,l~O.OO
"The dlassiflcations of expenditures for the Texas Highway
Patrol under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous' are as.follows:
Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr. - Page 2 O-1758
1('1. Travel and transportation expense,
automobile maintenance. $53,000.00
2. Motor equipment, parts, supplies, fixtures,
other equipment and supplies, printing,
stationary, telephone, telegraph, rentals,
teletypewriters, express, freight, postage,
repairs, maintenance, hospitalization and
medical services when injured in line of
duty, funeral expenses when death results
from injuries incurred in line of duty,
surety bonds, uniforms,belts, scabbards,
badges, arms and ammunitions, loademeters,
radios, first aid supplies, contingent
expenses and all other reasonable and
necessary expenses, including maintenance,
labor, equipment and expenses of operating
a training school for patrolmen. . . . . . .$133,000.00
"The classifications of expenditures for the Drivers License
Division under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous! are as
follows:
"'1. Travel and transportation expense, automobile main-
tenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .)23,000.00
2. Motor equipment, parts supplies, fixtures,
other equipment and supplies, printing,
stationery, telephone, telegraph, rentals,
express, freight, postage, repairs, main-
tenance, hospitalization and medical
services when injured in line of duty and
funeral expenses when death results from
injuries received in line of duty, surety
bonds, uniforms, belts, scabbards, badges,
arms, ammunition, radios, firstald
supplies, contingent expenses, and all
other reasonable and necessary expenses,
including equipment and expense of operating
training school for examiners. . . . . . . .$4l,2OO,OO."
We construe your question as asking whether or not the
expense for purchase of motor equipment supplies, consisting Of
fuel and lubricants, and the labor incident thereto, for the
lubricating of department motor vehicles may be taken from
Item 2 of these Maintenance and Miscellaneous appropriations
rather than from Item 1.
As thus construed, we are of the opinion the question should
Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr., Page 3, o-1758
be answered in the affirmative. Fuel, lubricants and
labor incident to their use in connection with department
motor vehicles, is more specifically embraced in Item 2
than in Item 1 of the appropriation. The only language
of Item 1 that could possibly embrace such expenses is
'automobile maintenance;" while Item 2 mentions such things
as "supplies.n The expense items mentioned by you are more
reasonably contemplated by the mobile maintenance" of Item 1.
FFom this we deduce the inference that the Legislature.
intended such items of expense, as mentioned by you, to be
paid from Item 2 rather than Item 1.
Very truly yours
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
s/ Ocie Speer
BY
OS-MR/cg Ocie Speer
Assigtant
APPROVEDDEC. 11, 1939
s[.Gerald Ct lknn
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
APPROVED OPINION COiWdIIl'EE
By BWB, Chairman