Honorable John D. Reed, ~Commiseioaer .~ '. "
..
.:
Bureau of Labor Statia'tica .:
Austin, Texas -
an account for the purohaee of
,,~~~;n~lm vhfoh.Ia over two
.
You attaoh to your lettcer ~of Yaroh lq,th-a fIls.oonoernIng a
statement submitted for payment to your departmentby'~the Gulf
Oil Corporation; covartxig:: an aaoount for the purdhase of ._
certain Items from the.@ulf Oil Corporation during the month
of September, 1939. You ask the,opInIon of .thIa dsp'artment upon
the question'ol whether the State Board of ciontrol would be
within Its authorIty':In approving this acoount for payment,
Inasmuch as It Ia over'tro.yeAr.re' old., The queatIon)'therefore,
Is confined to the Inquiry whetherthe 'fact 'that t-his~account
waa'incurred more than two yeare ago preclude& Its approval by
the State Board of' Control, and our opinion Is limited to
answering that question. .
Apparently your inquby Is prompted by the'provisions of Article
4357,Revised Civil Statutes of,Texaa 4.1q2$., as amended by Acts
1931,Forty-second Legislature;. page 00, Chapter 243, Section
1. This law provides in part as hollows:
"No claim shall be Daid from appropriations unless presented to
the Comptroller for payment within two years from the close of
the fiscal year for which suoh appropriations were made, but
any claim not presented for payment within such. period may be
presented to the Legislature ae other claims for which no appro-
priations are avAIlable. . .e
It Is to be noted that the,computatIon of the two years period
of limitation for presentation of claims for payment to the
Comptroller Is, 'a? the terms of the statute, made from the
close of the f&scal ypar for whioh the appropriation against
which the olaim'wae fnourred was made, not from the date on
which the claim was In6Wred.
Honorable John D. Reed, CommI8eio~b~,Fage 2, O-4259
r
It aPPeara that this loonunt waa Inourred during the month
of September*- 1939. Obviouelg, tlyrefore, It must have been
Incurred against an appTaprIation made to lhe Bureau of ”
Labor Statistics for the ,fIscal year beginning September 1,
1939, and ending, or closing, on Aupmt 31, 1940. Two years
from the close of thie fiecal year, therefore; would extend the
period of limitation to and through August 31, 1942. It IS
apparent, therefore, that the claim has been presented.for
payment within two yeare from the ~cloee OS the Sisoal year for
which the appropriations .agaInat which o laim wae ‘Inourred were
made.
Notice, perhaps, ~ahould be taken of the ‘provisions of Article.
4371, Vernon’s Revised Civil S,tatutee of Texas, which provides
In part a8 Sollowa: .
“No.money shall bye paid out of the Treasury except on the
warrants of the Comptroller , and.no.wanrant shall be paid by
the Treasurer unless Presented for payment within two years
fro+. the cleat of the fiaoal ~year In vhiah euch w arrant was
. Iaeued l . . . ,’ ._
The period of limitation. prescribed’ by +thIs Artiole has no
reference to the ,mattpr ,of the isauanoe of a,warrant for payment
but, a8 Is plain from the language I@&& preecribea only the
period within which the holder of-.a ~warrant duly Issued must
present aaid warmnt ‘far .pajmen$:. kn’thb Instant situation,
apparently no warrant hae ever ,been- Isaued~, and therefore
Article 4371 hae no aPplIoatIon. . ._
Youra very truly
ATTORNEY GERERAL
._ .~ ,OF TEXAS
,.- _- .--
.’ ai’
.., R; ‘@.’ Fairohlld” C-.--r
BY .- -:. ‘R. W. FaIr6hIl.d
RWF:LM/cg . ~.‘, .:, .+ Asaietant
p. S. The file attached to your letter .oS request Is returned
to you herewith
APPROVED RARWI26, 1942
a/ Grover Sellers
FIRST ASSISTANTATTORNEY
GENERAL
Approved Opinion &muiittee; .By’Bb’B, Chairman