OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
itonorab1eliarryKnox
Chairman, State Board of Control
Auatin, Texas
Dear 81rr
xour Lnqulry calle ior the
aonstructlonof a carts ered Into by the
of t.aklngall of the dead
to his undert~ parlor
thereaPtQr$8 able in many
o those relatives and t%lends who s
mceeeary funoral equipwnt. k oopp
ormpatiesyour letter and hae bean
dored by this department.
The foaturcs xmtioned abovo era deened euffl-
0iQnt explanationor the oon+ract to s&e iniiellfgent
our answer to your i.rqxtrles.The first qwetion yen
1st *Doea the State,Board Or CQ&iEo~ have
$3ropoIlnd
author&t7 to enter Into such a contract?* Is thw
the question should be answered Sn the af%rmatlve.
We oan find nothing illegal about th% same. It is oer-
tainly the duty of the State to Be% that the body of an
innrt% of the inetitut10nis removed to BOlw undC3rtakimg
parlor as 80031as possible after life haa ended It is
~lkovise the duty of the State thFou@ the ouperintemi-
ent of the institutionto notify the relatives OS mmh
inmate~sdeathamiuhew thebodyxqbefound. Inour
o-on, no relative would sane OF ba ullllng for the
body to rem&n in the institutionor +thout ear@ dur-
ing ~hoti~~~~hiChw~llldberequiredin~loot Ztmtancres
for thmz to ooF1sto Au&in aixlmake the neoesaaryar-
raugyzwte. Ii? the und8rtaker upon t&sir arrival In
dustin Eokes a trad8 with thmior the nmmmary ca5kfA
and other articles for the funeral, that is no eoucern
of the State) a@ tf M tiertaker i.eoilXS.nSto give a
decent burial to those inmtos, the expense of wh&uh
aould otberwlsebe upon the State &st for the @v&-
lege of camying all dmeaaed patLta to tie umlertak2mg
mlor, with t&e hope of eellina;relatlvee the nemsmry
articles for the funeral, we CIulsea nothing ill0gal aeat
the lnki%rt*, but the whole x!attw oolqwts~to That we
belbY% to be in ~freepltagwith the pwper ear% sad reep%at
the interested psrties are duetbedecossad patient.
Tour tse8ondqueixtlon&: lP Wa eea dvisft
e
this cox&raatehouZdbeletmabjeotto thereqafceaenfe~
oi~tlaleo63(a,6~,6(e1~3srd,~ of thshv~md
GiYil ststut%eOS ia6.* An -tion e themeArti-
cles dbbaloeedlthat they govern the parahase of oupp2feo
by the State,and In our opiniouuou~duotbe 6pplioabl.e
In the 1ettlng Of a Gontraetll.ketw~.uileFepo pllrahsse
of euppliee in solved.
Xou 833-e
further advised that it is our opjsion,
in the abeem ofthis contraat with thexmdmtaker,that
the d%ath of one of the inantes of one of the eleamosy-
nary institutions vould authors th% stats Board of aon-
trol to -12~3 the neee fnnalw supplies, in auaora-
ante with Art.5cle660 of t&8 Tieed statu*.
vary wulg pair%
AZ?EORR2XCt!RWUL OF‘TSXAS
/JpPROV
ATTORNEY GENWAL OF TX::