Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1961 )

AhvSTIN 2.1. TEXAS
December 14, 1961
Adm. H. R. Nieman, Jr. Opinion No. W-1221
Executive Director
State Building Commission Re: Whether, under the provi-
Austin 1, Texas sions of Senate Bill No.
1, of the 57th Legislature,
First Called Session, the
the State Building Commis-
sion is required to furnish
State agencies with utility
Dear Admiral Nieman: services.
You have requested the opinion of this office as to
whether, under the provisions of Senate Bill No. 1 of the 57th
Legislature, First Called Session, the State Building Commis-
sion is required to furnish certain State agencies with utility
services. The following is quoted from the Act, under the
heading of BUILDING COMMISSION:
"Any balances as of August 31, 1961, remain-
ing in the special fund specified in Section 3
of Chapter 465, Acts 1957, Fifty-fifth Legislature,
and any receipts to such funds during the biennium
ending August 31, 1963, are hereby approprrated to
the Building Commission for repair, maintenance,
and operation of any property heretofore or here-
after acquired by the Building Commission as long
as said property is used to house State agencies,
or is leased to private individuals or Is in need
of emergency protective attention; and in the
event the above appropriation for repair, main-
tenance and operation of such property Is inade-
quate the Building Commission is authorized~to
disburse such amount as may be deemed necessary
from the appropriation made in item 10 above for
accomplishing the same purpose."
It has been contended that the phrase "repair, main-
tenance, and operation" should be construed to require the
State Bul~ldingCommission to pay the cost of utility services
for State agencies housed in properties made available by the
Commission. As construed by this office, the phrase imposes
no such requirement.
Admiral H. R. Nieman, Jr., page 2 (WW-1221)
Section 7 of Article 678m, Vernon's Civil Statutes,
provides that the State Building Commission shall transfer
management and control of State buildings to the Board of
Control when construction is completed and State agencies are
housed therein.
Senate Bill No. 1, 57th Legislature, First Called
Session, under the heading BOARD OF CONTROL, provides:
"For the Years Ending
August 31, August 31,
1962 1963
"8. Utilities, Water
Fuel and Lights $300,000 $32!&0"II
. .
For other State agencies quartered in the Capitol
area, no appropriation is made for utilities of any sort.
It would thus seem apparent that the Legislative appropriation
for the Board of Control was intended to fulfill the utility
needs of the State agencies quartered in the Capitol area.
It is a settled rule that the express mention or ~enumeration
of one person, thing, consequence, or class Is equivalent to
an express exclusion of all others. State v. 'Maurtz-Wells:
-
co., 141 Tex. 634, 175 S.W.2d 634 (1943).
Please be advised that it Is the opinion of this
office that the use of the phrase "repair, maintenance, and
operation,R as used in the quoted Appropriation Act, is in-
tended to require the State Building Commission to maintain
and operate State property up to the time of its occupation
by a State agency; at which point the responsibility for
management and control, including the furnishing of utility
services, passes to the Board of Control.
SUMMARY
Under the provisions of Senate Bill No.
1, 57th Legislature, First Called Session,
the State Building Commission is not required
to furnish State agencies with utility services.
Very truly yours,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
Admiral H. R. Nieman, Jr., Page 3 (w-1221)
&& Assistant'
APERaVE?:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman
Riley Eugene Fletcher
Eugene B. Smith
Morgan Nesbitt
Linward Shivers
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.