Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1961 )

THEATTORNEY GENE- OF%-EXAS JUZY ~1, 1961 Honorable Jerry Sadler Opinion No. WW-1100 Commissioner General Land Office Re: Whether it is necessary Austin, Texas fop the Legislature to pass an Act legally designating a portion of the State Archives and Library Building as the General Land Office. You have requested an opinion concerning the question of: II whether it would be necessary f&'&e Legislature to pass an Act du,ningthe Special Session legally designating a portion of the above referred to building as the General Land Office of the State of Texas, OP could the Board of Control by declaration declare a portion of the building to be officially the General Land Office?" YOUP letter mentions that certain statutes of t'hisState specifically require certain meetings to be held in t,heGeneral Land Office as well as requiring the filing of =,?r-tiain instruments, documents and the like with the GenePal Land Office. FOP examples you quoted from t'he.followingstatutes. The I-equirementin Article 5421c-3, paragraph 5, Vernon's Civil Statutes that: "The School Land Board shall meet, on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in ,th~, General Land essions shall be sis added.) lCkme requiremenf in Article 5421, Sec. 25, Vernon "9 Ci,viiStat,utesthat: Honorable Jerry Sadler, page 2 &W-1100) "The Board (Veterans Land Board) shall meet> when necessary, on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the General Land Office, where,,itssessions shall be held D 0 0 (Emphasis added.) The requirement in Article 5277, Vernon's Civil Statutes that: e The field notes and plats of public land made by any licensed state land surveyor affecting the lines, boundaries, and areas of such land shall be forwarded to the General m OEice.. TEmphasis added.) As to whether or not the Constitution and statutes of this State contemplated the General Land Office being housed in a building other than the General Land Office Building, Article XIV, Sec. 1, of the Texas Constitution, provides in part that: "There shall be one General Land Office in the State, which shall,,be at the seat of government, e . . Article 5261, Vernon"s Civil Statutes, pro- vides that: "There shall be one general land office at Austin, . . o The term 'land of'fice,ias used in this title shall mean the General Land Office of this State," Article XIV, Section 1, of the Texas Con- quoted above, provides for the establishment s,ti.tution, of a state agency to be designated the General Land Office, and specifies that such agency shall be located at the seat of government. Article 5261 likewise provides for the establishment of a state agency to be designated the General Land Office, and provides that such agency shall be located at Austin. We are of the opinion that the terminology "General Land Office" as used in Article XIV, Section 1, of the Texas Constitution, and Article 5261, Vernon's Civil Statutes, refers to the name conferred upon this Honorable Jerry Sadler, page 3 (WW-1100) state agency and is not a designation of the specific location of the agency. Neither Article XIV, Section 1, of the Texas Constitution nor Article 5261, specifies a particular loc.ationfor this state agency other than that it shall be located at the "seat of government" and "Austin." This constitutional and statutory require- ment is met regardless of whether .theac%ual office space occupied by the General Land Office is located in the old Land Office building OP the State Archives and Library Building. Such being the ease, the statutory requirements that certain meetings be held in the General Land Office are met when such meetings are heid in the facilities occupied by such agency. The same would be applicable as concerns the filing of certain instruments, documents, and the like with the General Land Office. In turn we are of the further opinion that there would be no necessity for the Board of Control to declare, by declaration, a portion of the State Archives and Library Building to be officially the General Land Office for the reason that Article 678m-2, Vernon's Civil Statutes provides that: I, D 0 * the Legislature may appropriate money from the Motor Vehicle Inspection Fund for the purpose of constructing and initially equipping a building to be known as the 'State Archives and Library Building & house the State Library and the State Archixes, Museum and Land Office, 0 D * (Emphasis added.) We are therefore of the opinion that it would not be necessary for the Legislature to pass an Act designating a portion of the State Archives and Library EuiIding as the General Land Office. SUMMARY It is not necessary for the Legis- lature to pass an Act legally designating a portion of the State Archives and LibiraryBuilding as the General Land Office, Yours very t.ruly, Honorable Jewy Sadler, page 4 (Ww-ll,CO) WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas PB:lgh APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman John Reeves G?ur.dyWilliams ThrjmasBurrus REVIEWED E'ORTHE ATMRNEY GENERAL BY: Morgan Nesbit%