Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1946 )

:i 1: ,i .c .! I :i OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS i AUSTIN J GROVERSELLERS ArrORNE” GENERAL Honomble John II. Winters, Executlw Director Departmnt of Public weiram Austin, Taxaa D8ar Blrr Opinloa So. O-7178 RO: Oan the Lbpartnmt 0r Publio Wel- ior.8 OF stat0 TW~SWF rkmmh 0 tlmo reeeowd numeroue r 0r inr0mPti0h wd sewral bplll- to qmolrio qfme- O-2432, O-3136, 110 warw~ Aat provl.deu r rr618tenae grrnts to the p F o r ida r io p a r t ‘. l . vhen a haw beon drava, thay shall utiw I)irmtor 0r the Slate raw rho Y.n turn @hall mper- wry 0r mate4 to the persona entitled there- I( ooarpllanae uith the provision of the law the l--e @aa 8 ante varrants are dellwred by the Exeoutlw Dir- ector to the poet 0rrm in Austin for deliwry to the reolpieuta, ICeoh month more than tvo hundred thouaand or thora wrrant 6 8~ mailed. Out 0r this number, there are many ahaoka whleh are not delivered to the recipients. Some of th&Pre cheaka are lost due to urromtoua addreaaea Hooorabfe J&R B. Winters - Pa85 2 while others are not delivered teceuw they how bean latercapted by sonm p%rsoa not legally eatltled to them, the latter Cl885 being t!m aubjeot 0r this opinion. “To Illustrate thla, a fav months ago eewral mall p0ucih85 WM takea out 0r th5 5mii5. uh5n th5 15511 powhsr wore recowred approxiautelpthre8 lafwdxwd old a&p l88letance wrrantm, 8016~1 or vhlah had beea opewd, mere retwued by the Postal AuthoritiA5 to the brpart- ment 0r Publla Welfam ror re-mailing. mm5rou5 others had be8n opowd and cashed. IO ardor to obtaia al-5 vhioh mlEplt l8a4 to the appreheaaloa or tha suspect, tb~ Po8tal Authoritloo reqwstod lnf0m8tlo5 f'roa th55 Deportvat about aback8 rblah VON reported to tb Ik- partmeat by the reclpi40t5 a8 not being ~oaeiw4. A number of ths aheokm wro endornb au4 oashed. "Eaub mOt&h a CLUI&WO of indlNdu*l reaLpl5nt8 re- port thet theyhaw llotrrcelwd their ehsokr. Upoa lvLlcLg lmuir7, it 15 r0tlu4 by th D5parta5rkt that arruy or thew aheeka wn paid b7 the State Treasurer 5Xlegodly on a forged eador5oaeut. uben those tbrt8 era reported to tb8 P05Ul AuthoritLo8, they mqu8ot thb mp8m5nt to r``rh phat0.5tatie 00pi85 or tb5 woraut 8 lorolved. Ordluily t’b pmrclolrr* rting the theft i8 the nolpieat or 8owow direct p"y lo- tem1IEed in tb realpierrt. TINI Portal Authoritirr UI- UBI`` h8~ tb full it85btbor tm wapiee, tb a8t3upt of ths cheek, the addr~oe OS 6ho realpleat, the appro- xlmBt0 date 0r irrw or th5 abecrk, alad u55511y th5 0555 ata4wamant mmtber5. The iufomtlon t&o P05tal Author- it3.e~ •~ seeking 18 the iuromtiaa oocatalwd ou the rowrw rldo oft& uheok, 1ruuly,th8 5igmtura arid the plaas ohor8 the &oak vaa endormd or p5%d. This lnformatioa 18 rought for the urpo5a of making mh:ln- w5tlgat10n relatiw to ttx+al % gsa thsst from ths nmi.18 an4 for pro5eouting the ratin. Somal.Iy the oaly pur- porn that the photostatle copy Would wrw 15 a5 mu- tiowd above) haww~, if it 8boold beem tmae5tury to uw the warrant or to subpew& the r4wiptent iato Court, the PostalAuthoritie5 al50 va5t to ttre the in- romaatlo5 ror thaw purpOl~8. "In reaent months ths Fontal Ittapectorr haw reqmat- sd m5wrou5 pboto5tstic oopzm 0r &woks. lm5d up00 the opinions from your off ice rhish are Ushe& abow, tha IIs- ptu+meRt ha5 4eCllW4 to furnlrh the #XOtO5t8tie BOpi55 . *tin th5 raolpieat h55 reaeiwd the benefit5 horn hie check. We hrrc been iwQu58tea by the Poetal Author- itlea to 8ub5lt um55 fact5 and to mqwmt your opla- ion relative to the disclosure of mf’orwtion Prom OUT records either by this apartmeat or the State Treaeurrar for ths purpowa llatsd hereia, and they have agreed to 1lmlt or nstr~ot hb u55 of tha rotmrds, ii 55&5 Wall- able, to tba uses or purposes whioh you aonsider ulthin th5 pur~imt 0r th5 5tmd55. 'In your optnlon, would it be ulthln tbs purvlev or tb 8tAtute8 ror ths DspArtwat or Public Wsliare or the State Treasurer to turai5h the Postal InApO5D&tO- statto eopios of varraatr wherein it 15 th5 w*rraats were nc& d5lIvamd to tha right ul ~Olp- 15at upon being plmed ia thu maflat Vr, in your opiaioa, u-40 nspartmsnt or Public wsl- fers mar wleass SW& plroto5t4tle 00ple8, 8hould the Departims~t furnish t&o55 *oto5tat5 routlaely when re- quested to do 80 by the Port41 Inigctors, or should th5 Dspartwat aoaslder tba raqtmst on aa iadlvgdual basis lo tier o? the cir5ra5t4m058 under which ths re- cipleat fabled to rsce2w his abok? *If, la par opintoa, the photo5tats may be nbasott to th5 Postal fa5peotar5, 3.5 this th5 extent of tb5 la- forrmrtlon uhlch should be furnished, or should th5 -part- 5mt upon Tswipt 0r th5 individual ruauest fuvnish cay other ovallabl5 information rrom our reoorda pertaiauag to the loss or tha shock, I.e., the 50pias of ths Affl- davlt signed by the reoipioat to the 5fi5Ot that th5 oheok vas not recolwd or eadorwd by hlBI, or 5u5h In- rormstlon as the pmmaat address of th5 naipieat? "Ii this Inrormtion mm be re&alled to t&s, are there to b5 say reatriotloas, to be pla5eU on the u5e of the rsaord b the Postal Authorlti5s'l In other wards, art5r the Po8ta f Authorities rraefw th5 *oto5tatio’oopy of the ehmk 3r tba copy of the affMa?lt or AaT otBbr in- fomtloa from the Department relatiw to the check, aan the mformetion be ueed in a Court proaesding for ths pro- 5WUtkXi Of th5 5U5pCt? %~ur coo5idwa~tloa and optaion of thrr*timrs aoa- CaLned Ln this reqwst will be apprmlated.~ Moaorsble John H. Wlatera - Page 4 The soelal Security Act, &2 U.S.C.A. 559, aactioa 302, provJ.das in partz pavrawat themto, the Texan statute, &t!.cle 6y5a. aea- t1on 33, V.A.c:a. provitlea in partr atate mw!tlprnt . rot- say peraaa or pGnow to solicit, disolo&, reaeik, mrhe- UM of, OP to authorIm, luwviagljr permit, prrttaip*te la, or mzquleaae I.0 the uae at, aaj list of, or awwa of, OP say iaforaPatioa coacffraIa3, pwwan rpplyla3 for OP reosiolag such aasl&aaee, d%rootly OP iadirectly de- rived from the raaordu, gape~a, fL.lae, or aoawalaat~oae of the state Departmeat or lubQi*ieionr or amnaiea them- of, or aoqulred ia the oouree of the pimhrmcms of of- fiolal duties.” (ltmphaslr Wed); 3ectiou 26 provide* ia part* “All osaia:ama ym5ata provided for uader the terms of this Act IJhx 1 be paid by vouahere or varr8ata . . . Whoa such vouchers or uarraats have beea drawn It ia settlrsd that a statuta will be construed with rafer- ence to iza general purpose snd the sac+ or ob,bjects aought to be at- tained, 3~ !ikx. Juria, 217, Sectioa UC?. Honorable Joba & Waters - P8m 2 Certainly a paramouat aad prlmrg objective of the Federal aad State at8tuteo Is the payment of fuade to quallfled recipients of Old Age Asslstmce. Such paymeat me, vlthout questloo, dIractly coaaeated vith the 8QmlnIstratIoa of O~UIAge Aesletance 1~s. Any interferewe vith delivery of 8uch pay- ments ia aecesacrlly an Intsrferenae uIth the rdnialatratloa of Old Age Aaelstaaae 18vr. We uoaolude, then, tb8t the De- partmerit of Public Welfare or State Trwsurer my furolati the Postal Innpectors vlth photostatlo copier of varmats allegedly aot delivered to the reclpleat, or vhiab rlleegpsdlyhave beea stolen or I’ve the recipient’s amm for&red thereon. The Departmeut of Pub110 Welfare aad State Treesurer shoald not releese such photostatlo oo %eamw e astter OS routlm, for an ve aoid la OUP Opiaioa Ho. O-63 s 0, . thla depcrtmeat, by Its opInloar, has terloualy gumded the c&deatIal a8tara of thl8 Iaforutioa.” It I8 0uF oplaiea tht the Dspartswmt of ~ublio Welfare Sad Btate Tre8sarer should oonsider eaah reqaest oa 86 IadIoZdoal baais ,la view of tha olraumatanes uwler vhlah the reclplent fallad to reoelw hlo varrmt. Slnae the prowcutloa of those IaterSering with tha delivery of said paymeuta Is ,dIrectly coaneated with the ad- mIaIstratloa of Old Age Amiataaee lava, It fo1knr8 tht tb DspaPtmnt Of PubliO Welfare mad State ~88UE’Ol’r~ rurnllh, on the asrits of each ltdIrIdu81 reqaeat from the Pmrtel X&5 apeatore, aay other Iaform%tlon pertaialag to the lo8a of iald werreat ia order that those Snterferlag vith suoh delivery may be proseouted. The Poatal In ctors are plaIaly restrioted by 42 U.S.C.A. 559, Seatloa 30T , to the uue of 8ald laformatlon for purpose8 dimatly coaaeoted vlth the admIalrtrrtIoa of Old A@ Asslstaaoe laws, which lnformatloa, Ia this 8psOIfia iastaaes, is given to sald Iaspeators to u8e rolely ror tha purpose 0r Iaveatigtiag aad proseoutIa$ those vho slle3edly hve stolea said varraats or hew forefed the reclplentta ~WW thereon. Sinae t&s uw of this iaformtloa i8 given the Postal Inspectors for the purpo8e of lave8tigrtloa Sad prosecutloti, it mey certainly be used by them in Court proasediags against said v10lat0rs. It Is, therefare, the opImIon of thin depwtwat that I (1) The Dspartrment of Pub110 Uvlfam or 3tate Zrv~rur- er my Zurn%ab photostat10 copier of vrrrartta aad otbr direotly pert:aMt inforavtloa to tlM Perta Iwpeotorr vwa ttn nolplerrt hea l l&@vdly net reaelvod raid vbrmnt u&es ulroQ&mieo8 In- di6Wirrg theft, for&ety or fraud. B a 6 hwq ua ltfo xl-uo ha fo r - motion mwt be ooneldend~oa OE l~lrldu81 brai* and dwuld bu g lwa o nly under p r o p er olrOtmntowe8, le indlo&tod r ltp n.