Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1966 )

THEATTORNEY GENE~RAL OFTEXAS H. HJ Crabb, K.D.,'Secretae Texas State Board of Hedical Examiners 1714 Medical Arts'Bu?%U.ng Fort Worth, Texas Opinion Ho. C- 606 Rer Authority to pay the travel- ing expenses of an 'outof state witness agpearing be- fore the'Texas StateBoard of Medical Rx'aminers;~ in Dear Dr. Crabbr obdience.to a subpoena. You have requested $h opinion as to whether an out of state witness who was subpoenaed*bythe Texas State Board of Medical Exminers to appear befdre it may be paid his traveling expenses out of monies appropriatedto the Texas State Board of ledical Examiners. The Texas;StateBoard of IdedlcalExaminers has the power '!toissue subpoenas,and subpoenas duces tecum to com- pel,the attendance of witnesses, the ,productionof books, records and documents, to admihister oaths and to take testi- mony concerning all matters within its jurisdiction." Arti- cle 4509, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Article 4506, Qeimon's Civil Statutes, provides in part as followsr "The Texas State Board of EIedicalRx- aminers shall have the right to cancel, revoke, or suspend the license of any prac- titioner of medicine upon proof of the vio- lation of the law in any respect with regard thereto, or for a.nycause for which the Board shall be authorized to refuse,toadmit persons to its examination,as provided in Article 4505 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, as mended. -2939- . - 1. H. Crabb, M.D., page 2 (C-606) "Proceedingsunder this Article shall be begun by filing'chargeswith the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.inkiting and under oath. Said charges may be made by any person or persons. The President of the Texas State Board of Medical Examihers shall set a time .andplace for hear-g, and shall cause a copy of the charges toge,therwith a notice of the time and place fixed for hear- ing, to be served on the respondent or his counsel at least ten days prior there- to. The Board thereupon deter- mine ihi charges upon their merits.' Item 3 of the current appropriationto the Texas State Board of Hedical Examiners reads as follows: "For the Years Ending August 31, 1966 August 31, 1967 “3. Consumable supplies, and ma- terials, current and recurring operating expense (excluding Board a.ndStaff travel), con- tingent expenses, expenses for enforcementpurposes and court costs (includingtravel expense for witriesses,publication of of notices, purchase of evi- dence, and legal fees), and capital outlay . . .'. ,. . . 23,900 23,900" (Emphasisadded). The presence of the witness in question was necessary inworder for the Board~-%oTVcarryout its duties prescribed by . -Therefore, the ~Legislaturehas specificallyauthorized the payment of travel expense for necessary witnesses and, since,such expenditureis a necessary expense to the perform- ance of the duties provided by law for the Texas,State Board of Medical Examiners,.it is our epiniouthat such expenditure does not constitutea gift or donation within the meaning of Section 51 of Article III ~of the Constitutionof Texas. You are therefore advised that the travel voucher submittedwith your request is due and payable. Travel expense foran out of state witness appearing before the Texas State Board of -2940- M. H. Crabb, M.D., page 3 (C-606) Medical Examiners in obedience to a subpoena is payable by virtue of the provisions of Articles 4506 and 4509, 'Vernon's' Civil Stat- utes, and Item 3 of the current appropr~iation to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Yours very truly, WAGGQNER CARR Attorney General Assistant JR:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMXITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Pat Bailey H. Grady Chandler Phillip Crawford Ben Harrison APPROVED FOR TRE ATTORREY GENERAL By: T. B. Wright -2941-