Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1963 )

April 23, 1963 Honorable Bob Johnson, Chairman Committee Pursuant to H.S.R. No. 236 House of Representatives Austin, Texas @in ion No. C-60 Re: Authority of a member of the Legislature to sell printed matter prepared at State ex- Dear Mr. Johnson: pense. Your request for an opinion reads as follows: 'Pursuant to H.S.R. 236, a Commit- tee Is presently studying the charge and allegations made in speeches before the House on March 4, 1963, the same being printed in the House Journal of said date, pages 480-486. Copies of H.S.R. 236 and the House Journal of such date are enclos- ed. "As Chairman of this Committee I here- by respectfully request the assistance of your office in determining whether or not there exist rules, regulations, or laws which prohibit a member of the Legislature from selling printed matter prepared at state expense. "I believe that a brief study of the Resolution and the House Journal will give you sufficient background to help us in this matter. Your prompt attention would be greatly appreciated in as much as the Committee has but a brief time in which to file a report of such investigation." House Simple Resolution No. 236 of the 58th Legis- lature provides: -289- Hon. Bob Johnson, page 2 (C-60) "WHRREAS, On March 4, 1963, two Members of the House of Representatives made and leveled certain charges regarding the pro- priety of the activities of each other in connection with their service on an interim committee of the previous Session of the Legislature; and "WHEREAS, The charges and allegations are printed in the House Journal for Monday, March 4, 1963, and question the propriety of the use of House facilities for the printing and dissemination of the printed materials and further questions the propriety of the reimbursement of the Members for expenses al- legedly incurred; and "WHEREAS, Such charges and allegations, cast a reflection upon the dignity, integrity, and honest of each interim committee of the Fifty-seventh Legislature and the entire House of Representatives of the Fifty-eighth Legis- lature; and "WHEREAS, The Members of the Fifty-eighth Legislature have shown that they wish the public to have access to all the facts and circumstances attendant to the operation of all levels of government to the end that the public confidence in government will be pre- serves and enhanced; now, therefore, be it "RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Fifty-eight Legislature, That the Speaker be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint a Committee of five Members of the House to con- duct an investigation into the alleged acts above referred to as well as any other matter relating thereto and report back to this House within thirty days; and, be it further "RESOLVED, That said committee shall have power to formulate its own rules of procedure and evidence, and to meet at such times and places as it may deem best and shall elect its own Chairman." -290- Hon. Bob Johnson, page 3 (c-60) A careful study of the Constitution and statutes of this State reveals only one Article providing for the distribution of printed matter of the Legislature pre- pared at State expense. Article 5429d, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides: "Section 1. The Presiding Officers of the House of Representatives and Senate shall appoint one (1) of their employees to perform the duty of distributing the Journal for each House respectively. "Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of such appointee to distribute to the Governor, to each Member of the Legislature and upon re- quest, to heads,of departments, a copy of the printed Journals of both Houses." Article 5429f, Vernon's Civil Statutes, known as the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1961, provides for the functions,of various committees of the Legislature and the conducting of hearings. Subsection (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 8 of Article 5429f provides: "The Committee shall keep a record of its proceedings, and it shall have the power to hold such meetings as it may deem neces- sary and at any plaEe in the State of Texas. The Committee shall also have power to issue process to witnesses, at any place in this State, to compel their attendance, and the production of all books, records and instru- ments, to issue attachments where necessary to obtain compliance with subpoenas or other process, which may be addressed to and serv- ed by either the Sergeant-at-Arms appointed by said Committee or by any peace officer of this State; and to cite for contempt, and cause to be prosecuted for contempt, anyone disobeying the subpoenas or other process lawfully issued by it in the manner and ac- cording to the procedures provided in this Act and by any other provisions of General Law. The Chairman of the Committee shall issue, in the name of the Committee, such subpoenas as a majority of the Committee may direct. The Committee is hereby authorized to request the assistance of the State Audi- tor's Department, the Texas Legislative -291- ‘ . Hon. Bob Johnson, page 4 (C-60) Council, the Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General's Department and all other State agencies and officers, and it shall be the duty of said departments, agencies and officers to assist the Com- mittee when requested to do so. The Com- mittee shall have the power to inspect the records, documents and files of every State department, agency and officer, and of all municipal, county or other political subdivisions of the State, and to examine in- to their duties, responsibilities and activi- ties." (Emphasis added). Nowhere in Article 542gf is any provision made for the distribution to the public of a transcript of commit- tee proceedings. Article 5429f, above quoted, obviously does not apply to the printed matter referred to in your request. In view of the foregoing, we have reached the con- clusion that there is no provision providing for distribu- tion of transcripts of committee hearings to the public. Therefore, a member of the Legislature may not, at State expense, sell copies of a transcript to the public. If such copies are prepared at State expense, preparation of such copies must be for a governmental purpose, and not a private purpose. If an individual member sells such copies to the general public, such fact is evidentiary that the copies were not prepared for a governmental purpose, but for a private purpose, which is not authorized by law and is contrary to public policy. As stated above, however, we know of no provision, either in the Constitution, statutes or existing rules of the Legislature, which specifically regu- lates the activities of individual members of the Legisla- ture in distributing printed matter prepared at State ex- pense. Therefore, in such instances the question is whether the printed matter was prepared for a governmental or public purpose, or was prepared for a private purpose. If pre- pared for a private purpose, such preparation is contrary to law and the public policy of this State. SUMMARY A member of the Legislature is not authorized to prepare, at State expense, printed matter he intends to sell to the -292- - . Hon. Bob Johnson, page 5 (c-60) public, for the reason that printed matter prepared at State expense must be used for governmental or public pur- poses and not for private purposes. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General John Reeves Assistant JR:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Bill Allen Ben Harrison Pat Bailey APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone -293-