- Honorable Robert S..Calvert Comptroller of Public Accounts Capitol Station Austin, Texas Opinion NO. WW-461. Re: Are state soil conservation districts, defined in Art- icle 165a-4, Vernon's Civil Statutes, ~subject to com- pliance with the provisions : of the State Property Ati& countability Act, House Bill 753, Acts of the 52nd Legls- Dear'Mr. Calvert: lature, Regular Session, 1951? You have requested this office to furnish you an opinion concerning the following questions: "1. Are State Soil Conservation Districts defined In Art. 165a-4, R.C.S., subt)ectto compli- ance with the provisions of the State Property Accountability Act, Ii.B. 753, Acts of the 52nd Legislature? "2. In the event question No. 1, is answered in the affirmative, then under Section 5, Sub-Section (a) of Ii.B. 753, would the State Soil Conservation Board act'as Property Manager for the various.Conservatlon Districts?," Section 3(l) of Article 165a-4, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides: "(1) lDistrlctt or tSoil.Conservation Dis- trict' means a governmental 'subdivisionof this State, and a public body corporate and politic, organized in accordance with the provisions of.this Act, for the purposes, with the powers, and subject to the restrictions hereinafter set forth." Honorable Robert S. Calvert, Page 2 (w-461). Section 2 of House Bill 753, Acts of the 52nd.Legis- lature, Regular Session, 1951, which Is codified as Article 6252-6, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides In part: "(a) 'Agency' shall include any State department, agency, board or other instrumentality, whether It is financed In whole or part by funds appropriated by the Legislature or not;,~butshall not include local political subdivisions of the State/such as counties, cities, towns, school dls- trlcts, flood control districts Irrigation districts, and the like." (Emphasis added). The remaining portions of House Bill 753 (the State Property Adcountability Act) require such "agencies" to be responsible for State property entrusted to them, and gives the Comptroller and State Auditor certain responsibilities In the administration of the Act, Including the keeping of cen- tralized records upon'such property. Your question No. 1 apparently Nnges upon a .deter- mlnatlon of whether a soil conservation district is "a local political subdivision" within the meaning of the last quoted Section. The plain wording of this Section, In our,opinlon, Indicates that the Legislature did not intend for the Act to apply to local politldal subdivisions of the kind Involved in your quesslon. "Flood control districts, Irrigation districts, and the ilk=" would certainly include soil conservation dls- tricts, anal,therefore, such districts would be.excluded. Since our answer to your question No. 1 is in the negative, then It becomes unnecessary for us to answer ques- tion No. 2. SUMMARY State soil conservation districts, defined in Article 165a-4, Vernon's Civil Statutes, are not subject to compliance with the pro- visions of the State Property Accountability Act, House Bill No. 753, Acts of the 52nd Honorable Robert S. Calvert, Page 3 (w-461). Legislature, Regular Session, 1951, Chapter 356, page 602 (Article 6252-6, Vernon's Civil Statutes). Yours very truly, WILL WILSON 'AttorneyGene-l of Texas Assistant RRR:jl:pf APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo.'P. Blackburn, Chairman Marvin H. Brown, Jr. Jack Goodman :Wayland C. Rivers, Jr. Richard B. Stone REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: W. V. Geppert.
Document Info
Docket Number: WW-461
Judges: Will Wilson
Filed Date: 7/2/1958
Precedential Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2017