Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1957 )

THEi Y GENERAL OFTEXA~ Mr. D. C. Greer Opinion No. WW-237 State Highway Engineer State Highway Department Re: Does the Highway Commis- Austin, Texas sion have the i.i?thor <~ ty to pl:?n,contrAct for, .:nd construct buildings, in connection with the b:lild';ng of highways witholltsuper- vision or .;p!rovz!i of ,ny other Skte Agency or De- Dear Mr. Greer: ~ztment? We have your letter in which the pertinent facts ,re substantially stated by you as follows: For more thin thirty years the HighwLiy~ Dep;rtment hss been engaged in a continuous program of designing and constrAct- ing a system of State Highways including those buildings deemed necessary by the Highway Commission for the accomplishment of this purpose. foA, the Hiyhwdy i'ep~rtmentfor rn~y The appr~spr.~,~%tioris + the noney dppropri~&tedis for est.ib-. yeA.rshave provided the:, lishing, planning, constructing and maintaining a system of Stite Highways as contemplated tindset forth in Chapter 1, T!,- tie 116, R.C.S. and :hapter 186, ,":ctsof the 39th Legislature Section 1 of the 1925 Act above mentioned re:lds:is kE?, : "The term "hi~ghway' 5s used in this dct shall include any pzblic road or thoroughfare or sec- tion.thereof ::lnd any bridge, culvert or other necessary structure appertaining thereto?- The statutes above mentioned have been interpreted for approximately thirty years by the HighwAy Department 1s giving it full and exclusive illthorityto do zil of the things neces- sary for the cnnstruction and maintenance of the Highway sys- tem. This construction w‘lsmade by the Highway Department in view of the two decisions of the Attorney General hereinafter mentioned. You submit the following request: . - 4 Mr. D. C. Greer, page 2 (WW-237) "Since the construction of necessary service buildings Is an Important aspect of our highway pro@;rm, we would appreciate your advice as to whether or not the Highway Commission has the authority to do all things necessary to the plan- ning, contracting and constructing of buildings which are necessary to the construction and main- tenance of the State Highway System without the supervision or approval of any other State agency or department. The only statutes involved in answering your request are Chapters 4 and 5 (Articles 665-687), Title 20, V.A.C.S. which create a Public Buildings and Grounds Division (Chapter 4) and a Division of Design and Construction (Chapter 5) of the Board of Control. These statutes are not, in our opinion, applicable to buildings constructed by the Highway Department which are constructed in connection with and incidental to the construction of highways. Such statutes are intended to apply to those buildings which are authorized by law to be constructed as a public building and for which appropriation is made and which are for the general use of the public and do not apply to such buildings as the Highway Department may deem necessary to construct under its power to constr.ucthighways. It certainly cannot be said that if the Highway Department while construct- ing a highway, or being engaged in planning and designing a system of highways, should need an outhouse or a small building for storing tools would be required to have the Board of Con- trol design such building as mentioned in Article 681, V.A.C.S. and other provisions of the above mentioned Title. The same would apply to any building such as one for the storing of ma- terials, machinery, office supplies, or work space for the em- ployees while engaged in the work of constructing a State High- way system. AS early as August 22, 1928, and as late as 1953 (Opinion S-105) the Attorney General has held that the Highway Department has authority to construct buildings as above men- tioned in furtherance of public road constr,uctionand the es- tablishment of the system of State Highways. For approximately thirty years this has been done and neither the Board of Control nor any other agency has ever taken or assumed the authority to supervise or design any buildings so constructed by the Highway Department. We see no reason to overrule either of the prior de- cisions by this department and the long departmental construc- tion of the matter. Mr. D. C. Greer, page 3 (W-237) You are, therefore, advised that the Highway Commis- sion has the authority to do all things necessary to the plan- ning, contracting and construction of buildings which are necessary to the construction and maintenance of the State Highway system without the supervision or approval of any other State agency or department. SUMMARY The Highway Commission has the authority to do all things necessary to the planning, con- tracting and construction of buildings which are necessary to the construction and maintenance of the State Highway system without the supervision or approval of any other State agency or department. General of Texas HGC:pc APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE: J. C. Davis, Jr., Chairman Wm. R. Hemphill Marvin R. Thomas, Jr. Ralph R. Rash REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Geo. P. Blackburn