Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1946 )

.. E GENEKZAL Honorable George W. Cox State Health OPflcer Texas State Board of Health Austin, Texas Dear Dr. Cox: Opinion No O-7301 Re: Constructlon of general provl- slon (b) of Senate Bill 317, 49ttiLeg. Ch. 378, Sec. 11, with respect to travel expenses incurred within the city or town where an employee is stationed. We beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter asking for an opinion from this department as follows: "We refer to the General Provisions of the De- partmental Appropriatlon Bill (S.B.,317 of the 49th Legislature, Chapter 378, General Provisions, Section 11, Paragraph b), which reads as follows: "l(b) The State Comptroller shall not pay, and no State Officer or employee of any of the Departments or other Agencies of the Government shall include In his travel expense account, any amounts for meals and/or lodging Incurred wlth- in the City or town where such officer or em- ployee Is stationed. Such employees as are stationed away from their main office or head- quarters who are not allowed traveling expenses where so stationed, shall be allowed such ex- pense when called tothelr main office.' "With the above In mind, we should like to know If the state Health Officer, or his duly authorized Agent, has the authority to station employees of the Department In towns and cities over the State as he may deem necessary and transfer employees from one town to the other as he may deem necessary, thereby changing their statlons. 'We would like to know what constitutes an em- ployee's station and If he must maintain a home or . Honorable George W. Cox , page 2 O-7301 room within assigned town for It to be known as hls station. 'We shall appreciate your opinion on the above question." Article 4418d of the Revised Civil Statutes (Vernon's codlflcatlon) Is as follows: "The State Health Officer shall be the exe- cutive head of the State Department of Health, and he shall, subject to the provisions,of this Act, exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties now vested by law In the Texas State Department of Health and the State Health Offl- cer, as well as all powers now vested by law In any officer, assistant, director or bureau head of the State Department of Health, excepting only such powers as may be conferred by this Act upon the State Board of Health hereby created. The State Health Officer, with the approval of the State Board of Health, may organize and main- tain within his Department such divisions of ser- vice as are deemed necessary for the efficient conduct of the work of the Department. From time to time, he shall appoint directors of such divisions, as well as other employees of the De- partment, and shall designate the duties and auper- vise the work of all such directors and employees. He shall have the power, with the approval of the State Board of Health, to prescribe and promulgate such administrative rules and regulations, not in- consistent with any law of the State, as may be deemed necessary for the effective performance of the duties Imposed by this or any other law upon the State Department of Health and Its several of- ficers and ~dlvlslons." The latter part of this Article very deflnltely clothes the State,Health Officer with broad discretionary powers with respect to the control of employees In the task of performing the functions of the Health Department. This power undoubtedly Includes a dlscretlon in the Health Officer to station employees In the various parts of the State thought by him to be In the Interest of proper aupervl- slon. Slmllarly, of course, he would have the power to re- statlon the employees according to the changing needs therefor. This answers your first question. Honorable George W. Cox, page 3 O-7301 As to what constituties an employee's "station", we beg to advise that such station is the place to which the employee la assigned as the one from which he will operate In the perform- ance of his assigned duties -- that is, the abldlng El;;et;fsthe employee --.a base of operations. The word "station connection carries with It the ldea.of something more than a temporary presence thereat. It connotes duration or permanence, for the time being, rather than mere temporary presence of the employee. It 1s akln to the question of one's residence or homestead, in that there la embodied In the conception the feature of IntentIon of the State Health Officer, and, of course, the employee of a fixed place in and from which the employee will operate. No definite term or time, however, need be In the mlnd of the State Health Officer, for condltlons could,arise that would call for a change of base at any time. This department once had this question before It, and answered in Opinion No. O-3008, as follows: "The question of 'statlonlng' employees is one whlch,mst address itself primarily to the discretion of the department heads. Of course, the provlalona of the Appropriation Bill above quoted may not be evaded by terming what Is In truth an actual change of headquarters a 'temporary assignment;' but It can- not be said that circumstances may not exist which' would justify a temporary assignment',rather than a change of statlon, though It had been decided by the department head that at a later date,,apermanent change of statlon would be effected. We trust that what we have said Is a sufficient answer to your lnqulry. Very truly yours, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS OS-MR-w 'By i/Ocie Speer Ocle Speer APPECVEBJULY 24, 1946 Assistant shf.?.'YGep~rt (Acting). ATTORNEY GEEEBAL OF ~TEEAS _ ``.``~ -, ipprovei Cpinibn'~C'~rm;littee~By"$~G~ Chairman >.