Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

THEAT~O~EY GENERAL
OFTEXAS
Ausniw,1.T~xan
Grover Sellers
AlTORNEY GICNl!xaAL (Overruled by 0-6903 insofar
as conflicts)
Hon. C. H. McDowell Opinion NO. 0-6017
Acting Director Re: Authority of Board of Directors
Texas Agricultural of A.& M. College to purchase addi-
Experiment Station tional land for Main State Experi-
College Station, Texas ment Station.
Dear Sir:
We acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 12, 1944,
requesting an opinion from this department on the legality of a
proposed purchase of two tracts of land, consisting of 215 and
219 acres) respectively, in Burleson County, Texas, by the Board
of Directors of A.&M. College for use for experimental purposes
by the Main State Experiment Station in Brazes County, Texas.
You have also submitted to us abstracts covering these two tracts
of land for our examination, but in view of our conclusion with
reference to the authority of the Board of Directors to make this
purchase, we find it unnecessary to examine the abstracts.
In our recent opinion No. o-5918 we held: (1) That the
Board cf Directors of A.&M. College had statutory authority under
Articles 2613a and 2613a-5, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes to
purchase land “conveniently located in reference to the campus”
for “college purposes” and (2) that the 48th Legfslature had ap-
propriated the unexpended balance in the P’ure Feed Fund “for such
purposes as the Board of Directors of the Agricultural and Mech-
anical College of Texas may deem advisable.” On the basis of
these holdings we were of the opinion on the facts stated that
the Board of Directors of A.&M. College was authorized to pur-
chase the Seth Mooring and the John Lawrence farm as a part of
the physical plant of A.&M. College and pay for the land out of
the avaflable balance in the Pure Feed Fund.
Your letter states the purpose for which the proposed
purchase is to be made is “for research on feeds and grains for
poultry and livestock.” The purposes for which the Board of Di-
rectors purchased the Seth Mooring and John Lawrence farm were
stated to be:
“1 . To afford additional space and a better type of
soil for research and kindred work on feeds and grains for
poultry and livestock and in all other phases of agriculture
for the ~Agricultural &periment Station and Zor research
projects for graduate students in agriculture.
Bon. C. .H. McDowell, page 2 (O-6017)
"II. To provide for expansions in the production and
processing of livestock, poultry, dairy, farm crops, and
horticultural products in order that the College may better
accomplish to a greater degree the following objectives:
“a. Afford more practical training for students in
all phases, of agricultural research, ,producti,on and manage-
Dent.
“B. ~&large certain processing facilities so as to
give students training in the commercial operations of such
plan+X.
“C. Furnish a large portionof animal, dairy and hor-
ticultural products used in the mess halls.
“n. Produce a larger portion of the feeds required
for livestock and poultry kept by the &periment Station
and School of Agriculture.”
Sect ion 44 of Article III of the Texas Constitution
provides that :
“The Legislature . . . shall not . ., . grant, by appro-
priation or otherwise, any amount of money out of the Treas-
ury of the State, to any individual, on a claim, real or
pretended, when the same shall not have been provided for by
pre-existing law.”
The quest ion here is not whether the money is available
for the purchase’ of this land, but whether any pre-existing law
authorized the purchase of this land by the Board of Directors of
ii&M. College at the time the 48th Legislature pa’ssed the current
appropriation bill. If there was no such pre-existing law author-
izing the purchase the appropriation bill cannot be construed as
conferring this authority. Fort Worth Cavalry Club, Inc. v. Shep-
pard,125 Tex. 339, 83 S.%(2) 660.
Chapter 8 of Title 4 of the Revised Civil Statutes of
Texas, 1925, and the amendments thereto are devoted exclusively
to State Experiment Stations, their establishment, maintenance,
ma operation. The powers of the Board of Directors of A.&M.
College with reference thereto are separately enumerated. The
Board is given power to lease land for experimental purposes, but
its ~only power to buy land is limited to those instances where
the Board of Directors has sold land which has “become undesira-
ble for experimental purposes” and deems it advisable “to apply
th,e proceeds of such sale in the purchase of ,other land.” Arti-
cle 139, V. A.&S. There is no general authority in this law to
purchase land for experimental purposes comparable to the author-
ity conferred by Article 2613a and 2613a-5, Vernon’s Bnnotated
Civil Statutes to purchase land for college purposes.
Hoi. C. H. McDowell, page 3 (O-6017)
From time to time the Legislature has passed amend-
ments to Chapter 8 of Title 4 authorizing the establishment of
sub-experimental stations in different parts of the State but
these laws have always provided that these stations were to be
located on land donated by citizens of the community which would
be benefited by the establishment of the sub-station. Of course,
if the Board of Directors has authority to purchase additonal
land for the Main State Experiment Station, it would likewise
have authority to purchase additional land for the numerous sub-
stations located throughout the State, that is at 1ea.s; ;aelzfng
as there was money available in the Pure Feed Fund.
the opinion that the statutes which we relied upon as a basis for
out Opinion No. O-5918 should be limited to the purchase of land
for college aurooses.
We, accordingly, advise that, in our opinion, the pro-
posed purchase of the two tracts of land in Burleson County is
not authorized by pre-existing law and the Pure Feed Fund cannot
be used for this purpose.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
OF TEXAS
By /s/ Fagan Dickson
Fagan Dickson, Assistant
APPROVED MAY 73 1944
/s/ Grover Sellers
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
APPROVED:OPINION COMMITTEE
BY: OS, CHAIRMAN
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