Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

I : 507 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN iloaoraile'6eoo u. moppard comptrollc OS Publio Aoeouatm _*- &u8tiD, tartar letter four requs ni?n from this dapart- ment upontbo a ompanied by a letter prcprrrotl by hit-r r, is before UIB. Mr. stallingd 1crtt 10 endarrrored to ob- ommheld in the De- 0 al8sdfloation ied by the l3epart-Ji a g l 8o h a iu ls 8o t- orrribd by the department Otispenae balance af We ta rariouo membarsof the alked b oadght h a ve lme idea as te the a of theaa item cmntl whr they rare dapoaited to this 1~1spen8saaaount. *The flrnt item, saoording to We J. U. Byrne, was in payment o? &oto* Puel Tax tf7 the Auto apply Cmpaay of Laredo, Texas, in the rrouot or #2a.sa. Aaoording Co the informa- tion gathered tbfa was a rtiundrble it-, but Sor lme reason tbe mot of refkmdlng this to rho tax-payer was norer exe6utedr The 1adgOr mbeet carried by. tbs Canhiar mbeve~ thad this Ysaorabls Ueo. U, Sheppard - page 2 lteu sas deposited te Suspenss April 26, 1931, Vhhe second itap is listed under the nsmo OS Bas &ssdy in the assunt of $6.00, and raoord- ing to &he CmNer's muspcnselsdgor this item sss depomitod ts Csmptrolle~s Suspense 4ooouat 8eptrarbc 3fbg 1931. This item, 4ooordlng to information turnishsd By Hr. C. D. Uatts wsd w.Jao+ Uslstoa, wss aa saonpous prymnt re- oelrrd by the gmerxmr~s oftiae at the time tlm Uoaoc8bls Dan Yeodl, wss QWernor of Tams. 7he @..oo was deposftsd sitb ths Csmptrollsr Co? disburssmnt to funds, and the Cwptreller bad no way at detsrmiaing the fund ts whiob this mmount should be Qopodted. s-?ho third itsm in this aoommt, ssmunting to *82.2ar is listed l s Qmk no ~n.~ T h e r eo o r ds In t&o Cashierqs DiTlnioe ohoe that this aovers tour deposits to the muspenseooaount as sham on the lttaobed sebsdule. The lnfohcatioa gathor- al from rasiberm ot ths depmrtment who sere employ- ed before and at t&e time Yr. Simppard took ofeloe is thst these are fse lbsms oolleoted under the aousttts 7srrell adsiDi?trationI Vhe tetal of the80 item amounts to @la.11 and is oarrltkl thusly on the oasNs~*s oantrol sheets ss bary kclrmbra Suspens0.Q Mr. Irtt8 tells us that in 1937 the ASSiStSat 8tSte AUdilOP in ukiug the annual audit oi the Cashier’s of- Sioe rworprpcaded a oredit adjustment to tbls ao- count of @,74, sNob recluosd the lsoount balanae .24 aad slnos tbat tire it baa bean oorried as & ia .a7. s&P. Uatts informs ss that the itsm oompss- lng tbir woouat were smrisd in s make-6bbiFt musp c no laooount before w law ~8s psssml by tbs legislsture governing Suspense itsme. It nas depoeitecl uador tbe ola8siPluatian of *Youstan Twrell Spssial’ upon thlr agprora$ of br. fwrell, end kr. 6heppard inherited It in that Taabfoa when be took otlLae* aLlthin the past CM years the State Auditor has reoosan4mdcd tbat this soaount be oleared to Monorsbls Uss. U. gbeppard - p4e 3 the Baoaa=alTundr gpboial sfifort sas ssde 07 the Assistant Wats Auditors in their rooentl~ oomplsted investigation OP tNs departmeM to here this wcouat clsarsd to tho Cenral Fund. On Pebruary 19th of this par b Oonf~OnoO ~88 hold bstreos wr Oar- land &araos, Assistant gtats Audlt4w, Yr. Yob Calrut, Dqwrtacwt Itatistloisa, and 4MlI, and it sas lgresd th0 #013,l47 sssld be t&e prepsr 6motmt to olsar.* sn 0 inlon no. o-948, a6dressed to Xmorable r0r c. llj4, 8ests AuditOr, this department, oea8truleg rrtiols 49~l, Vemsa*s Annotated Civil Statutss, said~ @rho rw5ing of the &o~s quoted Arti- o&s 6lssrlf IWostes that the prooedoro ior final payment lot0 the Stats fre8mus7 is by the 1muwwJ of a dep6dt rarraat. Sush deposit warrant is issued to the p- tloular fund ts sbiab tbs aon- goes* I$ 1s true, them, that utntil the iursl to sbiob the aonsy sbsuld go lo dotsrminsd tbo de- podb warrant to that fund oannot be ls- mued?or suob aonq. For this rma$ou, it is our epinion that la s aase where aonq is pald to one ol the dspartrants et the 8tat8, and there is 8 question as to wbiob partioulrr fund said ronq skoald go# the saa# ~4 properly be pnid into the Suspe~w Fund bcsause said msney orrmot bs plaid in- to the prop6r runa until 8 klepomitmrrmt tor auol mooq 1s drawn * On17 then is tho moae~ pai lDt0 tho Trsssu`` UNle tbs particular etestination o? the fund is in questioD, 8``0 though them is no qnestioa as to tbs Stats~s right to the msnq, so tee1 that Lb8 BODq somOs rltNa the oata- gory o? 'moonq which is iwaiting the ttms sben it 0011flaally be taken into tbo Treasury' 48 sst out la Artlels 4-S. Xou are, thsreforo, sdtisod that in eases shers therm is an aotual doubt as to the partiwlar fund to shioh a Donay sbwld go $ionorabls Gas, II. Sheppard - page 4 aaid ronq may properly be pluvxI in tbe khspansa Fund by the head of’ a Aeprrteeat;* Ybat we uid there ruler your owe* nr, ukllingd mnslysi8 0e the nary Yensmrm sun- penra Auoount does not oboe that CbO Fund la tbmt oaouunt belongs to the 6tate, &UC 00 tba soatrmry, tmle to dum that it belongs to @ther8* la OQdOiOlt%O. Q--44, addrQ88- ed to uonar8bls Jo880 Jue8, Iltate Tremurr, we rde the same quotation me thst mbovr, MA eddrdc *la rieu oe the rule there muoounaed, it %8 the Op%UiOa Ot t&k8 D6putmm9 tie it-8 mentiOa@d by you WhObC) SOU~OO MA 8iaoe it ha8 not been Aetermiaed tbat the Mary tic- %mmra &~&36lI8#3 Aa,oeaUnt belong8 to the St8t0, Lt. CMnot be covered into tbe State Treasury. Yorsover, even though it 8ere uadi8puted tbrt the tund doe8 belong to the .State, unlers it bo8 been Aetaralnsd further a8 te rbiob tund the 8-0 8bould b0 Wbditdd, it my Inet be depodtti ia the State Treasawy upon the Cooiytroller’o *orrant. tru8ting that what 8e hove #mid ruefioiently mn8wers your inquiry, we mre