Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

=ol’ P _ OFFICEOF THEATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Y Austin Gerald c. Mann Attorney General .. Bonorable~ ?, ‘0. Walt&, &8ident, ~’ Agriculttial and~ldechanical College of Texas , College. S,tation, Texan .;Dear Dr. Walton: Opinion No. Q-4315 ;~+.' .,*. ':: Rex Legality of the Board of Directors appropriating local funds for the ur- pose of carrying lia iiil- ity lnsuranae on college- owned motor vehicles. We be& to acknowledge receipt of your letter ask- ing for an opinion from this Department, as follows, to-tit: “The Bueiness Eanager of the College has requested me to ask your department for an opinion with regard to the legality of the Board of Directors of the College approprlat- lng local funds for the purpose of carrying liability insurance on college-owned motor vehicles. eWe have understood heretofore that the Board OS Directors is without legal author- ity to carry suah insuranae and that this ap plies to every branchaf the State Governmentj however, we ar8 advised that the Prison rystem _~ aarries such ln8urancre and we are of the opin- ``:`` : ion that if It la legal for the Prison Board to do 80, it night be legal’ for our Board to ~1 carry such insurance on oollege-owned and ~,<~ .operated motor vehlcle8.* .;~. .i. This Department ha8 given several opinions to the lffeot that It is the general policy of the State to carry its own risk in res ect to insurance on State-owned property the only exception L ing where the Legislature has by generai Honorable T. 0. Walton - page 2 statute, or by speclflc appropriation indicated otherwlrr. The foollowIng opInIon8,. oobles of whIah we hand you herewIth exemplify thIa , to-wItr O-184, O-201, M42, 0-1100, o-17& and odl30. In Opinion No. O-1100 we raid1 .. .‘5-, “An available 8pecIfIc appropriation to pay the premium on any kind of a pollay Is- sued In favor of the 8tate would amount to a subsequent declaration of policy by the LegIs- lature and would, to that extent, re eal the policy announaed by the Resolution a gove refer- red to.” In the same opinion we pointed out that there was at that time a specific appropriation made to the Texas Prison System for the purpose of paying mllabllIty insurance premiums”. We however, held that this rpeolflc appropria- tion for nlIab~lty CIn~uranuepremltin did not authorlte the expenditure of System fund8 for another kind of Insurance premium, a5 for casualty Insurance. Nowhere In the present Appropriation Act 18 there any provision or Item whatsoever that oould be held to cover the ex- penditure as to which you Inquire, and you are therefore accord- ingly advised that the power does not exist In your Board to nake such expenditure. APPROVED &i 16, 1942 /8/ Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTm ATTORNEYGENERAL OS-MR Enclosures AI’PROVED DplnIon Connlttee