Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE AXT’ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Honorable Ti. A. Davis
State Registrar
Texas State Board of Health
Austin, Texaa~
Dear Sir:
transaripta of cer- ates of birth, death, And other questions.
ng request for an opin- loit or this dep
.~$j$ ,, .~i
10s of the State af opossd oontrsot is snolosb6 er either the Bareeu of Vital .Sfate ~Health Depar$me& :or or Health, actlllg thPortgh the stat& orfioer in bharge, is authortied to enter into this oontraot?
"(gJ Y non& o,S the above ~narned atate .,ageneles'may &awfully enter into kuoh.oon- traat, @ether the orrloer in oharge or any such age&y: la prevented, by reason or auoh *2 'Ronorable vii A. Davis, page 2
orfioe, rr023 lawfully entering into suah oontraot, not in his ofl'ioial capaooity, but as an Individual?
"(3) In the event the Eureau of the Cen- SW enters Into the yropoeed.contrsot with an Individual having no orfIoIe1 oonneoticin with the Bureau of Vital Statlstloe, am I es Registrar, permitted by law to allow suah Individual, or his agents, to exemim and transcribe such reoords?
vU question.(l) Is answered. in the negative am3 question (2) In tae arrIrmatIve, should the money paid fox the tranaorlpta be handled through ~' 'the state treasury?
"Your'attentlon Is oalled to the ~provisiona of Rule 54a OS Artlole 4417, V.T.S. end Paragraph 25 of Rule 47s of the same artiole." Role 54a of Article 4417,:Vernon*s RevWed Civil Statutes, provides forthe Ilqsuanae of oertLiIed oopies of bI&hsnddeath ,oer.ttiIoatea.bg,!th~~,S~~~.:,~egI,e~ar. upon the p&pent of a fee of fifty oents for each euoh'oopy, and iixes fees for any searoh of the reoords or the Bureau of Vltsl StatlstIas when no certified copy Is furnished, but makes the following spe6IfI.a provisions to permit the'UnIted States Ceu- sue Bureau to obtain o.opIss ot suoh reoords:
w ~.; an4 provided rurther, that the United Statea*&eus Bureau may obtain, rltheut expense to' the State, tranmiripta or oertlried ooples or 'births~ and deaths, without payment of the fees here- In prescribed; and provlided further, that the State Registrar Is hereby authorized. to enter Into au agreementwith the United States Bureau of the Get&a .to aot as.epeolal agentror that Bureau In acoepting the use 61 the frankIng privilege and blanks iuraished by that Bureau and 18 authorized to aot aa disbursing agent in oraer to have trana- orlbed ior that Bureau aopisa of then birth and death oertlfloates i'lled ,wIth the State Bureau.or Vital StatIatIos; , . .*
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'Honorable W. A. Davis,,Pape '3
The Bureau of Vital Statistics, the State Health L&+ partment and the State Board of Health are all agencies of the State of Texas, and the persons in charge thereof are all of- flaers of the State. "The State Is not bound by contracts made In Its behalf by Its offioers or aq,ents without previous au- thority oonferrea by law. . e .* 98 Texas Jurlsprudenoe 040; Stste vs. Perlstein (Ct. of Clv. App.) 79 9. W. (2d) 543. ze f&rid no provision of law authorizing any of said agencies, or the officers in oharge thereof, to enter Into any such oon- traot as the one here considered.
Iu answer,to your first 3lrestlon, therefore, it is our opinion that none of said State agenoles may lawrully enter into the proposed oontraot.
Artlole 441Sa, Vernon's C5vfl Statutes, preaorlbes the'autles or the State Board.or Health; Artioles 44lsa pre- eorlbes the duties of the Stste Health Officer, who is exeou- five head of the State.Hea1t.h Departnient; and Article '4477 .(Rule 35a., et.seq.) sets out the various duties of the Regis- trar of the Bureau of Vital Statistlos. One of the requlre- men%8 of Artlale 4418b, whlah presorlbes the qualIfloa~tlons of the St+t,e Bealth OPrLoer, ie that he.,~ahall devote his 'entbe &j.~ '.. tGne to the duties of that'offi~@.-..'.~ We ~riad"ho~Wioh~ ,&tat&&y
restriotion upon either the Registrar OS the Bureau of Vital '~ StatIstios or stiy member of the State Health Ward.
Xt Is therefore our opinion (In answer t'o your, seoond question) that neither the Registrar of the Bureau of Vi,tal Stsfistios, nor any member of' the State Health Board ls pro- hibited by the bws OS Texas from entering Into the proposed ..:;j aontraot in his individual oapaoity, aside from hIs #fIaial
position, but that the State Health.Officer may not:'lswfully a0 SO. third questitm, we are ot~'the opinion Answerhg’your
that, under the provisltins of Rule 54a of Artlole 4477, quoted abovi, end the le~lslatlve intent expressed thereIn, youi a8 Registrar, are permitted to sllow the aontractor under the pro- posed oontraot, md his agents, to examlne and transcribe suoh reaords for the purpose of rurnlshlng aoples thereof to the Bureau or the aensus, so long as suoh.aotlon results In no expense to the State, ant? no subatantlal~interfersnce with the work of the Eureau of Vital StatIstIoe. An exception to thie *4 Honorable W. A. Davis, page 4
genaral rule however, Is found In Paragraph 25 of Rule 47a of Artlale 4477, which provides:
n . . . Neither the State Re@frar nor any looal re,gIst.rar shall Issue a certified copy of any birth or death certificate wherein a child or an adult Is stated to be Illegitimate, unless such certified copy Is ordered by a Court of o,ompetent @IsdIction."
Answering your last question: Since, as we hav~e said, none of the state oifloers Involved may execute the pro- . .posed oontraot in his offlolal qapaclty, and slnoe the proposed ,oontraot appears to oontemplate payment for the ooples to be made direct to the oontraotor, the money so paid should not be paid .through the State Treasury. And even it the partIes.de- oapaoity as State Registrar, act sire $hat’you, in your offioial as diabureing agent (as Isauthorized by the provisions of Rule !34a &oted above), there Is no'requlrement that suoh money be handled through the State Treasury.
Yours very truly ATTCRREYCEMERAL OFTEXAS ATTORNBY OENBRAL OF TEXAS
BY /a/
W. R. Allen Assistant WRArdbrgpr
THIS OPINIONC~SIDERl3DAND
APPROVED XR l.llilTRD CONpBRENCR