Case Information

*1 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 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 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

Your letter states the purpose for which the proposed purchase is to be made is “for research on feeds and grains 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 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 Fort Worth Cavalry Club, Inc. v. Shep- conferring this authority. 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 their establishment, maintenance, to State Experiment Stations, The powers of the Board of Directors of A.&M. ma operation. 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 of Title 4 authorizing the establishment 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 throughout the State, that is at 1ea.s; ;aelzfng as there was money available

the opinion that the statutes which we relied upon as a basis 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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