Case Information
*1 / ------ *,’
Hal. Orville s. corpmter
CM= %nd lW3iYitfV43 M33OtOZ
Texas Unsnploymont Coqenmtl~ Cotmlsslon
Hon. Orvfllo S. Carpenter, Pebrunry 3, 1939, Page 2
"All mnies in this fund shall be ex?end- tid oolely for the purpose of defray the cost of the ndministration of t!lls act and for no other pur,mse whatsoavoP encl that:
"Nlmonles in iAl fund shall be de- posited,administered,and~sb~edinthe 8anm mannor and under the eaw oondlticma andreIqulramantsalllepwrridadbylawr~ other spoclal ftnxla In the State Treacmry." aompamation law approved bytha Bawd.tmdg :,: ..~ ci Ti8lo JX, swh amunta as tbs Ibard tl&omlnm~ .,' .,,a.. persdtpinlatratloa to'be naaessary for the ewlyearlnwhiah ofeuahlardurio~the fi? suuhpagnrsnt lsto homade. The Bosrd'a detaw mlnatlm shall be basadctz (1)tha population of the st%te3 (RI an estlmats of the numbsr &~~o~ymoovered bytbe.State lsw and oftha edu&n.lstratlcm orsuoh lsw othes fwtora aa the Boa-d Ana.
It 16 apparent that under both seation Is(a) or the Texas Unemployment Canpensatlm Aat and Title 3, Section 308(b) of the Federal Soaial Seauzity Aat that =the coot of the admi&&ratlmP' of the AOt shall be de- fraysd imnthe tile8 in the special fund*
lion. Orville S. Camenter, Fobmmry 3, 1939, Page 9
There Is no fund in the Stnte Treasury other than t.he nth~inlctmtion fund le~lly available for met- Ine the "cost of the ad&nIstmtIona of the Texas Untm- ployzmt Corr-xrsation Act.
Both Fcrleral and State laws directly and ex- ,7lIcltly state that "the aost oi the administrations is to be ,?aid out of the adminlstmtlan fund. The quest&ax to be oonsldered Is whether or not oourt ooats luaumod lnlltlgation broughtroroolleatlon ofddllt~uantmu~- trlbutlons undertheaotarepropar3yineiu&la"tM .~ 'oost of the admlnlstmtl~"ofthe law,am¶therob p(v.
;bztgta&fthe speoialadmitllstmtlan fund oreat ei un~
. While the authorised expandlturea out of tbs administration fund al the Unemployment C~ensation Aot are not set foxth In minute datafl. au Is eonerallyth@ aane for admlnlotratS.ve funds Sor other State demrt- ments whose entire ap,pro*atIon co88 frcm state tunds, oertafn provisions of the aat lndioate a legi&atIve in- tent that oourt oosts and fees resultlug m lIt%ga- tlon under the act are gay-able out of the admlnistra- *4 ..-
Eon. Orville S. Corpxter, Februwy 3, 1939, PaEe 4
tion rune.
The Texas Unfmploynent Cozpensetlon Act ex- pressly prcm5Ces in Section 17 subhead (a), that 8n
Asnlstant Attorney General as&ned to the C&salon
shall be pai& out of the opprcpriation fund "as well as any other qusllfled attorneys who are reEular4 eanploy- et? by 'the Ccmrtis~ion.~ Said seotion reads as follorasr
~*fnanyolvilautlcmtoenioroetba pso- . . .~ vlslms~ortbie aot the Qomndsrrlan and the state shall be represented by an Amistdnt At-, - Wmtlcm 14(b) der,ls with the repreaentatlaI of the Cmnlsslon ln bourtc It protidos that in regard *5 Eon. Orville S. Carpenter, Pebru-ry 2, 1939, Pace 5
to the collection of.contributlons Ymounts duo ahall be czLla3,ed by civil action in the name of tile State 33 .4%kxney General + *'*.*
The Act thus stipuhtes that the Corm~sslon pay for legal services rec,ulre& fn the a&Z.nlstratlon of the Act. If ottorney fee8 arc a log%oal exmse OS the Ccmuission, it would dollar that other costs of neces- SW utitgath, ti0u~1iofE 0avt 003t~ aa 0rri010.ft36~, arealsootithintln oaParegs~ofthe*cost ofadralnim~ ~'( .+. fiaa". The fact t&& the uttomey of the Ccaxaloslon, iaoludfngt&~slstantAt~yDeaoral,isto bepaid by the Ocemlssiaa fer his aerdees is l.nCloatlve thab all eoets of llt2gatla Sre to be pafd out of the a&&:~ ,,,, lstration alla*
We ~buve ullatlod to the iaot that thaw 1s ng. : oennary or sultrrble Ii@ that ,en& * * + The Ocmm.tsalon sha.ll tIetee it& owa cvgpslizatl~ &al methods of proc eeflure.*
,The l&titUde gliwntbs OemU&m U&W SW.8 sectloa la.regarQ to aeoessary ar suitable expmdZturen ice proper adm3nlstratltna qxpMns the abeewe of
partioular fund for the payment 02 court costs. Y It 8 our opinion that the pow& and authority eiven%e Cow missian in this sectian SUJQClTt8 the theory that thei tena "oost of administratian" as used In the Federal and State Acts is all lncl+&vqas to expense items and would oover oourt costs whleh In tpeanselves are neoesaary Ed penae.
We note in your letter reference to the polluy of the Fe&era1 Social Seatit Board prohibtting #ants to States for adninlstrat f ve p~rponos mFhere other fun&s are availa la for au&k purpose. This policy is ""g
, : EIOO. 01?&.llC S. C;-:rpenter, Pebrwry 3, 1939, Page 6
grouncad u?on actual aval3.~billty of other funds. Mi- tcntion is callee to tho o;)proprlat;tion sots of the State of Tesas for the two years onairy: August 31, 1938, en& fhu~‘;"t 31, 1939 (1937 hota, Chapter 504, Senate Iii11 No.
; Particularly to Item 13 in the approprintlon for the ofrioe of the A%tcrney Ganoral providing for the a- tzount of $2500.00 in enoh of t!ic yonrly periods ending Aqust 31, 19%. am? Awt 31, 1939, to be appropriated for "court col;ts In OivLl CQS8f.t~.
zheamualge~~miLapproprlatlaupledetoths AttormyGeaeral*s lkqwtmmtlsaot available fortbe pa-t. of oosts la eases brought to enfoms ths provl- mat Ccmpensationdatwereaat ooaalbcnradinoalmla~ iag the neae5ssry tuuntat of the aaau6l app~tlua
rar =oourt 005t5 ia olvll wsea" or ,tbo Attarxmy G@aer- Ql's fmpsmwtr,
'~~~:Furth@uaux=& lii'the aase of fit&s &pa&mats whbrothe admla2str&mofthe lawlnmlve8 a t&sable notabw the To.xas,Bl&nmy Depax'& ruma& of lltigatioa, me& Tezas J.&quor Control &nrd and Texas RalpPall Cot% sdssfon,apeolsl funas hfwebeem proVlW the -ah lature out oi which it 1s ex,pressl.y stats& Y hat tb oosta
or litigation are to be pai&, The Attorney Gsneral*s Dspsrtmsat has as a oonseqt~enue never aought or been giw en an appropriatlan sufflialent to taks aara of the oourt aosta or aivll oases incident to admlnfstratioa 0r t3da It has,moreover,rell&uponthe general atpmiie8. pollcp of the Legislaturs to inolude tim mart ooste ama the other items of adninistratlve oosts of the vaw loll5 large departmaate. As a result, no provision was nude ror aovering the court oosts of the Texas Unemploy- nest Cozimmsation Go:mi55lon lltfgatioa $31 the gonsrsl fund of ths Attorrmiy General*s Departmsnf, It la tnm that in the~absenoe of a break&m oi the administration fund under the Aot, there is no speolrle lrmluslon cU court costs within the CO.%~SS~O~ buQ.get, but the fast that said expense is a *ooet of o&minlstration* and that the Ccnmisslon has uutler Sectha U(a) of the Aat tIm *7 Iion. Orville S. Cur;ientcr, Y&rwJsJr 3, X39, ?qe 7
brox? hoax of Lmkklg such eznenaitures us our CsEcrl- tin1 to n ;;2 per ddnis~trution of the Act convince UD t!kit. couit costs ize ga~.:Llo olli of the adiiistration fiun~ rq;arCiess of express rwntion.
FOG t?ie XBOUS gfven above, and upon the bzis of the Acct?ons of the fez139 Unei3.7loynent Cor~pen- s&ion Act zu-16 the Federal Social Seqwity Act, $o tkdoh we have referred we wish to advise you thet it 15 our decision (1) that the geqeral appropriation of the De- pertnod Is not available far payment of ocurt oosts in- ourred in citi1 lltigatlan in caumotion with the enforoe- ~l~M~e rovlsl.onedth0 3tatotSneqloyment Oompen-
; P 2) that there is no other fund available thraugh act of the Texas Legislatbra for swh moae;
aa (3)thnt court 005ts resultlng~fmm lit&atA.oa oi the Texas Ukmploymeut&unpensation Conua%eelen may beg legaUy~Ufrcuntheadmlnlatratlon fund setUpu.u&r theTeZastl&empln~~ConpensatlenUt as a~alldg~l ~pen.so or the ad+nl&ratlon of thq 4olir
Trusting that we have fully an~redthe IXW @,rSes oontnlned,in your request, we are
Yolirs very truly