The opinion
E NE GENERAL '.'.
; ,.
OF,TEXAS
AUSTIN. TEXAS 78711
CRAWFORD c. nLARTIN
AITORNEY GENERAL
August 14, 1967
Hon. William J. Burke Opinion No. M-126
Executive Director
State Board of Control Re: Whether all purchases, from
Austin, Texas the Department of Corrections
by all State departments,
institutions, and agencies
must be made through a
requisition processed by .‘,
the Board of Control, as
provided b SectLong, Sub-
section (d 5; of Article
6203, Vernon’s Civil Stat-
Dear Mr. Burke: utes, and related questions.
By letter you have formally requested an opinion
of this office. we quote from your letter aS fOllONS2
“Your formal opinion is requested relating
to Article 6203c, Section 9, Subsections (d),
(f-1, k), (h)r and (m) as such section and sub-
sections relate to prison industries’ manufactured
merchandise made available to state agencies
through the,Board of Control, and the pricing
and cataloging procedures , and the areas of sales
coverage permitted under this section. ,,
“Our questfons are ,as, follows:
“1 e Must all purchases from the Depart-
ment of Corrections by all departments, institu-
tions and agencies be made through a requisition
processed by the Board of Control as provided
by Subsection (d), paragraph l?
"2- If your answer to question 1 is in
the affirmative, then before prison-manufactured
goods can be ordered by state agencies and
political subdivisions!
“A e Does such merchandise have to be
,manufactured as provided in Subsection (d),
paragraph 21
,_
/, I~ ’
Hon. William J. Burke, page 2, (~-126)
YB. Does it have t;);e cataloged ,a8 ,‘,’ ,:: ” ,‘, .I,
provided in Subsection
“C * Must all prison-manufactured merchan-
dise be priced as provided In Subsection (h)?
‘,
“D. Do all the above conditions have to ‘,
be met before material can be requisitioned?
“3 . If your answer to subquestion 2D above~ ‘,,,~
is in the negative, which of ,t,he conditions, ,,
‘identified as 2A, 2B, or 2C does nothave.:t,o,‘be ,_ ,’ i’;,,:‘.‘,‘.:.:. ”
met before processing but. can be,,,met la,ter? ~’ ;. :j: ; ”
‘.
“4 9 Is the Department ‘authorl2ed, to
produce or offer to produce ‘special order’
materials for any state agency or political
subdivision without first complying with the
specification requirements of Subsection (cl),
paragraph 2, the catalog listing of such items
as provided for in Subsection (f and the
pricing provision of Subsection t h)?
“5 . Are college and university dormitory
operations and food services considered to be
supported in whole or in part by the State of
Texas according to the language of subsection
(c)”
“6. If your answer to question 5 is, tn:
the affirmative, are they required to order
prison-made goods in accorda’nce with Section
9, Article 6203~, v.C.S,?
“7 D The Department of Corrections Is
also equipped to retread tires used by cars,
buses, trucks, tractors, etc * Since certain
school districts are required by Article 634B.,
V.T.C.S. to purchase among other things tires
and tubes through the Board of Control, and
they are also political subdivisions of the
State of Texas and therefore eligible to
utilize Department of Corrections retread
services, are those school districts which
participate in the state pupil transportation
assistance program under the provisions of
Article 634B, V.T.C.S,, required to use such ,’
prison industries’ retread services when ~. ,’
such are needed? ,. ~,
-578- ”
Hon. WilUam J. Burke, page 3, (M-126)
“8. If your answer to question 7, IS in :“~’
the affirmative, are, such retread. services ..’ I,,
handled through the Board of Control, ,in the ,,.;
same manner as new tires’ are, purchased? .~
“9. u your, answer to question 8” is,'I'n
the negative, then, are’ such participating.
school districts #to be guided by the z,prison ~.
industries’ catalog andprices in the same
manner 8,s political subdlv’islons are guided,’
and permitted to handle such retread ‘orders
direct with the Depastment of Corrections?” ‘, :,
Before answering the spedific questions, enumerated.,
above, it Nill~ be well to consider theovdral’l intent a&d : :,
Purpose of Article 62030, Vernon’sCIvil Statutes. Sub- ‘,
section (b) of Section 9 of Article 6203~ provides as ‘.:
fOllONS:
“(b) It Is hereby~ declared to be the
intent of this Act:
“(1) To provide more adequate,, regular. ,’ ~ ‘, ,“’
and suitable employment for the vocational :~~
training and rehabilitation of the prisoners
of this state, consistent With proper penal
purposes;
“( 2) To utilize the labor, of prisoners ,“,
for self-maintenance and for reimbursing thi,s ~:
state for expenses incurred by’ Pe,ason of, their,
crimes and imprisonment;‘~.and ..,
“(3) To ,effect the requisitioning, and
disbursement of prison pro,duets directly,
through established state authorities with-
out possibility of private profits therefrom.”
In regard to question number 1, paragraph.one of,
Subsection (d) of Section 9 .of Article 6203~ sets out, two
categories of purchaserst The first being the State agencies,
offices, and institutions, and the secondbeing the pO.litical
subdivisions of the State. Both categories are required to
purchase needed goods from the Department of Corrections,
with certain exceptions. The first category (State, ag,enci,ka),
.mu& process their purchases~ through the .Board~ of ‘Control .~:
by requisition. The seoond ca’tegory ~(,,$oIi,tl,dal~ subdivislohs.):~
may purchase directly ~from the, Dep’artment .,‘of ‘~Correc~io.ns Or “’
through the Board of Control by requlsitlono ‘,
In regard to part A of question number 2, para-
graph two of Subsectlon (d) of Section 9 of Article 6203~,
It seems clear that any product manufactured by the Depart-
ment of Corrections for sale through the Board of Control,
or to any political subdivision, must either be manufactured
upon spec1fication.s developed by the Board of Control or
upon standardized and currently used specifications approved
by the Board of Control.
In regard to part B of question number 2, Sub-
section (f) of Section 9 of Article 6203~ requires the
Department of Corrections to prepare and furnish catalogs of
all manufactured goods for sale t.hrough the Board bf.:Control,
or to any political subdivision, to all the State agencies,
offices, and Institutions with sufficient copies available
on request from the political subdivisions of the State.
However, this same subsection allows the Board of Control to
request the Department of Corrections to manufacture,addition-
a-1 articles or products; therefore some products or articles
could be manufactured which are not cataloged.
In regard to part C of question number 2, Sub-
section (h) of Section 9 of Article 6203~ clearly states
that the price of all goods manufactured by the Department
of Corrections shall be determined and fixed by a joint
effort of the Board of Control and the Department of Cor-
rections o The statute sets no guidelines for arriving at
a price, but in keeping with the overall intent and,purpose
of the statute (Subsection b (l), (2), and (3) quoted above)
the costs of the manufacture of the goods, and other related
costs3 weighed against the prevention of possible private.
profit should be considered among other factors in arriving
at a price,
In regard to part D of question number 2, this
question and question number 3 can be answered at the same
time. It seems clear from an analysis of the above dis-
cussion that all goods manufactured for sale through. the
Board of Control, or to any political subdivision, by the
Department of Corrections, except additional oods requested
and manufactured as provided by Subsection (f ‘s , must be
cataloged, priced3 and manufactured according to specifica-
tion before it can be requisPtioned through the Board of
Control, or ordered directly by the political subdivisions
of the State.
In regard to question number 4, the last sentence
of Subsection (f) of Section 9 of Article 6203~, quoted
as ,follows, ‘“The Board of Control may at any time request
I y,‘(()-
Hon. William J. Burke, page 5,(pI-126)
the Texas Department of Corrections to manufacture or produce
additional articles or products" authorizes the Department
of Corrections to produce “special order" materials for sale
through the Board of Control, or to any political subdivision,
provided such materials are requested by the Board of Control.
In regard to questions number 5 and 6, Subsection
(cl of Section 9 of Article 6203~ is broad enough to cover,.
all state supported colleges and universities and the relate'd
dormitory and food service operations, and such dormitory,
and food service operations would be subject to the same
requirements for ordering and buying prison-made goods as
are the other state agencies and institutions.
In regard to questions number 7 and 8, Article
634(b), Vernon's Civil Statutes, with certain exceptions,
requires all school districts participating in the Foundation
School Program to purchase school buses, bus tires and tubes,
etc. through the Board of Control. This same requirement is
found in Section 5 of Article 664-3, Vernon's Civil Statutes.
The State Purchasing Act of 1957, paragraph one of Subsection
(d) of Section 9 of Article 6203~ as discussed above (see page
3# supra) would require the school districts participating In
the Foundation School Program to utilize the retread services
of the Department of Corrections when the local school dis-
tricts determined that retreads are needed. Likewise, the
method of obtaining the retread services of the local school
districts would have to be by requisition through the Board
of Control, since these school districts are required to
purchase school bus e uipment through the Board of Control,
Articles 634(B), and %64-3, supra.
In light of the above discussion of questions 7
and 8, question number 9 becomes moot. The price of the
retreading of the tires would be determined as are all other
rices of manufactured products (see paragraph 3 of page
$ supra) following the guidelines in keeping with the
o;erall intent of the statute.
SUMMARY
-------
Subsection (d) of Section 9 of Article
6203~~ Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides for
two types of purchasers of goods manufactured
by the Department of Corrections. All pur-
chases of such goods by the State agencies and
institutions shall be through the Board of
Control by requisition. Political subdivisions
-581-
Hon. William J. Burke, page 63 (~-1.26)
may purchase directly from the Department of
Corrections or through the Board of Control by
requisition. Subseciion (d) also requires that~
all goods manufactured for sale through the
Board of Control, or to any political subdivision;~ ~
by the Department of Corrections shall be manu-
factured upon specifications developed or approved
by the Board of Control.
Subsection (f) of Section 9 of Article
6203c, v,c.s., requires the Department of
Corrections to catalog all goods it manufactures
for sale through the Board of Control, or to
any political subdivision, except additional
goods it manufactures upon request by the
Board of Control. Subsection (f) permits
the Department of Corrections to produce
"special order" materials provided such
materials are requested by the Board of
Control,
Subsection (h) ~of Section 9 of Article
6203~, v.c.s., requires that the price of all
goods manufactured by the Department of Cor-
rections be determined jointly by the Board
of Control and the Department of Corrections,
Subsection (c) of Section 9 of Article
6203c, V.C.S., covers all state supported
colleges and universities. Such agencies
would be required to utilize the manufactured
products and the requkition process of the
Board:of Control. .
Subsection (d) of Section 9 of Article
6203c, V.CeS.1 construed in connection with
ASticles 634(b) and 664-3, V.C.S,, requires
. school districts participating In the Founda-
tion School Program to utilize the tire re-
tread services of the Department of Correc-
tions when needed. Such retread services would
be handled on a requisition basis through the
Board of Control at a price determined jointly
by the Department of Corrections and Board
of Control. , . . /,y ; -: : < .., : . .
..:,..
. .
Hon. William J. Burke, page 7, (~-126)
Prepared by James C. McCoy
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
A. J. Carubbi, Jr., Chairman
Staff Legal Assistant
W. 0. Shultz, Co-Chairman
Sam Kelly
Fred Davis
Doug Chilton
Malcolm Quick