The opinion
~THEATTORNEY GENERAL
OF-TEXAS
Aun-rriw ~LTEXAR
GFiRAIDC. MANN
Honorable Geo. H. Sheppard
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Austin, Texas
Dear Mr. Sheppard : Opinion No. O-5333
Re: Whether or not the Board
‘of Control may delegate to
another the authorltg to
approve a voucher claim for
the issuance of a warrant.
Your request for an opinion from this department is as follows:
“This department is In receipt of Fur-
chase Voucher to The Cooper Company, Inc.,
301 South 4th Street, Waco, ,Texas,against
an appropriation made to the Gatesville
School For Boys, Gatesville, Texas.
“The voucher carries the approval of
the Institution Head and appears to,have
been regularly requisitioned through the
Board of Control. It is approved by Mr.
G.B. Carlisle for the Board of Control.
“This department respectfully requests
your opinion as to whether it is authorized
to issue warrant in payment of this voucher
claim that carries the approval of the
Board of Control by G. B. Carlisle. It is
the information of this department that G.B.
Carlisle is Chief, Claims Division, of the
State Board of Control."
The statute (Title 20) defining the powers and duties
of the Board of Control specifically provides for certain divi-
sions; thus, there is a Division of Public'Printing (Art. 607),
Division of Purchasing, (Art. 631), Division of Public Build-
ings and Grounds (Art. 665), Division of Design and Appropri-
(Art 688) Division of Eleemosyn;;;aj"stitutions (Art.
z$r%d Division Af Child Welfare (Art. .
,Article 604 declares that "the Board may from time to
time create such other dlvlsions of its work as may be necessary,
Honorable Gee, H. Sheppard - page 2 O-5333
and appoint chiefs of such divisions, . . . . .'
We are advised by the Chairman of the Board that
there has been no formal creation by the Board of a Claims
D'ivision,but that Mr. Carlisle is an employee of the de-
partment filling the position of Claims Division Chief list-
ed as'Item 16 of~'galaries-- ~Main Office in the current
General Appropriation for that department.
There is no general statute creating the office of
Chiefof the Claims Division nor indeed is there one creating
such a division.
Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 34, p. 459, Sec. 79, in
compendium style declares:
"It is a general rule'that public
duties must be performed and government-
al powers exercised by the officer or
party designated by law -- that they
can not be delegated to others. This
IS particularly true of duties which
are judicial in their nature, or which
call for the exercise of reasonable dls-
cretion, and which are regarded as a
part of the public trust assumed."
The rule there announced is In keeping with the gen-
eral rule throughout the country'.
In 46 C.J., (p. 1062, Sec. 381) the rule is epitomized
as follows:
"Where, however, provision is made by
statute for the postlon of deputy, such
deputy is regarded as a public officer.'
Whether such alter-ego officer be denominated deputy
or chief, the rule would of course be the same. As said in
Pfeffer v. Mahnke, 260 S,W. 1033:
"The chief clerks are public officers in
the same sense and created by the same legal
authority as other statutory officers of state."
They, of course, exercise their office under precisely the same
authority as the head officer, department or board, as the case
may be -- that is, the statu,teitself.
Where, therefore, the approve1 of the Board of Control
is required, that approval must be the act of the Board es such,
Honorable Gee, H. Sheppard - Page 3 o-5333
or of a statutory deputy, assistant, or other alternate clothed
with such power,
Under the statutes there is no precise method pre-
scribed for evidencing the Board's approval of an Invoice.
There is nothing in your letter, nor otherwise known to us,
to show whether or not the Board has approved the invoice.
You should therefore require satisfactory evidence that it
has done so.
Very truly yours
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
By s/Ocie Speer
Ocie Speer
Assistant
OS-&R-WC
APPROVH) JUN 7, 1943
s/Grover Sellers
FIRST ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Approved Opinion Committee by s/BR% Chairman