Texas Attorney General Opinion: C-60 Page: 4 of 5
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Hon. Bob Johnson, page 4 (C-60)
Council, the Department of Public Safety,
the Attorney General's Department and all
other State agencies and officers, and it
shall be the duty of said departments,
agencies and officers to assist the Com-
mittee when requested to do so. The Com-
mittee shall have the power to inspect
the records, documents and files of every
State department, agency and officer, and
of all municipal, county or other political
subdivisions of the State, and to examine in-
to their duties, responsibilities and activi-
ties." (Emphasis added).
Nowhere in Article 5429f is any provision made for
the distribution to the public of a transcript of commit-
tee proceedings. Article 5429f, above quoted, obviously
does not apply to the printed matter referred to in your
request.
In view of the foregoing, we have reached the con-
clusion that there is no provision providing for distribu-
tion of transcripts of committee hearings to the public.
Therefore, a member of the Legislature may not, at State
expense, sell copies of a transcript to the public. If
such copies are prepared at State expense, preparation of
such copies must be for a governmental purpose, and not
a private purpose. If an individual member sells such copies
to the general public, such fact is evidentiary that the
copies were not prepared for a governmental purpose, but for
a private purpose, which is not authorized by law and is
contrary to public policy. As stated above, however, we know
of no provision, either in the Constitution, statutes or
existing rules of the Legislature, which specifically regu-
lates the activities of individual members of the Legisla-
ture in distributing printed matter prepared at State ex-
pense. Therefore, in such instances the question is whether
the printed matter was prepared for a governmental or public
purpose, or was prepared for a private purpose. If pre-
pared for a private purpose, such preparation is contrary to
law and the public policy of this State.
SUMMARY
A member of the Legislature is not
authorized to prepare, at State expense,
printed matter he intends to sell to the-292-
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: C-60, text, April 23, 1963; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth268479/m1/4/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.