Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0613 Page: 5 of 9
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Mr. Kenneth Magidson - Page 5
to ascertain and give effect to the Legislature's intent as expressed by the plain and common meaning
of the statute's words. See F.F.P. Operating Partners, L.P. v. Duenez, 237 S.W.3d 680, 683 (Tex.
2007); Tex. Dep 't of Transp. v. City of Sunset Valley, 146 S.W.3d 637, 642 (Tex. 2004). In this
statute, the Legislature used the word "solely," which means "exclusively." See XV OXFORD
ENGLISH DICTIONARY 961 (2nd ed. 1989) (defining "solely" to mean "only, merely, exclusively");
Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. H-943 (1977) at 2 (citing Helvering v. Sw. Consol. Corp., 315 U.S. 194,
198 (1942), and Stockton Harbor Indus. Co. v. Comm 'r oflnternal Revenue, 216 F.2d 638, 645 (9th
Cir. 1954), cert. denied, 349 U.S. 904 (1955)). The Legislature thus showed its intent to limit the
use of article 59.06(c)(1) asset forfeiture funds to the "official purposes" of the district attorney's
office.
We next address the brief s arguments in favor of using the special fund to acquire ajuvenile
detention facility. It proposes a broad construction of "official purposes of his office" in article
59.06(c)(1), based in part on language in New Amsterdam Casualty Co. v. First National Bank. See
New Amsterdam Cas. Co. v. First Nat'1 Bank, 134 S.W.2d 470 (Tex. Civ. App.-El Paso 1939, writ
dism'djudgm't cor.). The court in New Amsterdam uses the term "official purposes" in discussing
a county tax collector's misapplication of county tax funds to his personal debts. Brief, supra note
2, at 5. C. W. Owen, the Upshur County Tax Collector, withdrew county funds from the county's
depository bank, applying a portion to payment of a note he owed the bank and depositing the
balance in his private account. See New Amsterdam Cas. Co., 134 S.W.2d at 473. "This money was
drawn out of his private account by him by means of checks given for other than official purposes.
In any event, the evidence fails to show that any of the money went to the payment of expenses of
his office." Id. The evidence in fact tended to very strongly show that the county money "was used
for purely private obligations of Owen." Id.
The brief points out the contrast in New Amsterdam between the "official purposes" of the
tax collector's office and the "purely private obligations" for which the tax collector used county
funds, suggesting that the phrase "official purposes" should be read broadly, to include any
expenditure except expenditures for a private purpose. Brief, supra note 2, at 6. New Amsterdam
does not support a broad reading of the term "official purposes." The court did not need to address
the meaning of "official purposes" because the tax collector's use of county funds for personal
obligations was so clearly not for an official purpose. Moreover, the New Amsterdam court uses the
term "expenses of his office" interchangeably with expenses for "official purposes," thus indicating
that "official purposes" refers to the duties and functions of the office, rather than any purpose short
of a private purpose. See New Amsterdam Cas. Co., 134 S.W.2d at 473.
The brief also suggests that dicta in Margraves v. State supports a broad reading of "official
purposes." See Brief, supra note 2, at 6 (citing Margraves v. State, 34 S.W.3d 912 (Tex. Crim. App.
2000)). Margraves dealt with a misapplication of state property under former Penal Code section
7(...continued)
language of article 59.06(c)(1), which states that the forfeiture proceeds allocated to the district attorney may "be used
by the attorney solely for the official purposes of his office." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 59.06(c)(1) (Vemrnon
Supp. 2007) (emphasis added); see Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1.(GA-0613)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0613, text, April 7, 2008; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275509/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.