Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

Y&m A~IQNEY GENERAL
0~ TEXAS
AUSTIN.T&KAB
PRXCXS DANIEL FAOAN DICWl‘SON
.wwo-0-L .,---
December 22, 1948
Hon. M. B. Morgan, Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-752.
Re: The authority of the
Chief Deputy Cosnmis-
sioner, Bureau of La-
bor Statistics, to ex-
ecute instruments to
disburse State funds
instead of the Coamis-
sioner when the latter
:to;bsent from the Cap-
.
Dear Sir:
You request our opinion on the following
question:
"In my absence from the Austin offices,
is it possible, within the law, for w Chief
Deputy to sign his name in ny stead to in-
struments calling for disbursement of State
funds of this Department?"
Our statute places:the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics "under the charge and control of the Comais-
sioner of Labor Statistics" (Art. 5145) and provides
thathis "office shall be in the Capitol Building."
Art. 5144. Article 6814, V.. C. S., provides for "the
Commissioner of Labor~Statistk+s . . . a chief deputy
p,nvidL~d) . .~ a deputies. 'I' Article 4355, V. C. S.,
. "all claims and accounts against the State
shall . . . provide for the entering thereon . . . the
. . . 1. signature of the'head of the department or
other Pierson, regponsible ~for incurring the expenditure."
In the Employment and Labor Agency Law (V. C.
S ., Art. 5221a+, Se,c. 1. (g) ') the term "deputy" is
defined *Ias any person who is duly authorized by the
Commissioner to act in that capacity." Tex. Jur. in
Hon. M. B. Morgan, page 2 (V-752)
the article entitled “Public Officers,” 34 Tex. Jur.
605, par. 156, says:
“The business of a deputy is to per-
form the duties of his principal. In the
absence of a statutory provision to the
contrary, he is generally authorized to do
all such official acts as may lawfully be
done by his principal, except to appoint a
deputy . . . The duties imposed by the stat-
ute on an officer, when performed, are re-
garded in law as performed by him, whether
actually so performed (by him) or by his
authorized deputy. In other words, the of-
ficial acts of the deputy are the acts of
the principal.”
Waggoner v. Urban, 177 S.W. 270, 273 ststes:
“A public official is not authorized.
to delegate his official duties to another,
other than to a deputy.”
26 C. J. S. 978 defines a deputy as:’
“One appointed as the substitute of
another, and empowered to act for him in his
name or on his behalf; one who is appointed,
designated, or deputed to act for another;
one who by .appointment exercises an office
in another’s right; one who occupies in
right of snother; and for whom his superior
will regularly answer; a clerk or similar
person with all the powers of the principal.
The position of a ‘deputy,’ as the word im-
plies, is that of a subordinate, and he has
power to do every act which his principal
might do, but a deputy may not make a deputy.
The term is used in composition with the
names of various executive officers to de-
note assistants empowered to act in their
names, as deputy collector, deputy. marshal,
deputy sheriff.”
In Bigham v. State,.148 S. W. .(2d) 835, 840,
the Court of Criminal Appeals in holding a deputy su-
pervisor of the Railroad Commission to .be an officer
indictable as such for accepting a bribe, said:
,
Hon. M. B. Morgan, page 3 (V-752)'
-That one:.is called a de~puty, carries
with it the fact that he is an alter ego for
his superior, being charged with all the du-
ties as well as the responsibilities of.his
superior, and empowered to perform the acts'
and 'discharge the duties of such'superior,
and to that extent becoming the .superior ofi
ficer himself in his superior's absence. If
the superior be denominated~an officer, then.
the deputy would also be such an officer."
In Udited States v. Roc,kefellex, '221 Fed..
462, it was held that where Congres.ahaving ,euthor-~
ized the appointment of deputy clerks to the district ~'
court wi,thout specifically defining, or preecrdbing
their duties, it mustbe assumed that it was intended-:,,
that the word "deputy" should have ah ordinary and usu-
al meaning, as a person to whomthe duties of a.-'clerk _'
are deputed, and the deputy clerk, in the event that
the clerk is incapacitated, absent,or disabled, and
cannot perform the du.ties which the law imposes on him,.
may act, and therefore it did not affect, the valiaityy
of an indictment, that the names~ were placed in the jury
box from which grand jurors,,were drawn by'the.de~puty ~~
clerk and not by'the ~clerk.
46 C. J. Title "Officers" p. 1063 states:
"When the law authorizes an officer to
appoint a deputy without any express limita-
tion upon.his power, the duties of the office
:. A>, may be performed ,by.either, and a deputy may
‘exercise.any of' the duties pertaining to the
office, as the necessity or convenience of
the publio may demahdtheir use, . . .*'
A great variety of duties are imposed upon
the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He
supervises atid enforces the Boxing and Wrestling Law,
the Boiler Inspection Law,,~the Health, Safety and Mor-
als Law, the Child Labor Law, the Semi-Monthly Pay Day
Law, the Employment.,aca~ LaborAgency Law, the Spider
Law concerning cotton bales, the 9-54 Hour Law for Wom-
en, and many others. To assist and help the Comia-
sioner in the performances of his duties the statutes
authorize the appointment of deputies. "The business
and object of a deputy is to perform the duties of,his
principal." Rose v. Newman, 26 Tex. 131, 135, 80 Am;
Rep. 646.
Hon. b1. B. Morgan, page 4 (V- 752)
The statutes do not set out the duties, nor
do they place any limitation upon the duties, of either
the chief deputy or deputies. The Legislature in .its
wisdom has seen fit to authorize the appointment of a
chief deputy and deputies. and does not specifically de-
fine or describe their duties. It must therefore be
assumed that the Legislature intended that the word
“chief deputy” and “deputy” should have their ordinary
and usual meaning..
In view of the foregoing, the Commissioner
may in his absence from the Capitol designate the chief
deputy to approve instruments calling for disburseirent
of State funds in that department and should you desire
to so designate your chief deputy, then we suggest ~that
you so notify the Comptroller of Public Accounts and
the State Treasurer. This, in our opinion, is ,not ab-
solutely e,ssential, but it would be advisable.
The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics may designate his chief deputy to
execute instruments to disburse State funds
:;o;is stead when he is absent from the Cap-
.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEYGENERALOF: TEXAS
Bv
-1
David Wuhtch
DW:1h:wb: bh Assistant
APPROVED: