Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

ORNEY GENERAL
BF?t?EXAS
peril 28, 1948
Hon. A. F. Mltohell,.Chairoan
Board of Registrationfor
ProfesslonaZRnglneers
Au&In, Texas opinion Ho. v-557
Attn.; Ron. Carl L. Svenson Re: The applloabflitX0r
,thedesignation em-
ployees of the Cover*
ment of the United
States to employee8
of Ravarro County
Rural Rlectrlrlcatlon
AuthoFlty.
Dear Sir:
Referenoe is mtle to your recent request
which la am follovar
'Cur Board woultlappreolate your
advising u8 as to your opinion on the
following lmtterr
'Are the employees of the NavarPo
County Rural RlectrlficatlonAuthority
Federal employees or not?.
Subsequentlyyou informed ua that your quea*
tion was asked for the purpose of detemlnlng whether
said employeeswere exempt from the provisiona of aub-
dlvlslon (d) oi Section 20 of Article 3271a, V. C. S.,
which provides, in part, a.8follows:
"Sec. 20.The following persons
shall be exempt from the provisions of
this Aot, to-wit: . . .
"(a) Officers and employees of the
Government of the United Mates while en-
gaged within this State in the praotlce
of the profemeaionof engineeringfor said
Government.
Hon. A. F. Mitchell, page 2 (v-557 >
We assume that by the term Ravarro County
Rural Electrification Author,itg you mean Navarro Coun-
ty Electric Cooperative, Inc., since the records in the
Secretary of State’s office reflect that there is a cor-
por:ation by this name and incorporated under Article
1528b, V. C. 3. Said Act Is known as the Electric Co-
operative Corporation Act and provides that corporations
may be organized for the purpose of engaging In rural
electrification and may furnish electric energy to per-
sons In rural areas who are not receiving central sta-
tion sewice. Said Act also authorizes such corpora-
tions, among other things, to borrow money and to do
those other things necessary in order to carry into ef-
fect the purposes for which they were incorporated.
The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 of the
Congress of the United States, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 901-
915, authorizes loans to be made to persons, corpora-
tions, states, territories, and subdivisions and agen-
cies thereof, municipalities, peoples, utility dis-
tricts, and cooperatives, non-profit or limited - divi-
dend associations, organized under laws of any state or
territory of the United States for the purpose of finan-
cing the construction and operation of generating plants,
electric transmission and distribution lines or systems
for the furnishing of electric energy to persons in
rural areas who are not receiving central station ser-
vice and provides for appropriations, etc.
In the case of Traders & Qeneral Ins. Co, v.
Wood, et al., 148 S,W.(2d) 973, by the Court of Civil
Appeals (writ dismissed) the court In determining wneth-
er one was an employee under the Workmen’s Compensation
Act said:
“It is held by our courts that in
order to be an employee the relation of
master and servant must exist in the
sense that one party has the rig$t of
ultimate control over the other.
In 30 C. J. S. 22’7, we find:
”
. * * but It has been said that
the test to determine if one person Is
another’s employee is whether or not he
is gubjtct to the control of such other
person.
Eon. A. F. Mitchell, page 3 (v-557)
Here we have a private corporation organized
under State law and which Is authorized to borrow money
from the Federal Ooverament under the Acts of Congress
and the laws Or this State. The employees of such cor-
poration are not under the control of the Federal Gov-
ernment but are under direct control and supervision of
the Ravarro County Electric Cooperative, Inc. Applying
the standard set out in the above quoted case and 30
C. J. S., aupra, you are respectfully advised that it la
the opinion of this department that the employees of the
Navarro County Electric Cooperative, Inc. are not Feder-
al employees within the meaning of Section 20 of Article
3271a, V. C. 3.
The employees of the Ravarro;County
Electric Cooperative Inc., are not Feder-
al employees within the meaning of Section
20 0s tit. 3271a, V. C. S.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNRYGENERALOF TEXAS
lbA:mW
BY
Assistant
APPROVED:
ATTORRRYGERRRAL