.
EC
Honorable Robert S. Calve&
Comptroller of Public Accounts
State Capitol Building
Austin, Texas
Opinion No. C-494
Re: Payment of claim for
printing certain forms
for the Texas Game and
Dear Mr. Calvert: Fish Commission.
You have requested our opinion on the legality of a
claim of the Moore Business Forms, Inc., for unpaid invoices
for printing licenses for the Game and Fish Commission, now
Parks and Wildlife Commission.
The claim involved in your request was submitted to
this office by the Claims and Accounts Committee of the House
of Representatives of the 59th Legislature, and, on April 12,
1965, this office approved said claim, stating in a memorandum:
"This claim was originally disapproved,
however on April 9, 1965, additional lnforma-
tion was furnished, and In view of this in-
formation, this claim Is now approved.
"According to the letter dated February
19, 1965, from J. Weldon Watson, Executive
Director, to Honorable Tommy Shannon, Chair-
man of the Committee on Claims and Accounts,
'In the year 1962, Moore Business Forms, Inc.
was awarded a contract by purchase order
through the State Board of Control for the
printing of licenses for this department.'
Following this purchase order, a reorder of
hunting license forms was made. At the time
of this reorder, it was the opinion of the
Board of Control, the Game and Fish Commls-
slon and Moore Business Forms, Inc., that the
reorder was covered by the original contract.
When invoices were presented for payment, the
-2336-
Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (C-494)
Board of Control determined that the purchase
order did not provide for reorders. In my
opinion, this conclusion was based on the
fact that the Board of Control considered
only the purchase order form, rather than
the specifications on which the purchase
order was made. The specifications do not
contain a limit as to quantity. Only the
purchase order, pursuant to the specifica-
tions, was limited in quantity. Therefore,
unless the specifications contained a pro-
vision which limited the number of purchase
orders to be made, the contract did not pre-
vent additional purchase orders from being
made pursuant to the specifications. The
original contract having been approved by
the Governor, Secretary of State and Comp-
troller, In compliance with Section 21 of
Article XVI of the Constitution of Texas, it
is my opinion that State v. Steck, 236 S;W.
2d 866, does not apply to this claim, since
this claim is supported by a valid contract,
executed in accordance with the pre-existing
law. In other words, in determining whether
a claim is supported by pre-existing law, you
not only look to the purchase order, pursuant
to the specifications, but al,soto the speci-
fications themselves. This is especially true
in the instant case, since at the time the
purchase was made, all parties were in agree-
ment that the contract authorized this pur-
chase."
In view of the foregoing, you are advised that the claim
submitted with your request constitutes a legal obligation of
the State of Texas and is now payable.
SUMMARY
The claim of Moore Business Forms, Inc.,
for printing of licenses for the Game and Fish
Commission, now Parks and Wildlife Commission,
awarded by the Board of Control, is a valid
obligation of the State of Texas, since the
-2337-
Hon. Robert S. Calvert, Page 3 (C-494)
claim is supported by a valid contract exe-
cuted in accordance with the pre-existing
law.
Yours very truly,
WAGGONER CARR
Attorney General
JR:ms
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. 0. Shultz, Chairman
Gordon Houser
Roger Tyler
Ivan Williams
Larry Craddock, Jr.
APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: T. B. Wright
-2338-
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion