Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

The Attorney General of Texas May 7, 1979 MARK WHITE Attorney General

Honorable.Bob Armstrong Opinion No. Ri+18 CommisMoner General Land Office Re: Whether land devised to the Austin, Texas 78701 state by will is part of the Permanent School Fund.

Dear Commissioner Armstrong:

You ask whether land devised to the State of Texas under an individual’s will becomes a part of the Permanent School Fund of Texas. You state that, under the terms of the will, the state is the recipient of a 309.17acre tract of land in Travis County.

It is well established that, in the absence of any statutory or constitutional prohibition, the State ‘of Texas may receive property by devise. YConle v. Da 156 S.W. 197, 200 (Tex. 1913). See Gpinkm of the Justices, 251 A.2d 330 (N.H. 1969). We have discovered no constitutional or statutory provision which precludes acceptance of the bequest, nor which provides for its specific disposition. Neither was the bequest made to a specific state agency nor directed to a specific purpose.

Beginning as early as 1699~theJegislature has, however, consistently demonstrated its clear intent that all state lands not designated to a specific agency should become a part of the Permanent School Fund. The successor to the 1699statute declares:

(a) The permanent school fund, which shall constitute a perpetual endowment for the public free schools of this state, shsll consist of:

. . . .

(2) AR the unappropriated public domain remaining in Texas, including all land recovered by the state & -suit or otherwise.. . .

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. . Honorable Bob Armstrong - Page Two (~~-18)

Education Code S 15.01(emphasii added). In the Coastal Public Lands ManagementAct of 1973, the legislature provided for the disposition of certain kinds of gifts of interests in land:

(a) The [School Land1board may accept gifts of interests in land, and these interests shall become part of the permanent school fund unless otherwise designated by the grantor.

(b) At the discretion of the board, the land may be managed as if it were coastal public land within the meanifig of this chapter.

Nat. Res. Code S 33.057. Likewise, article 3281,V.T.C.S., indicates a similar intent with regsrd to escheated lands:

All lands heretofore or hereafter escheated to the State of Texas by provisions of this Title are hereby dedicated, appropriated and set apart to the Permanent Free School Fund of the State of Texas. . . .

We believe that, considered together, these statutes furnish ample evidence of a consistent state policy that lands not designated to a specific agency should be deemed to belong to the Permanent School Fund. Accordingly, it is our opinion that land devised to the State of Texas under the terms of’an individual’swill becomes a part of the Permanent School Fund of Texas. ,.

SUMMARY

Land devised to the State of Texas under the terms of an individual’s will and not designated to a particular use becomes a part of the Permanent School Fundof Texas.

-MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas

JOHN W. FAINTER,JR. First Assistant Attorney General

TED L. HARTLEY Executive Assistant Attorney General

Prepared by Milton Richardson and Rick Gilpin Assistant Attorneys General

p. 52 Honorable Bob Armstrong - Page Three (MW-18)

APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTEE

C. Robert Heath, Chairman David B. Brooks Rick Gilpin William G Reid Milton Richardson Bruce Youngblood

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