Can a Texas state agency pay for home modifications out of money not appropriated for that program?

Texas AG Opinion DM-0015: State Mental Health Agency Limited to Earmarked Funds for Home Modifications

Plain-English summary

The Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation asked whether the agency could pay for architectural modifications to the private homes of the people it served using state money other than the funds appropriated to administer article 5547-205, V.T.C.S.

The Attorney General said no. Article 5547-205 was the statute that authorized this kind of support: it directed the department to compensate clients for expenses like special equipment or architectural changes that help a mentally disabled person live independently in the community. But the same statute carried a limit. It said that, notwithstanding anything else in the article, the department's duty to provide these services is "determined and limited by the funds specifically appropriated to administer this article." No other statute authorized the home modifications. The agency pointed to its enabling legislation, which declared the state's policy that mental health services be the responsibility of local agencies "to the greatest extent possible" and named the department as the provider of state-administered services. The Attorney General read that as identifying which agency operates at the state level, not as a general license to fund services the law did not otherwise authorize. So the department could not reach into other appropriations to pay for home modifications.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1991. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. The V.T.C.S. articles cited here governing mental health and mental retardation services have since been recodified into the Health and Safety Code. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule or citation mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the Texas mental health agency pay for home modifications from general funds?
Under this opinion, no. The department could make architectural modifications to a client's home only with the funds appropriated to administer article 5547-205, the statute that authorized the support.

Why didn't the agency's general enabling law allow it?
The Attorney General read the enabling provision as establishing the department as the state-level provider of mental health services, not as a separate grant of authority to spend other appropriations on services the law did not otherwise authorize.

Background and statutory framework

Article 5547-205, section 5.04, directed the department to support clients in maintaining a mentally disabled family member in the community or a mentally disabled person in independent living, including by purchasing or leasing special equipment or making architectural modifications to a home. Subsection (d) then limited that duty: notwithstanding any other provision of the article, the department's obligation was "determined and limited by the funds specifically appropriated to administer this article." The department cited section 1.01(d) of its enabling legislation, article 5547-201, which stated the policy that mental health and mental retardation services be the responsibility of local agencies to the greatest extent possible while providing that the department would furnish state-administered services. The opinion treated that general provision as allocating responsibility, not as authorizing expenditures beyond the article that specifically created and capped the home-modification support.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• V.T.C.S. art. 5547-205, § 5.04 (client support, including architectural modifications; funding limit in subsection (d))
• V.T.C.S. art. 5547-201, § 1.01 (department enabling legislation and policy)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/dan-morales/dm-0015
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1991/dm0015.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

Office of the Attorney General
State of Texas

DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL

April 15, 1991

Mr. Dennis R. Jones
Commissioner
Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
P. O. Box 12668
Austin, Texas 78711-2668

Opinion No. DM-15

Re: Whether the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation may use certain funds to make architectural modifications to the private homes of its clients (RQ-2106)

Dear Mr. Jones:

You ask whether the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (hereinafter, the "department") may use state-appropriated funds, other than those appropriated to administer article 5547-205, V.T.C.S., to make architectural modifications to the private homes of persons served by the department.

Section 5.04 of article 5547-205 provides, in part:

(a) The department shall provide support to clients to compensate the clients for present and future expenses incurred to maintain in the community a mentally disabled family member or a mentally disabled person in an independent living situation, including:

(1) the purchase or lease of special equipment or architectural modifications of a home to improve or facilitate the care, treatment, therapy, general living conditions, or access of a mentally disabled person;

. . . .

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the duty of the department to provide services under this article is determined and limited by the funds specifically appropriated to administer this article.

You do not advise that there is any other statute that authorizes or directs the department to make architectural improvements to the homes of mentally disabled persons, nor are we aware of any. You refer us to your enabling legislation, specifically section 1.01(d) of article 5547-201, V.T.C.S. That section expresses the policy of the state "that mental health and mental retardation services be the responsibility of local agencies and organizations to the greatest extent possible." However, this section also provides that the "department will provide state-administered mental health and mental retardation services." We think that this general provision is intended to establish that the department is the state agency responsible for providing services at the state level, and not as a general grant of authority to provide services not otherwise authorized by law. Accordingly, the department may not use funds other than those appropriated to administer article 5547-205 to make architectural modifications to the private homes of persons served by the department.

SUMMARY

The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation may not use funds other than those appropriated to administer article 5547-205, V.T.C.S., to make architectural modifications to the private homes of persons served by the department.

Very truly yours,

DAN MORALES
Attorney General of Texas

WILL PRYOR
First Assistant Attorney General

MARY KELLER
Executive Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY (Ret.)
Special Assistant Attorney General

RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

Prepared by John Steiner
Assistant Attorney General