Moneys appropriated or given to any institution mentioned in this chapter shall be expended only upon order of the supervising officer. The supervising officer, however, does not have the power to bind the state for any purpose in connection with any such institution beyond the amount of the appropriation which may have been made to such institution for such purpose, nor to sell or convey any part of the real estate belonging to any such institution without the consent of the legislative assembly, except that it may release any mortgage or convey any real estate which may have been received by it through any gift, bequest, or devise or upon any trust, the terms of which authorize such satisfaction or conveyance.
N.D.C.C. § 25-01-12