E ORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Ausnnr H.TEXAS
March 9, 1962
Mr. Lon E. Alsup Opinion No. WW-1274
Executive Secretary-Director
State Commission for the Blind Re: Whether the State
201 East 14th Street Commissin for the
Austin, Texas Blind is permitted
to provide eye surgery
to a child living in
Dear Mr. Alsup: El Paso who is an alien.
You have asked this office for an opinion as to
whether the State Commission for the Blind is permitted
to provide eye surgery to a child living in El Paso who
is an alien. From your letter it is apparent that the
child is residing with its parents, who have never taken
out naturalization papers.
The authority for the Commission to provide eye
surgery is found in Article 3207c, Vernon's Civil Statutes.
In Section 1 thereof, the following definitions are found:
II . . .
"(d) 'Employment handicap' means a physical or
mental condition which constitutes, contributes to
or if not corrected will probably result in an ob-
struction to occupational performance;
"(e) 'Disabled Individual' means any person
who has a substantial employment handicap;
"(f) 'Blind' means a person having not more
than 20/200 of visual acuity in the better eye with
correcting lenses; or visual acuity greater than
20/200 but with a limitation in the field of vision
such that the widest diameter of the visual field
subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees;
"(g) 'Vocational rehabilitation' and 'voca-
tional rehabilitation services' mean any services,
provided directly or through public or private
?
Mr. Lon E. Alsup, page 2 (WW-1274)
instrumentalities, found by the Director to be
necessary to compensate a blind disabled lndivi-
dual for his employment handicap, and to enable
him to engage in a remunerative occupation Including,
but not limited to, medical and vocational dlagnosis,
vocational guidance, counselllng and placement, re-
habilitation training, physical restoration, . . .;
4, . . .
“(i) ‘Physical restoration’ means any medical,
surgical or therapeutic treatment necessary to cor-
rect or substantially reduce a disabled blind indi-
vidual’s employment handicap within a reasonable
length of time Including, but not limited to, medl-
cal, psychiatric, dental and surgical treatment,
nursing services, hospital care, convalescent home
care, drugs, medical and surgical supplies, and
prosthetic appliances, but excluding curative treat-
ment for acute or transitory conditions;
f, . . . ,I
Section 8 of Article 3207c, V.C.S., provides:
“Vocational rehabilitation services shall be
provided to any blind disabled individual (1) who
is a resident of the State at the time of filing
his application therefor and whose vocational re-
habilitation, the Director determines after full
t;fe;;;g;tion, can be satisfactorily achieved, or
s eligible therefor under the terms of an
agreement with another State or with the Federal
Government: Provided, t~hat, except as otherwise pro-
vided by law or as specified In any agreement with
the Federal Government with respect to classes of
individuals certified to the Commission thereunder,
the following rehabilitation services shall be pro-
vided at public cost only to disabled blind indivl-
duals found to require financial assistance with
respect thereto:
“(a) Physical restoration
II ,(. .“ (Emphasis supplied)
Mr. Lon E. Alsup, page 3 (WW-1274)
Clearly, the above-quoted statute provides the Commission
with authority to afford eye surgery as a vocational ,rehabil-
itation service, provided that the blind person Is found
to require financial assistance. Nothing In the statute
would prohibit the rendering of this physical restoration
to a child, if it were found by the Commission that neither
the child nor his parents were able to undertake the
financial burden Involved.
As regards the alien status of the child,
Section 8 of Article 3207, V.C.S., Imposes only the require-
ment that the blind disabled individual be "a resident of
the State at the time of filing his application therafor
and whose vocational rehabilitation, the Director determines
after full investigation can be satisfactorily achieved."
Black's Law Dictionary, 4 th Edition, defines the word
"residence" as: "A factual place of abode; living in a
particular locality. It requires only.bodlly presence as
an Inhabitant of a place." In determining the meaning of
"residence", the Texas courts have followed the above
definition. Brinkley v. State, 53 S.W.2d 830 (Civ.App.
1932); ,Cramerv. Graham, 264 S.W.2d 135 (Clv.App. 1954,
error ref.). Therefore, It would seem that the child would
not be barred from receiving the assistance of the Com-
mission for the Blind by virtue of the fact that he is an
alien. As long as said child is living In the locality,
Andy was so living at the time of making application for
vocational rehabilitation, this office must hold that he
has fulfilled the statutory requirement that he be a
"resident of the State"; and If the child fulfills the
other requirements set forth in Article 3207c, V.C.S., he
is fully entitled to the services of the Commission for
the Blind.
SUMMARY
The mere fact that a child is an alien
does not prey,ent him from being a "resident
of the State within the meaning of Article
3207c, Section 8, Vernon's Civil Statutes,
and the State Commission for the Blind is
authorized to provide eye surgery if the child
meets the other requirements set forth in the
said Article 3207~.
Mr. Lon E. Alsup, page 4 (WW-.1274)
Yours ve'ry truly,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
VW
by Malcolm L. Quick
MLQ:kkc Assistant
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chaiman
Thomas Burros
Jack Goodman
Leon Pesek
W. 0. Shultz
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.