.
. nonerable: Jack ,Roae, Chairman Opinion. No:~ W., ,567
.., ~~Bi3azWoS~~Pardonr~ and, Paroles.’ ” ” ‘~
C,@pIitolBullding : .~ ‘36: Restoration of
AuetUG Texae -1ichre~ of ~a~prrrgn .t6
drlv6 8 motor ‘vehicle
:upoti the public roade,
hlghwayr, ,+ntl 8tSeete,
I’ of, the State of Texae
after final’donvlction
for a penal offense
which carriss ag aut’o-
matia auspenslon of
‘Dear Mr. Roea: such licenee.
From your letter’ of June ,10, :Jge, requerting ah dffio,-
ial opinion of this office aoneetining,the above rubjeat, we
_, quote:
‘In ,view of the 1936 amendment to.Artl.cle ,*, Sectlgn,.
11, of th&~Te’ias Conetitutia& Qplnions of tormer Attori .‘,I:~“.:, ”
&y Qene~als end th& recent decibion of ‘thenCourt of
Criminal Appeals ,in Cause No. ,29;5Weetltled Chester
P Lee Daviron, A pelant v6;. The.Stite *of. Tefa8, Appellee, ~’
,.
.C~ .~ ,~’ 313~S. u. 28 8It,3, thls%oard t@8peetfullJr requests your. ,,
.,I/. .... ,opinion ,on the’ followln~:
e /;,, ~,’
.”
: ..,~, “Doee~the Board 6f Pardone ibd Paroles have the ”
., . power to recommend +nd,tht Qovernor~to~grant the
restoration’ of a license~~~to ,drive a motor vehiole
. upon the public reader hltjhwa@ end street8 of the ’ ‘,,
State of.,Texas after fligrl a’olivlctlon of, a ‘penal
dffenee.whlch, under the liwr of,the Stat) bf TCx-,.
s, a5; .carriqe”an aut+matlo’ rurpenition ,of ruch lit-
‘elyise?’ n
; ~;;
:.v ,, ~‘.’
,,,’ ‘. .~ h&l& 4,’ section 11 ‘a8 am&ded November:‘J,: 1936; ” “’
of the Constit:tion of the’Stats’ of Texas, ariatar ~the Board:,,’ .,’
; : of Pardona,.and Paroles and sets forth it8 .dutles .and o~o-,
: : ‘viOe* in paI% ae”‘follow?:
:’ ‘, ,:,
‘.,. .‘.
.” ~.’ ., ,’ ‘.
,” :i; ,., ..’, .:
. ::
!
., ,.:’,,
-
Honorable Jack Ross~,Page 2 (WW 567) .
,‘.’ “In all~&imi&l,cabei, except treason,and *peach-
ment, thi Governor shall have tie, power,. after cbn-
.,
viction, onethe written, signed recommendatldnand
advice of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, ,orof a
ti Jorlty thereof, to grant reprieves and commutations
ot gunlcihmentSand pardons; and under. euch rules 88 the,
leglslature,may preticrlbe, ,and upon’ the written ret-
ommendation and advice of the majority of the Board
of Pardons and Paroles he shall have the power to .
remit fines and forfeitures, ,’*”
.’. In an oral discussion wi’th you’i~,~~o#“kd~lsed that the
“Opinitine of Former Attorney ‘Ge0eralfb., ..to -which you refer in
your opinion tietjuest, consist, of. Attorhe’y ‘General Opinion ,Wo.
0-6052. .’ .
‘.
Attorney General Opinion No. o-6052 (lw) held that
unher the’Con&titu’tlon and laws of. Texas the Governor, upon
the favorAble recommendationof the ,Board of Pardons and
Paroles, has the power to.restore the right to operate a
motor.vehicle upon the public hIghWaX to a person who,has
been cQnVicteb’of driving .~hile, intolxiaated,,snd who:has eerved
hlg jail sentence or. paid. hiE ,.fine,, ,oi* both, ,after iinal con-.
viction. Such ‘opinli>n held that:.the aUtOmbtlC~s~spenstion’ of
a driver16 license of one.convlCted,fo~.the’otf6nse of “drlv-
lng a motor vehicle while under:.the~.in+ence of..$ntoxlcatIng
” ls~coritemporaneous With.the CQnVldtl~‘Under..the Penal
%%e~ (~A.?W.cle ‘802., Vernon ‘8’ Penal Cbdei’ ,snti 1s ‘an l+or-
&lb *.&tit &d :iiariel”‘~rf~fh’~“‘~“:eniltjr’ ‘ifCpb&d ;“,,‘-&fi opin@n
stated ‘that such dusp’etirioe of. ‘the dH+eF! 8: 1Icbi)s.e was a
*forfbIturh” by way of pun’If#Menli afkr. .@onvlotlbn In ~a.trim-
Inal, case, I.e. j driving a motor vehf~cle while .under the’ in-
., .~ fluence of intoxicating ‘llquori and ae a .conaequenoe,~Ia an
. . .incldent of the: punirrhment deecrlb~d ‘:by.,,ArtIcle 802 .of the
.. ,..: .
. 9’. “Texas ‘Penal Code. :
.‘,..., ..
2 .~,,..~ .,/. “’ One’Who has been, convicted of ,the’ #en&l offense of drlv-
I,” ‘lng whilk intoxicated; a8’ 8e.t fbSth.:,In ‘Aktlcl~ 802 of. the
a:
i .; ‘~~2 Texas, Penal Code, i+uffer# the~,autoaatlc:r~~paarlon of hi8
.J.’“’ ,.: drlver~a.llcens~ under the prov$sion’ 9. bf $e.ct$qp: 24, Artii$e
,,*;.;.+.:- : ; . : ! ;: .6687b, .JTeercion’s ClYll Statutes,; me~~pdrtint4nt lsnguage with-
:...‘. Sri Se&on’ 24 of Akt.1Pl.e 6687b,‘.~Virnonlr :CIvil: ,Statutea, iii&b . . I
whlah owe are here’concerned,,’ $roVlde.e ai ~followb.:
.. ., .,,:.;:.,: I
‘a.
.~.. suspended upon final 0onvibtlo~ of. any of,. the ...‘. :,..
.~., ., The lfcense of”&ny pe&n rh*3’1.‘
~~.rU~tio=l,l~
‘.. 8.
following off6nses:
.&. ,..; . . .
.
...; ..,’ ‘~ ~.’
..’
,,,.I,-’
i
. t .,
Honorab1.eJack R&s, ,Page’:‘3.
(WW 567)
2. . . ‘.driving a mo:tor:.vehlcle
‘whileunder :
the influence of intoxicatingliquor
or narcot,lcdrug.
. . .
“b. Tht~susptns,lon,above provided for shall in the
flrst Instance be f,or ~a period ol alx months.
In the event any license shall be’bnrpended
,underthe provision of,this section for a aec-
ond time; ,sald suspenslon shall be for a period
of one year.”
,In the cast ~of ~Chtsttr Let Daiidsim v. The &ate of
Texas,. suma. br tht,Eourt of Crlmihhl Anneals. said court
?ifsszEiti %h&& the Honorable U. A. Uorrison, Pres$ding
Judge, stated that~“the~r:lght to drive is a ~prlvlltgt~~
and not a r1ght.t and in tiiDDort of I)amt Cited the ciists
of Qll~aaplt-v.-titp&ment bi Public Safety
177;~Tatum v. Department of Public :Safttx &?5~.s~.w~d2!67,
and numerous other cases. Llk I In &Id op’lnlonPre-.
sl$Mng Judge Morrison further iia$ that the suspension of???>
a’drliier’s-license Is not a part of the pqhment v
td by the ltgiala~urt~ but was an ancillary result of the,ib’
convlctlon. .~
%&-ha& madi a .thorough st@rch of those. cater In which
a drlvtrls.~llci?&e has been’ msu8pendtd” in accordance with
Section 24 ‘of Article 6687b, Vernon’s Civil St&t&&s, ,md
‘we can find no case In which tht,oourtr have referred to such
“suspttision~ as a “forfeitirt.* &de&d, th.e ~cour(ts of Texas
have uniformly adhered to ,the wordirq of tHq statute itiwlf
ana wed the verb “susptnd~ jrhtn, Invoking .the provlslons of
Section.24 of Artlclt 668?b. Vernonas Clvll ‘Statute&. To
..Ac@ordlngly, we atit unqb,l’k ‘to~~di&b ,.to Attorney &tntral’s
Opiniok:No. ~0-6952 which hOld8’ ,that the ,~urpetislon Of a’ liCbn6t
.of, &rib convlct~d under ~Atiticlt~ 803; ‘Vtrn6n’,i Ptntl Code, 1’9a
~nforfel’tir~!’ and hereby ovtrrmle irid bpihion.
. ,’
Honorable Jack,Ross, Page 4 (WW 5671.~ ,:
Intismuchas the Court of Criminal Appeals ,ln the Davld-
son case ~sawfit to dtclare.thatthe,suspensiono,fa dciverls
for in Section 24 of Article 6687b was :.
,llcfintie',as,providtd
no% 'b,partof the,punlshmentImposed by Article 802 of'tht
Texas .PenalCode and 'a%uspenslon" is ,not.reftrrtdto'in
Artlcle.4, Sectldn 1'1of the Coristitutlon 6f Ttxae, supra,
you are'advised that the Board of,Pardons and Parolts,'dots
not have the power to recommend, and the governor dots not
have the power tb grant restoratl.on of a llctnst to drive a
motor vehicle upon the public roads,,hlghw+ys~arid"&rttttof
'the State of Texas after f.lnalconvlctlbnof the penal of-
fense which under .theflawsof the Statt,yofTexas carries an
automatic suspension of.such llcenst.
The Board of Pardons and Paroles d&s not
have thenpower 'torecommend, and, ‘thb ,gbverzIor~
does not have the power to grant titrtoratlon of
a llcetiseto drive a motor .Vthltilt upon the pub-
lic z-0868, highways and streets of the State of
Texas after final conviction of & penal offense
which under the laws of.the State of Texas carries
.an automatic suspqn?lon~of synchlltense.
Yours very truly,
MRT,JR:fd :
APPROVED:
OPINI~N~COM?UTTEE ,.
George P. Blackburn, Chiirmin
Jack &odm&n
W.llliamE. Allen
C. Dean Davis
REV&WED FOR TH@ ATTORNEY QEN$dL :
ap: ..e-__
W.. . V. Qtpptrt ." !
'. '.