-- ‘- -
TEEA~ORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Honorable Zollie Steakley Opinion Ro. WW-127
Secretary of State
Capitol Sta’tion Rer Does the QreaOnCO Of
Auatin, Texaa provisions In an oath
of offloe, appea+ng
on a notary bond form,
which are in addition
to those set forth in
Section 1 of Article
XVI of the Conatitu-
tion of Texas, render
the oath of office
appearing on the form
Dear Mr. Steakley: invalid?
This is In response to your letter of May 7, 1957, in
which you repeat our opinion on the validity of ~a I?otary
PublJ.cls oath of offlce which appears on the form of a par-
tLcular bona of Notary Public. The oath of office a8 it
appears on the bond in question is as follows:
“I, the undersigned, do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I am over 21 years of age, that I
will faithfully execute the autdes~of the office
of Notary Public in and for County,
State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability
preserve, proteot and defend the constitution and
laws of the United States ana of this State; and
I furthermore solemnly swear (or affirm), that I
have not directly nor inaireotly paid, offered, or
QrOmieea to pay, oontributea nor promised to contrl-
bute any money or valuable thing, or promised any
public offioe or employment a8 a reward to secure
my appointment or the confirmation thereof. So help
me 00a.n
Section 1 of Article XVI of the Constitution of Texan,
a8 amended, reads In part as followsr
"I, a0 solemnly swear (or
affirm), hat I ill faithidly exeoute the duties
of the offioe ofW of the State
of Texas, and will to the best of my ability pre-
Honorable Zollie Steakley, page 2 ww-127
serve, protect, and defend the Constitutionand
laws of the United States and of this State; and
I furthermore solemnly swear (or affirm), that I
have not direcfly'nor'ind~rectly paid, offered,
or promised to pay, contributed, nor promised to
contribute any money, or valuable thing, or pro-
mised any public office or emQloyWnt, as ~a
reward to secure my aQpolntment~or thp~ponflrma-
tioa thereof; ~a::30help me ci0a.
From a comparison of the above oaths of office it
would appear that the only variation in these oaths Is the
inclusion in the oathappearing on the bond of the three
following phrases:-
(a)'f'the, undersigned"
(b) "that ,I am over 21 years of age"
County,.,
j,
~The phrases designated as:;(aj and (c-) above are in-
serted inportions of ,the oath,~ as required by Section 1 of
Article XVI of the' Constitution of ~Teras, which are sepres-
ented by blank spaces. Though the phrase, 'Notary Public
in and for County, State of Texas" results in a
minute,variation ,of the phrase nof theState of'Texas", as
it appears.in ,th,e required form; : it is our opinion that
this ~uariation is not significant.
The phrase "that I am aver 21 years of age" ,represents
an additional csath~or affirmation fromthat required by
Sectian 1, Article XVI of the Constitution of Texans. However,
itis tobe notea thatparagraph 2~ of ,Article 5949, Vernon's
Civil Statutes (Notary Public Act of 1943), requires that
the applicant for the office of Notary Public be 21 years of
age, land that Paragraph 3 of the same Article requires that
he sa~tisfy the County Clerk of his county of residence that
he is 21 years of age. It is thus a statutory requirement
that any applicant for the office of Notary Public be 21
years of age and be able to establish this fact. For this
reason the inclusion of the oath or affirmation in no way
places an additional burden on the applicant, nor does it
add a requirement for his qualification. Therefore, the
inclusion of the phrase may properly be considered as mere
surplusage and is in our opinion insignificant.
For the above reasons, It is our opinion that the oath
Honorable Zollie Steakleg, ww 3 ww-127
of office, which is the subject of your inquiry, Is valid
and is In substantial compliance with the requirements of
Section 1, Article XVI, Constitution of Texas.
SUMMARY
The oath of office of a Notary Public,
as submitted, is valid and in substan-
tial compliance with the requirements
of Section 1 of Article XVI of the
Constitution of Texas, even though the
oath contains the additional provision
"that I am over 21 years of age".
Yours very truly,
WILL WIISON
Attorney General
WCR:jl:rh Assistant
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE:
H. Grady Chandler
Chairman
James W. Wilson
Fred Werkenthin
Ralph R. Rash
REVIEWEDFOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY:
Geo. P. Blackburn