Hon. Homer Qarrlson, Jr., Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Austin, Texas Opinion Ho. V-l.276
Be: Legality of wei~ghlng
cattle truoks to deter-
. mine whether they are
properly registered in
view of House Bill 11,
I&r Col. Qarrison: Acts 52ad Leg., 1951.
You have as,kedfor an opinioa of this office as
to the
.._ legality
. of weighing cattle
_. trucks
_. to _.
determine
wMtner tneg are properly registeredwhen such truces are
destined to points in Texas. Your Inquiry has been made
~.- ~a8a result of the passage of House Bill 11, Acts 52nd
Leg.9 1951, oh. 116, p- 189, concerning the gross weight
of cosunerclalvehicles and providing for the veighing of
such vehicles and for their unloading when the gross
weight or axle load of the vehicle is unlawful. Your
specific question Is as follows:
"Does B. B. 11, 52nd Texas Legislature,
Regular Session, 1951, prohibit License and
Weight Inspectorsof the Texas Department of
Public Safety from weighing cattle trucks for
the purpose of determiningvhether they are
properly registeredwhen such cattle trucks are
destfmed to points In Texas?"
Section 6, subdivision1, Article 8278, Vernon's
Penal Code, as enacted in House Bill 11, provides in part
that:
'Provided,however, that if such load
consists of livestock, then such operator
shall be permitted to proceed to destina-
tion without being weighed, provided destl-
nation be within the State of Texas."
P
Article 6675a-8, Vernon's Civil Statutes, proVides
for the payment of annual license fees for the registrat$on
of,trailers or semi-trailers,such Tees being based upon gross
. .
Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr., page 2 (v-1276)
weight and tire equIpage. Article 66758-B provides in
part that:
"The term 'grossweight' as used in this
section means the actusl weight of the trall-
er or semi-trailer,8s officially certified
by any Public Weigher or any License and Weight
Inspector of the State Highway Dep8rtment,plus
Its net aarrying capecity. 'IJetcarrying cepaci-
tgl as used in this section shell be the weight
of the heaviest net load to be carried on the
vehicle being reglstered; provided said net
carrying eapacltg shall in no case be less than
the mamafacturer’s rated carrying cepaclty.n
Artiole 6695, V.C.S., provides as follows:
"If any person shall operate, or permit to
be operated, any motor vehicle, liaensed under
this law, of a greater weight than stated in
his declarationor application for license, he
shall be guilty of 8 misdemeanor,and upon con-
vlctlon, shall be flned In any sum not exceed-
ing Two Hundred ($200.00)Dollars, and each use
of such vehicle shall constitute a separate of-
fense; and venue for prosecutionshereunder
shall lie in any county In which any motor vehi-
cle is operated with a greater groas weight th8n
that stated in the declarationor application
for a lleense for such motor vehicle."
The authority of the License and Weight Inspec-
tors of the Texas Department of Public Safety to enforce
the State motor vehicle registretlonstatutes, including
Article 66758-8 and Article 6695, m, is contained in
Section 16 of Article 8278, V.P.C., and Article 4413(32),
V.C.S.
We are of the opinion that House Bill 11, suDTs,
does not prohibit License and Wsight Inspectors of the Texes
Departmentof Public Safety from weighing cattle trucks for
the purpose of determiningwhether they are properly regis-
tered when such cattle trucks are destined for points in
Texass We do not believe the Legislature,lntendedto pre-
vent in any way enforcementof the registrationstatutes In
providing that a vehicle loaded with cattle and destined
to some point In Texas should not be weighed for the pur-
pose of determtningwhether thsre is 8 violation of the load
law. The p&poses of the load limit law and the regis-
1lIflit T
tretlon statutes are m8nifestly different, and such purposes
Hon. Homer Oarrisoa, Jr., page 3 &-~76)
,-
8re oertainly not coafllcting. No mention is m8de of any
attempt to legislate on the question of regl,stratlonIn
the caption of House Bill 11 or in the Act Itself. We find
no coafliat between the two statutes and therefore COnClU@
that the peseage of House Bill 11 does not effect the right
of License and Weight Inspectorsof the Depertment of Pub-
lic Safety to we,@ cattle trucks for the purpose of deter-
mining whether they are properly registered as provided for
in Article 66758-8, V.C.S.
House Bill 11, Acts 52ad Leg., 1951, ch.
116, p. 189, does not prohibit License and
Weight Inspectorsof the Depertmeat of Public
Safety from weighing cattle trucks for the
purpose of determiningvhether they are prop-
erly registeredunder the provisions of Article
66758-8, V.C .S.
APPROVED: Yours very truly
P
BledMcdcIBnlel PRICE DANIEL '
State Affairs Division Attorney General
Jesse P. Luton, Jr.
Reviewing Asslat8nt
Everett Hutchinson
Bxecntire AssiSt8nt
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