NE-Y ENEZRAL
December 8, 1950
Hon. D. W. Miles, R.D., President
Texas State Board of
Haturopathic Examiners
Houston, Texas opinion No. V-1128.
Ret Authority of the State
Board of Naturopathic
Examiners to collect a
license fee of $50.00
from all applicants who
am licensed other than
Dear Sira by examination.
Your request for'an opinion is substantially as
followsr
?e desire the opinion of your Office
regarding the legality of the State Board
of Naturopathic Examiners1requiring all
persons liaenssd under the provisions of
Article 4590d, V.C.S., other than those
licensed after passing an examination, to
pa~l;r;egistration or license fee of fifty
.
'At the first meeting of the Board,
which was held in IVovember, 1949, it adopt-
ed a resolution requiring all persons ll-
tensed under the provisions of Article
45906, V.C.S. to pay a registration or ll-
tense fee of fifty dollars, except in in-
stances where the license was granted after
examination. Such fees were to be need in
defraying the expenses incurred In licens-
ing qualified applicants and in aiding In
the enforcement of the statutes of Texas
regulating the practice of naturopathy.
The Board estimated that the probable ex-
pense of lioenses, printing, stationery,
per diem, travel, regulation, supervision
and other connected expenssa would total
about Fifty ($50.00)Dollars per licensee.
After the above resolution was adopted,
Eon. D. W. Xiles, B.D., page 2 (V-1128)
the Board adopted and approved the appll-
cation for license form under the above
provisions. The form adopted and used re-
quired all such licensees to pay the above
fee. The Board construed the first sen-
tence of Section 3, article 4590d V.C.S.
and the next-to-last sentence of Se&Ion
1, article 45906 V.C.S. as authorizing the
above action.
*All licensees under the above provi-
sion have remitted In the above amount as
a registration or license fee, and the au-
thority of the Board In requiring said fee
has not been challenged by any member of
the profession. However, the State audi-
torts offioe has requested that we secure
your opinion relative to the legality of
the above. *
Section 1 of Article 4590d, V.C.S., provides
la part:
* . The Board may prescribe ad&n-
lstrativi rules and regulations, in harmony
with the provisions of this title governing
Its own prooeebings and the examlnatlons of
appll~ants for the practloe of naturopathy.
. . .
Section 3 of Article &jgOd, V.C .S., provides
in part:
“The State Board of Raturopathic Xx-
aminers may, In the disoretlon of the Board
In each instance, upon payment by the appll-
cants for re lstratlon of a fee of Fifty
Dollars ($507 grant lloense to practice na-
turopathy to any reputable naturopathic phy-
slolan who Is a graduate of a reputable
naturopathic college or has qualified on
examination for the license of naturopathic
qualification for a oommieslon as a natur-
opathic physician in the Medical Corps of
the United States Army or navy and to ll-
centlates of other States or Territories
having requirements for naturopathic regls-
tratlon and practice equal to those estab-
Used by this Law. . . .I
.’ .
Hon. D. W. Miles, I.D., page 3 (v-1128)
Section 12 of Article 4590d, V~.C.S.,provides;
“Any natuPopathlc physlclan who has
been practlslng naturopathy In this State
for three (3) years next preceding the
passage of this Act and when membershlp
was not fraudulently obtained, shall be
granted a license under the provisions of
this Act, provided however, that any na-
turopathic physician having resided In
Texas ~three (3) years and having practiced
naturopathy for one (1) year in Texas next
preceding the passage of this Act will not
be required to have a certificate of pro-
ficiency from the Minimum Standards Board
as a prerequisite for obtaining such na-
turopathic 1lcense:~naturopathic physl-
clans in practice lq this State for more
than one (1) year, but less than three (3)
years, shall be examined in theory, phi-
losophy, pathology, practice, symptomatol-
ogy, and diagnosis, peculiar to naturopathy;
all naturopathic physlclans who have been
in practice In this State for less than one
(1) year shall be required to take examlna-
tlons as provided in Seotlon 8 hereof.*
It is well settled as a rule of statutory con-
struction In this State that it Is proper to look to all
parts of a legislative Act to ascertain its proper con-
struction and meaning, that Is, to ascertain the legls-
latlve Intent. It Is the legislative intent that is the
law. In applying this rule courts will not look alone
to one phrase, clause, or sentence of an Act, but to the
entire Act, and this Includes the caption, the body of
the Act, and the emergency clause. Trawalter v. Schae-
fer 142 Tex. 521, 179 S.W.W 765 ( 44) P &am V. Pat-
%&on, 121 Tex. 615, 51 S.W.2d 680 l&).o Thi. b ing
-sections 3 and 12 of Article 4590d will be’coi-
sldered together, and when considered together it Is
reasonable to conclude that the Legislature Intended
that a license fee of $50.00 be exacted of all persons
licensed under the provlslons of Article 45qOd, except
where such license was granted after an examination.
Since the enactment of the provisions under
discussion, the State Board of lVaturopatNc,Examiners
has followed the practice of requiring all persons ll-
tensed under the provisions of Article 4590d to pay a
Hon. D. W. Miles, R.D., page 4 (v-1128)
license fee of $50.00, except where such license was
granted after examination. In fact, a resolution was
adopted by the Board In lVovember of 1949 requiring such
licenae fee . As previously observed, such a construc-
tion is reasonable and sound. Furthermore, the statute
being somewhat ambiguous the departmental construction
placed on the Act with respect to the requirement of
license fees should be.followed
San Antonio Union Jun%or Collene Mst. v
241 206 S W. 26 99> (1947)
s!knce Ass In v: Holmes, 145 T
9461.
In view of the foregoing It is our opinion
that the Act in question (Art. 4590d, V.C.S .) kuthor-
lzes the State Board of IVaturopathlc Examiners to col-
lect a license fee of $50.00 from each applicant who
is llosnsed other than by examination.
SUMMARY
Artlole 45904, V.C.S., authorizes the
State Board of Iiaturopathia Examiners to
collect a license fee of $50.00 from all
applicants who are licensed other than by
examlnatlon.
APPROVED? Yours very truly,
Ji C. Davis, Jr. PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs Mvlslon Attorney General
Everett Hutchinson
Executive Assistant
w hn”c”y’
~Charles D. Mathews Burnell’ Waldrep
First Assistant Assistant
Bwazlw