Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

R-17 . ~I%XEATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Aus~ini aa. I’eftas PRICE DANIEL ATTclFlNEY GENERAL Honorsble HoiaerGarrison, Jti* Director,’Dspar,tmentof Public Sa,fetJr Camp Mak!Fj ; Austln,,Tqxrs Opinion NO, V-17 ltenlfsciaiityior b mm- r4sldsnt rotor trms- portation company to ptichase .Texas Regis- tration Platea for vehltilesoperated in intrastate and lnter- state commorco in Texas o Dear Sira ; I ., . Your r4qusat for bplnion, dated January 6, ~(. 19$7# ., pi?esentsthe following questlbna: “1, Would a t&king coinpany,duly incorporated in another State and main- taining Its principal offlce in such forefgn State, but maintaining offices, warehouses, pick-up and delivery trucks and services in Texas, be conaidsrsd a non-resident of this State, to the 4~;’ tent that they could not,bs required to purchase Texas registration plates for trucks engaged in Interstate and intra- state traffic wfth?.nTexas?* (Empm 67 ,’n2. Article 6675a-16, Revised Civil Statutes of Texasi provides for agreement wfth ,othsr States-regarding exemptions from registration:fees, Would a ,trucklng _company incorpora,ted In a foreign Stat4 but operatlng In Texas, as described above, be entftled to receive ths privilege of not having to register their vehicles in Texas because of an existing reciprocal agreement between the State in whidh the Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr.;.Page 2 : : ., :' ,’ Company Is Incorporated and the Stats ,of Texas? Additional Information verbally received from you subsequent to the date of the written re- quest is to the effect that the motor transporta- tion companies involved are incorporated under the laws of the State of Louisiana and have their prin- cipal offices In Louisiana, but actuaPly maintain offices, warehouses, pick-up and deliverg'trucks, and services in Texas. Eased on this information, our opinion will relate only to motor transporta- tion companies incorporated under the laws of the Stats of Louisiana, and operating as described by you in the State of Texas. The general rule Is that the owner and operator of a motor vehicle Is required to apply for the rsglstration,thereof each-year. i?6. Do 577. This ROneraI IuIe aDDIi4s residbnts'and non-r&ldents of this State, because the police power of the State to regulate the use of motor vehicles on its highways extends to non- residents as well as residents, and a State may prohibit the use of Its highways by a foreign ve- hicle unless and until it is DroDerls licsnsed in accordance with its laws. Sob Annotation - Fore1 n Owned Vehicles Operating Within, ats; *8 A+ 1gg-s Article bb’pja, Sec%3?%-??,%. c’: SO,” Ge: quires "every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer used or to be used upon the public highways of this State" to apply each gear to the State Highway Department through ths County Tax Collector of the County in which he resides for the registration of each vehicle owned or con- trolled by him. Certain excsptions are made with reference to farm tractors, farm trailers, and Implements of husbandry. Article 827bi 'V.A,P.CO, provides for the registration ofnon-resident motor vehicles through the County Tax Collector, MIllor VI Foard County, 59 S.W'.(2d) 277 (Tex. Civ-, 1939); and also provides for cer,tificatesof tom- porary registration of non-resident vehicles which are not operated for compensation or hire, It therefore follows that a non-resident motor trans- portation company'must registsr vehicles which 'are operated in,this State unless it falls within an exception granted by our statutes. . ” ‘, : ; .,. ,/ _’ Honorabl4 Ho~4r~,:Garrisori,'iJror :PaEe 3 'Y, .I," .' *, 34ctlon 'I6.ofArticI4 6675ap v4rnon8s ~nno- tated~Civi1 Statutds'~reads ,as, foIlows: to and rsgardless of "(a) :In ~'a'ddltlon. the provlsione qf i&&s Atit# or any other Act. relating to thb.oporatlog of motor vshfcles ov4r th4 pub110 hlghirays, of this State bye non-residents, the State Highway Departmsnt acting by ,and,through the~.State~Highway '.' Engineer 1s hsrpby authorized to enter~in- to agreements wlth,duly authorized officials of other Statas exempting the residents'of such other States using the public highways of thisState from the payment of registra-1. " tion fees for such periods or exten~sionsof tlms as ,may'be,grantsd residents of Texas using the public~higiWays of ,suoh other State. "(b) This section shall be cumulative of all other Iawd'on this subjsct, but in the'event ,ofa conflict betv44n th4 provi- sions of .thissection and any other Act on this subject, the provisions of this see- tion shall prevail. "(6) Any person owning or operating a vehicle not registered ln thls State, in violation of the terms of any agrserent made under this section, or in the absence of any agrooment, ,ln violation of the ap; plfcable registration laws of this State, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined'an sum not'ex- 'cesding Two Hundred ($200,007 Dollars," Tho:above quoted section establishesthe manner by which a non-resident operator of motor ve- ,ihiclesmay become sxcmpt~from registration in Texas. The exemption is accomplished through the making of a reciprocal agreement betwsen the Texas Stats High- way Department and the duly authorized -officialof the other Stats involved. You ~111 observe that the,Leglslature has not defined the term "non+esi- dent' in the quoted section of the Article. This is also true of all other sections of Article 6675a, V, A, C,,3. It 944111s obvious that the Lepfslature ~intendedfor the term ?non-resident" to be d4flned in each,reciprocal agre4mentp and this for the reason that It (1 must I. have be4n contemplated by the I. Leglslatur4 that th4 wr#s of the'rbcfpr~ocalagnb-.~~t melii~ wduld'~eceaai~~lf'~ry'wf~th each State to:the :',: extent th&t Its 1~wa’iJsifrrea from oure in establiah- lng a standard by wble?i w 'no+reafQ4nt" would bs I determined. Th4T4xaa'Strti lElghwayDs@artment, pursue' ant to th4 authority g&~~ka by SrctiQn 16 of Art&&4 6675a, supra, has ant4~4d ~lnto a’recfproca ,agrW- ~ ment with,thr State of ~Loulslana. The latest agreb- ment between the two Statsa is dated June 15, 1941, and roads.lnpart as fOll4WJ: " 34ction V-Common or Cqntract,Carrlersn *T@is agreement is not to b4 constrwd ao applying to common or contract ~a*rfers 411; gaged in interstate commercs D S LI'axcept whore permits havs first been secured from the Texas Railroad Commission and from ,the Public Ss~vfce Commission in Loulaiana." Under this section of the reciprocity agrseaent, it Is to be observed that the agreement only applies to common and con- '~tractcarriers by motor 'vehiclessng&ged ~~ldto~:ta~eFjc~~erce,and only then, when hxl th t ha Seen secured from the ,two' State regulatog bodies Involved (Thb Railroad Commission of Texas and The Tublfc Servfce Commlsslon of Louisiana) to ~44 the Ug@rayo. of.each,State in titerstats cusp- ~eJrC4 Y Tho'agrs4ment does not apgly-~tb iihiqlok of non-r4sfdent motor transporta-. ti4m~colpanfss used in Lntra~~te’d~~eib~, rul wie,aresdvfaid lg tha Toxaa SWUi 3f.@- riaj-'Dipbrtmht Uihte the &$r44mont~ %n Qiwfs- tii%irss never'intend4d to"ap~lj"tb'~any vmhfole of a non-resident 'usedwholly, or partially, in transporting .intrastats frefght. Such has,been the ~int4rprstatfon and application Of the agreem4nt bj~b?~th Tonas and Louislaua. Therefor4, a Dotor transportation company duly incorporated uider the laws of the State of Louisiana, and 'engagedin interstate and Intrastate ~achercb ,in, Texas and LOU~O~UW muat $+rt8r vahfcles ueod + tr+ruJpprt!ng b#paat+tc, 'freightfn,Texas ln’accoPdatib3 '. \ >~ . . Honorab,le Homer Qarrlson, Jr -, Page 5, with” Texas law. This is true because the .reciprocalagreement betveon Texas and Louisiana does not create an exemption on non-resident.vehicles used in transporting intrastate freight in the Stats of Texas, Section VIII of'the reciprocal agreement dated June ~15, 1941, between Texas and Louisiana reads in part as follows: "Any')eraon, comparq, or corporation which.hs a place of abode or business in the State of Texas or in'the State of Louisiana for more than thirty (30) con- secutive days in the registration year9 shall not be considered as a non-resfdent of such state. . .* This particular section wab very recently c,ensidered~inEilbupn 'vi.Eesrln Transportation Co,, f97 So X. @d)"T$g,(Tex. Civ. App. 1946) 0 In that case9 Herrin~Transportation Company, a Texas Cor- poration, with'its principal office in Texas, and engaged in doing both an ,intrastateand interstate business in Texas aad..Lo&iana, sought an injunc- tion against the Texas State Highway Department and its offi,clalsrestraining them from in any way interfering with Its vehicles registered under the laws of Louisiana and based and domiciled in Loufsf- ma, but'engaged in the transportation of Interstate freightinto and out of Texas. -The court in determfn- ing whether or not Herrln was a non-resident of Texas so as'to be entitled to thenon-registration exemption provided for in the reciprocal agreement us~ed~ as a criterion 'theterms of the agreement itself, At page l5f2 of the reported decision the ~court said: "It feIloWs, ‘therdtire, as ~pIainly stated.in the ~agreement itself that ap- pellee, a Texas corporatlon,'having bad 'a place'of abode or business in the State of Texas. . a for more than thirty consecutive days in the registration gear,'Icannot be considered a,non-resi- dentof this State; and hence, not en- titled co the claimed exemption? We cannot see any distinction betpeen the effect of the facts stated by you and the facts in ,. ,,,, ,I~:’ ,,, 8; k _ : Honorable I$omerGarrison, Jr., Page 6 Hllburn v. Herrin Transportation co;,‘~supra,ex.tept t6 determine under ,the reolproci~y agreeme% Vith ,Loui.sianaWhether the +m@iinies inv~olved”mCllntained bfficdd, varehouaes, delivery truckb;‘Ciid.,serviceg- for more than thirty consecutive days-in Tbxas dur- ing the’registration”year.’ If the Louisiana motor’ trahsportstion’cosipsnids’have so operated ‘in Texas) then it followa that they’are not ,non+esidents’ so as to be exempt from purohasing registration’plates In Texas for motor’vehioles -- used in transporting interstate’freight.’ As heretofore pointed out, ,such:bompanies ‘must pay the required statutory fee for registra- tion on any vehicles ,used in this State in the transportationsof intrastate freight, regardless of whether they maintain ‘offices,warehouses, piok- up ana’delivery trucks; and serviaes ,in this State for any period of time. We call your attention to the fact that there is’now,in ,thegirbcessof being arecut,eda new reciprocal ,agreement between Louisiana and ; Texas, but this nev agreement will not relate to the registration year which~began April 1, 1946, and will end March 31, 1947. (1) The existing reciprocal agree- .- ment between Texas and Louisiana which is dated June 15, 1941, and entered into pur- 6675a, Vernon”s suant to Ssc.~16 of Art L1. Annotated ~Civil‘Statutes? does;not apply to vehicles of a non-resident company -Or corporation used ih :trlnsportingintra- V’.~ freight ~,i.n atate, Texas. (2) A motor transportation company, duly incorporated under the lavs of the State of Louisiana and malntalning its ‘principal office in such State, but main- taining offIces, warehouses, pick-up and delivery truCka, ‘and services in Texas for more than thirty consecutive day&~fin any .regQstrationyear cannot be consid- ers&a non-resident of the State of Texas $:’ _~ .’ :., . Ronordble Htier @arrieon, Jr., Page 7 .. ., Midir'the te-k bf'the'rec~pracal~~agr~e- ,., ,. mbnt~aat&& Ji&& 33;, 'I,gk1;-':'a!, bs to 'b& .-', ,tixbmpt fr&'ptiHQi&lng T@xis i+egi#'ttition plates for vehiolds engaged"ti'transpbrt-, $ng interstate trafflc;in Texas,.’ 'Yo*s very truly :‘,, ATTOplrrr,t3- Or TXAS By :,;--:?-- my+-"CharlebB. Crensbaw Awsistmt APPROVED