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 $:’
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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