Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

j 2 3 u) OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 4 AUSTIN Texas State Board of Dental Exx;mriners 311 momood lul.1~ Austin, ‘Ce;nas Re: C atr tian of the w of the g.l t e, 1943, 8ffecting the pr tic 0 deuistry. A?!?3 requesting our oonstruction of islature, relat- ing to the praot , has been given our careful cons wer the auuerous qucs- tiona which you e gire you our construet- and feel sure you can regulations concerning ed, without further as- Section 1 of Article 4%5Oa, as amended, provided that each dentist shall be registered with the State Board of Dental Exaklnere on or before Am-oh 1st of each calen- dar year, und pay a registration fee of $3.00. It is our construction of this portion of the &t that the annual fee means for the coleudar year beginning with &larch 1st of each year, aud that a $~..oo Pee Is required of each dsn- tfat Sor each par, and SuEe is due to be paid on or before Texas state Board OS Dental Examiners - page 2 the first day of each succearoive Idarch. Unless paid by that time, then before his liaense is reinstated by the Dental Board, he Is required to pay au additional $5.00, plus his delinquent annuel payment. If a dentist ie mu delinquent for his 1943 dues, or uan delfnquent on May l&h, rhea the x141 lar took effect, before he aan have his license renesed, he must par the annual dues of $5.00, plus the $0.00 ponaltp, and the ne* license or registration rould ex- pire on harch 1, 1944, at which tlale auother annual dues vi11 be payable. If a dentist becoxes deliuquent because he did not pay his dues by Marah 1, X344, before h9 aan be reinstated, he siust pay his &I.00 dues for 1944, plus a w.00 peoaltr, and the registration oertlfi- aate given upon said restoration would expire on Yaroh l# 1918.. IYlth referewe to ths dentists rho are in tbe Amed fforoee, the last sentence of Se&ion 2, of ,Lrticle 488oa readsr *Provided, horwer, that the requirc- ments governing the paynent of anwal regls- &ration fees and penatties for late regis- tration shall not apply to lieenseee ~bo are on astite duty with the Armed Forces of the United States of dnerlca and are not engaged In private or civilian prac- tice .s Our lnterprotation oP this exe&ion is that 4.f a dentist stands the em&nation before the Aoard and ab- tains his license While he is in the Armed Forces, or hav- ing previously obtained his license and is In the Arned r’oroes, he vi11 not owe any duee before bar& 1, lQ44. If, on karoh 1, lQ44, he Is still In said aerrioe, he rill not be required to pay an7 oP the annual duem ror the year end- ing U8rCh 1, lQ4S. If, hoverer, he is not In the Armed Forces prior to iarch 1, 1944, he rill ove the $S.oO dues for th9 year, begiming at that time, and will become de- linquent on karcrh lr lQ44 , although he may enter the ser- vice ou hareh 36, or at any time thereafter. IP, as a matter of fact, he is delinquent at the time he goes into the service, then rhen he cones out, bet’ore he osn have his lioense relnstatod, ho *ill be oompellod to pay all of his dues that rrere in arrears that bbecamedue betore he entered the service, together with all the penalties that attached before he entered the service. There is no specific provision in the statute as to how the Board my know or determine whether a dentist is In the serviae of the Armed Forces. It would be eutire- 17 propert and we think the best way to aeaertain these Pacts, to hare each dentist who goes into tha Armed Borcos notify the Board of said fact, and send ~,such lniormation relative thereto, as the Beard might need In deterxining the truthfulness OP the dentist’s represeutatkona. If, as a matter of foot, a dentist Is in the Armed foraea on or before Liarch 1st of anJ year, and remains until after March 1st of Said year, he cannot be jade to pey the $s.OO regis- tration fee for said year, neither oan he be made to pay the $S.OO penalty Por having Sailed to register. We trust that that we have said sul’f’ioiently answers iour inquiry. If there is any further informitlon desired,. let us know. Very truly yours TFXAS Gee. il. lkaraus lsai stant