THICATTORNEY GENERAL
OF-TEXAS
Honorable A. E. Wood, Chairman
Game, Fish hnd Oyster Commission
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: OpinFon No. 0-3794
Re: Meaning of phrase "places of'.
business" within Article 934a,
Vernon's Annotated Penal Code.
This will acknowledge your letter of July 18, 1941,
requesting that we clarify our holding in Opinion No. O-1596.
You state thst:
"This opinion was rendered by your Department
on October 18, 1939. You held, in effect, that
a wholesale fish dealer who maintained a receiving
station should have a wholesale fish dealers's li-
cense clisplaged in the place of bualness. You de-
fine& a place of business and to my mind clearly
rule& that a person operating a receiving statlon
should have a license displayed at h,ls place of
business to be within the law.
"However, a place of business as defined in
the Act Is aa follows:
"'Places of business as used in this Act, in-
elude the places where orders for aquatic products
are received or where acquatlc products are sold.'
"In order to avoid paying the license some of
the fish houses are maintaining receiving stations
and are shlpping the marine products received there
to their general headquarters by either truck or
rail, alid shipments are made from their general
he&quarters. Others have trucks that take fish
from their receiving stations and go up-state and
deliver fish to retailers or to consumers~~without
the fish ever having gone by their headquarters.
You then ask the following questions:
"1 . Is a receiving station where aquatic pro-
ducts are received or bought as above related, a
Honorable A. E. Wood, Chairman, page 2 0 -3794
place of business within the purview of the Act
discussed in your original opinion?
“2 . Can a wholesale fish dealer with head-
quax%ers in one town operate a receiving station
in another town without having a license dis-
played at such receiving station when all of the
marMe proUucta received at such receiving sta-
tion are shipped to his general headquarters for
shi:pment from there?
“3 . Can a wholesale fish dealer with head-
qua:lters In one town, operate a receiving sta-
tion in another town without havlng a license
displayed at such receiving station where all or
a portion ,of the marine products received at such
rec1sFving station are placed on a truck and sent
into other portions of the state for delivery to
retailers or to consumers?
Article 934a, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code, as a-
mended, reads, In part, as follows:
“Sec. 3. The licenses and the fees to be
paid for the same are hereby provided for In this
Act and are as follows:
II
. . . .
Wholesale Fish Dealers ’ License
eac’h”Eiace of business, Two Hundred Dollir~“p$~~~).
. . . *
“11. Place of business, as used in this Act,
shall Include the place where orders for aquatic
products are received, or where aquatic products
are sold and If sold from a vehicle, the vehicle
on ,which, or from which such aquatlc products are
~0115, shall oonstltute a place of business. The
license shall at all times be publlolg dIsi;a;;d
by the dealer In his place of business so
be easily seen by the public and the employees of
the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission. And Lf any
aquatic products are transported for the purpose
of sale in any vehicle the license required of such
dealer shall be displayed inside of such vehicle.
Provided that no person shall bring Into this State
any aquatic products and in this State offer same
for sale without procuring the license required for
Honorable A. E. Woods, Chairman, page 3 o-3794
such a transaction by a dealer in this State, and
the fact that such aquatic products were caught In
another State shall not entitle the person claim-
ing to have caught them to sell same in this State
as a commercial flaherman."
In Opinion No. O-1596 this department held that
the intent of the Legislature in Article 934a of Vernon's
Annotated Penal Code was to require wholesale fish dealers
to pay a'fee for each place of business. We further held
that a "place of business" is not limited to a place ~"where
orders for aquatlc products are received, or where aquatic
products are sold."
Enlarging upon the definition of "places of busI-
ness" given In Opinion No. O-1596, it 1s our opinion that
the phrase Is to be understood in its usual and ordinary
significance; and a "place of bualness" is a place where
any portlon of the business of a dealer is conducted.
Accordingly, your questions are answered as follows:
1. Yes.
2. No.
3. No.
Very truly yours
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
By s/James D. Smullen
James D. Smullen
Assistant
JDS :LM:wc
APPROVEDJULY 25, 1941
s/Grover Sellers
FIRST ASSISTANT
ATTORNEYGENERAL
Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman