OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Earry Nor, Chaiman
State Soard of Control
Auetln, Texas
Dear Sir:
with t&o bon
civil Statutes,:1925, derin-
d to the State Tuberculosis
with tuberbulosis who
citizena of this State end of
vrhiohhe or she co.xeaat the
of: their azplication with the
hsrelnaftcr provide&, shall
snid institutions. A citizen
is defined to ba 6113 person who
13 resided therein with the bona
tide intention of being a citizen thereof for
e period of txslve months next preceding the
date of suoh aypllcotion.n
Xe undarstaad thet in the nd.z.inistratlon
of the
ict a .queetlonh&n Seen raised a~ to whether nn alien rssic?ent
Wt born or caturaiized ia the United States, may be ad.aitted
hoonorableBarry Knox, ifagei?
to the fnetitution.
The term ~~ofti?ml",like "rdsidence* lind"domicile*
18 not alkays casgblrror precise definition, but my in dir-
ftrent circumstances be used in different sensea. The fol-
losin Snalysis ia found in 14 C. J. ii., 2. 1127:
*It La not R term of exact naaning; it
is cap ble of xora zmnings than one, and has
baen variously defined. In its primary sense
it si@af~ies oae,who ia vzsted with the freedom
and priVile@?S Of A City, a f?X?t?Ma Of A city,
as distingpiahed fro3 a foreii;oertor one not
antitlod to its frmchises; an inhabitant of a
city, A tov2nsman. In 61impax samis, the t .orm
denote8 om nho, as A zznbar Of A Wition or Of
a body poiftic of A sovereign state, 0~s alle-
giance to, and may claim raciarocal protection
frOEI, ft S ~,~QXZL%?Jlt ; Erndit ia 8oxEtimQasae-
tine& 68 onfmwh3 is do.niciledin a country, and
who is a citizen, although neither native nor
naturalized, 1.nsuch A senst,that ha takea his
legi1 status from such conntry. .* .w *
-In A32arican
Law‘citizen’ ,is PATiOus
defined a8 one who haa a right'to iote for
re~reseatntion in congress and other ,publia
olficore, and who is qualified to fill oflices
within ths gift 02~the people; one OS the sov-
ereign gsople; a constituent mamber of the sov-
ereignty, s~nonymue with ths people; A xmbsr
of tha oivil state, entitled to all its ?rivileF;es;
tree inhabitnnt born within the United Sates, or
naturalized under the Lsrs of conl;rcan;in a
polltlcal sense, one who has the ri&ts and priv-
ileges of a citizen of A state or of the United
Gtatos.
*The particular meaninS of the rord *cit.lxen~
is Sraquantlydepandsnt on the context In Ahich
it ia iound, and the rrordeiust01~zyys be takea in
the sense which best harmonizes with the subject
mtter in which it is used. Une my ba considered
a aitizen for 00za yurpooos and not a clt,izonfor
Other 2urpoaes, as, for instance, ior commercial
WX~O.%S) nnd not for political pur;:osoe.
There is some confusion in le& nomenclature,
in resgcct of the tor;;?sloitizsn*, *inbabitantV,
fbnorable’Harry Knox, Page 3
a0a *msihnt.* 'Citizen' ia not neceasarilg
synonymus orea~,coavertiblctern,,with *In-
habltont’ Gr"rH3idont', an& ill 50x8 Caael3
the ai5tiuCtiOu iS fKZ;3Gd.CZt. 'Citizen is,
however ( soPetlrnes usea S~Gtlj?XJZiSly with
such term without eny inglioatton of political
or civil grivilegsa. It nay indicate e ger-
gDnent reaiaCnt, or ona who renalne r0r a
timI, or fro3 ttiaeto tim.”
The Legislrtture io this iastanoe has $ivcn a parti-
euler deiinition to the tern *citizean in the statute. Airs
&efrneQ in krticlo 3240 it depends upon aCtu%l rcsideaoe
v;ithinthe state for a period of twelve goutho next preceding
th0 aatn of aapliontioa coupled with the bona fide ictetition
of “baing 9 citizsnb of the state. . It ~A11 be noted that
Article 3240 does not provide for a bona fid3 intention to
becom a oitizan, but of beins a oftizan. Ordinarily atze
‘aLtfzu5~hipcont~~plntes menshlg in the mt5a Ztstes,
by birth or haturalkation, on’lof the state by dmicile or
resideace. Evidently the Legialaturc dlrfnot have aliens in
mind G~sn enacting this Hxitute, but ~35 macerued with estab-
liahing a rosi&mce requiremst which would probably be xor’o
or less pamanent In it3 character. ft is apparent that the
purgo%e of i;ha liaitatlon is to erafet;uard G@OS t .s!i&mition
iato the state in order to necure tha benefits provided, aad
to deny adtittsnce tr,transient persons who ZBY be within the
state only teqmarily.
Two inplications awaybe drawn fro= the lene-aage
usea. It nay be reasombly contended that eiriCQCitixne Of’
tha iJnltedStates obtain etate citizenshi> by residence slth-
ic th0 state, the definition pr6-33~;~0363t%‘iited lit%t05Citi-
re~hig and only attmgts to glaos a restriction u?on the per-
iod of actual renidcaoe within the statu of cltizess of the
baited States nho coz into ycruf3froi3 other st:~tcoor r0dgn
countries. On the other bend, it my be ur;;edwith 3~~31
foroe that the L&slnture did not have in r;icdaliens and
Old not intend to exclu%e aliens who are do;siofladhere, or
*ho are per;anent j.nttbitnnts of the state, but set a rcini.vU%
Fsriod cf resiCsnce within the state nccm~anie~ by the bGnZ
ride intention to remtn. Givm this m3entn~ tha’bem “clti-
Zen” would not ba used in the sense of iqlyiut$ poLitiOa1
cllagiaace, or aitizetshi? in its stricter sense, but us
1kLting the faoiiities of the LanatoriU t0 pePZEmeat ia-
hbitents of tha state.
ConsiQcrinS the subject mtt0r tind pIZ:)cJS3 Of th3
monorable IfarrpKnox, ?age 4
rbicb nay be tranmitted froli one person to another and its
control and prevention haa been 8 source of much research
ona effort for a nunbsr Of years. ?'hilothe patient suffer-
iug 1x03 tuberculosis rcceivea fl paculi~ benefit at the
bands of the state throu&~ tha m3dl.u~~ of the L;anatorlun,
the ostablishmnt of EliCh an institution 13 also a publio
health neasurc designed to banefit the public generally by
eradication of the disease and the prevention of its trsns-
liesion to 'others. ';:e
think the .wr6 reaaonable construc-
tion is that the Legislature in defining the mrd *citizen*
did not intend to oohfiae it to its political or narrower
,~ax~izkg,
but eas atteqtlng to set up a standard of ectual
xcsidenoe and iqtsntion so a8 to exclude those ?eroona who
would probably not be pomanent inhzzbltkntaof ths state.
ft is also noted t&t Article 4242, Eevised Civil Xatutos,
1025, which grovfdos for the a>~licatJon, requires that it
rdow age, nativity, and residence of :,atientfor two years
next preceding th2 date of the a??lication, but mice8 30
inquiry concerning present citizenship, naturalization or
otbsr intorxuitionof this nature.
.It i3 our opinion that P parson afflicted with
tuberaulosia, not born in Texas, who has resided in Texoa
for more than three years, with the bona fide inteution of
.beicg a oitfzn thereof, zay be udzitted to the State Tubercu-
i;m&s Sanatoriaa under ArtitQo 3240, i&vised Civil Statutes,
.
In anewer to yo*ursecohd question, i,tis hour opinion
fhat a bone fide intention to ostsbliah a domioilo in Texas
an6 becozo an inhabitant thereof, constitutes the intention
Cohtezplatsdwithin iha 3E:aaingof hrticlc 3240, T&vised Civil
Statute&, 1925.
Pcurs very tmlg
ATl’OX?hYOZX’EiXL03’TZXtiS
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion