The Honorable L. Ludwell Jones Opinion No. H- 81
Chairman, Texas State Board of
Public Accountancy Re: Requirement that a
Perry Brooks Building person to be certified
Austin, Texas 78701 as a certified public
accountant be a citizen
Dear Mr. Jones: of the United States
In your letter of July 12, you state that the Texas State Board of Public
Accountancy has received a reciprocal application which it would like to
approve provided the United States citizenship requirement of Article 41a,
$12, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, the Public Accountancy Act of 1945
(hereafter “the Act”) does not apply to reciprocal applicants and provided
further that the foreign accounting body granting the original certificate
agrees to reciprocate in a like manner.
The granting of a certificate by reciprocity is governed by $13 of the
Act, which provides in part:
“(a) The Board may in its discretion waive the
examination of, and may issue a certificate of
‘Certified Public Accountant’ tq any person possess-
ing the other qualifications mentioned in Section 12 of
this Act . . . ”
Section 12 of the Act, delineating those entitled to be certificated, states
that the certificate of a Certified Ptiblic Accountant shall be granted by the
Board to any person:
“(a) Who is a citizen of the United States or
who, if not a citizen, has lived in the State of Texas
for the ninety days immediately preceding the date
of submitting to the Board the initial application to
take the written examination conducted by the Boar,d
p. 367
The Honorable L. LudweILI Jones, page 2 (H-81)
for the purpose of granting a certificate of ‘Certified
Public Accountant.‘, or has ma~intained his permanent
legal residence in Texas for the six months immed-
la,t&y prece&ing said date of submissi,on; and
“(‘b) Who i,s a resident of the State of Texas, or
has a pl.ace of business therein, or as an employee,
‘1s regularly employed therein, and provided that any
person who shall{ have qualified to take the examination
for the certificate in th,,is stat:e, and who, while so
qualified shall,:! have received credit. for all or any part
thereof, s’ha1.l rema,in qu;l.li,fied under this Subsection
until he rece,ives his certyificate; . . . ”
Prior t:u amendmerIt of the st:atute in 1971. (Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 935,
ch. 146) $12 of 1:he Act merel,,y provided:
“Wh,o is 3, citizen of the Unitted States or has duly
decl.ared his intention of becoming such citizen; . . . ‘I
This office on several occasions has held licens,ing statutes which require,
as a condition precedent t:hst applicants for license be citizens of the United
States,, are unconstitut.lonal. in v;olation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States. For instance, Opini,on O-866 (1939) held
unconstitutional, and vo’id the requirement of Article 4501, V. T. C. S. , ‘that an
appiicact for Recense to practi~re medi~ci,ne must ‘be a citizen of the United
States or have fi!ed his decI,aPation of intention to become a citizen. See also
Attorney General Op,ir&n R,-2247 (1950).
In 1969 the sd.me ruI1.e was appl,ied ,in At:torney General Opinion M-447 (1969)
to Article 4528~ auempting t:o l,imit :Kcensure of \oca,tiona:l, nurses to citizens
of the Un;ted States.
These opi.nixr~s may hd!T~e prompted the amendment in 1971 to $ 12. .We doubt,
however, t.hat l.hey achieved tha,t: resu1l.t. It: is our opin:on t.hat 5 i2 as amended
still 1imil:s certif icat:ion to cit:izens of the United States or to non-citizens who
have lived in t:he State of Texas for :uinety days or who have maintained permanent
legal resideu e for six months. No such cunditions are imposed upon those who
p. 368
The Honorable L. Ludwell Jones, page 3 (H-81)
are citizens. Citizens of the United States may be certificated wherever they
have lived for the ninety day period or regardless of whether they have main-
tained a legal residence in Texas for six months. In our opinion this consti-
tutes an invidious discrj.mination which cannot be justified as a reasonable
classification when applied to an alien who has lawfully been admitted to this
country. Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365, 29 L. Ed.2d 534, 91 S. Ct.
1848 (1971). However, a non-resident aliin, i. e., one who is not resident in
the United States, is not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Con-
stitution of the Unitred States and therefore, we think, the provis.ions and
requirements of the statute, as applied to such a person would be valid.
Therefore, it is our opinion that as to reciprocity, an alien resident of
the United States, who holds a certificate as Certified Public Accountant issued
under the laws of any state or territory or its equivalent having been issued
in any foreign country shall be entitled to reciprocal certification as a
Certified Pub1i.c Accountant if he meets the other requirements of 5 $ 12 and
13 as to age, character, educati,on, etc.
SUMMARY
Aliens who lawfully reside in the United States may,
not ‘be denied the right to be reciprocally licensed under
State law sole?y because they are not citizens and may
not be subjected to Texas residency requirements which
are not imposed upon United States citizens. Non-resident
aliens may ‘be const:itutional.ly subjected to such residency
requirements.
Very truly yours,
xj?i&
JOHN L. H L
Attorney General of Texas
JwC
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee p. 369