Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

239 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Hoaonblo Stanrall Bryan Diatriot Attomer XoLoaaul maatif Waco, Tex88 the above rhted being diatuzbd ln the proamst “2. DcO~ Artid 4$76A bdIi$ chaPt.0~ 3A Of Title 1 of thm 3evl8ed Statutes of We Bbte of Texas 1Acts of tb 46th Leglmlature, l.sfS, p.376) support a oomplaint rplnst a person vho menufac- tUl"W in I(OhXlMll COlUlt~, bXA#, fO&' Hell* 8 240 Honorable Stauaell Bm, Pago 2 nattreaa vhlch oonkina aeacnd-hand aaterlal vlthout atk h%q to much uttreaa a tag 88 rovlded br 1 o) of 3eotion 2 of raid Artlale P476At 5. Doer Artialo #76A born Chapter 3A of Title 71 OS he Beviaed Btatutea of the Stat. OS Texas t Aota of the 46th Legialeture, lgfg, pr 376) mo p p o rataoapIaint lg ir uta p er so n wh o M nuf~0tur ala 8lc LenM nCo lla r , Texas Sor male, a rttreaa vlthcut attach- ing t&w&o a trg rovlded by (a) of rkotlon 2 of maid Artiole P476At ” . . . . “It vi11 k obaarved that (a) of Beation 2 of Aptlole U76A vholly fall8 to dofIrm arq prrtioubr aot vhloh ahall oonatltute an of- fens. ad fiila to dealgtnte my partiaular parron vhoao aat woultl aonatitute a violation. Than la nothhg in thm Aat that mkoa the meow8 0~ nie oc p088088ion of UI 8r- tiolo of bw¶din$ dovoid of the required tag, a vio&tlon under Bootion 9. “Uhat ham been a&ted above appl1.a elao to (0) or maid Section 2 of Art1010 0476A. ¶%%alubdivialon La ll.ightly aore defialte in that the exprea$ion ia uaed ‘Every artiole of bedding manufactured for remale’, but there la no provlalcn that aonatltutoa the aot of aanufaoture or the aot of rearlling, or the act or having in ono~a poaaeaalon, an offense. I . . . . “(b) of Seotioa 9 provider that laoh day OS vlolatlon shell oonatitute a lepalwlto of- tenme, mid ft is manLteat at once that there la no provision in the statute that vould ln- dicake ubat la meant br ‘day of violation’. I . . . , L Eononblo 3tanr.11 Bryan, Page 3 300. 2(o) of Artlolo 4476a, Vemonta Annotated Civil Statutes, providema %vory article of beddlng rmUaotumd for renal, aontainlng second-hand mate&al, shall b o a rlrounly , lovn thereto on all four aider o fth ek g , e dboth lidea of a tta c hto the article of bedding, l aubatantial vhito 010th tag four (4) by olght (8) inches in aim, upon vhloh &all bo indollbl~ *tamped orprlnted In red ink, in the Bngliah laa- ~~r~~~",~,n~~~~*~o~~~f l Ueb a to r ~a Intematloaal definer the verb %mnu- ircture” aa “to make by haad, by uohinmry, or athor ageno~.’ In a almllar altuatlon it vea hold In City of Louiarllle vs. lvlag Vol-Allmen Dairy Co., 105 3.Y. (2d) 801, 268 Ky. 652 thatr “A corporation oagaged ln paatourialng mv milk vu8 not ongaged in %anufaoturlng~ . rinoe no nov produat van created and iniy*mllk rmf&md aftor the paateurlalng proaoaa.” In view of the prooeaa doaorlbed In your letter, in vhloh the bedding, am l vholo, paaaoa through the process vith ~elther the coverigg nor aay part of the structural M- turo ot tha mattmaa being disturbed, and in anavor to your first quoatlon am stated above, rou lzu reapootfully advised that %otl.on 21.) vi11 not support a complaint under your de- lorlbed proaraa. Yo urlo o o nd and third queatlona are anavanblo in tb 8frirrative. Art. 4k76a reads, in pot, am follova: '(a) The ton %wlding~ a$ uaod in this Aot ah11 moan mattroaa~a, pillova, bolsters, feather beds mid other filled boddlng of any doaoriptlon.a 242 Honorable Stansell B-an, Page 4 ‘3ea. 2. Wmlllng of Bedding Required: ‘(a) All bedding shall b o a l reouroly at- tached thereto and plainly vlalbl~, a lubatantlal vhlto cloth tag upon vhioh shall bo lndollblr stamped or printed vlth bl&ck Ink, in the IPlgliah language, a atatomont lhodng vhathor now rtorl- ala or second hand ntoriala hvo ken used ln filling much boddlng, and tm or gnde of cotton and a11 other mtorlala uaod In filling rttroaa to vhloh ltk o h evhen d nov rtorlala are used, r lthlpproxlmto p o r c o nta vheng e arlxod; vht gwmioidal troatnnt, if any, ham born applied to tha utoriala or to the beddlngj the date of auoh gemloi~l treatment, the number o? the por- mlt of the poraoa manufacturing the bedding; and tha numbor of tha penalt o? the poraon applying much gmmloldal traatment, if any. ‘(b) Tha tons used on tha tag to deaoribe materlala shall k restricted to thorns defined in the regulationa of the Departrent, and no trade or lubatltute terms ahall be used. "(0) It shall be unl~v?ul to make any ?a180 or rial~bding statements on the tag n- qtired by thla moot&m. It shall ba unlav?ul for uq person to move, deface, altar, or cauao to be moved, dofaord or altored, any tag or ltatoment contained thereon for the pur- porno of dofoatlng any of the provisions of him Act. The plaolng of ngiatmtlon ataapa ro- quimd In Bootion 7 of this Act over any lotter- lng on the tag, shall ba oonatruod to ba defaoe- mult of the kg. ‘(d) The also of the tag to be l??i.xed to nev bedding required by this section shall not be loam than mix (6) aqume Inches, and the lot- trring thomon, ooverlng tb ltatomont of fllllng rtorlala, ah411 be in plain typo not leas than o n* llghth ( l/ inch 8) Inh e ig h t. ‘(0) Bvery artiolo of Eeddlng awwfaotund for reaalo oontalning second-hand matorlal, shall Honorable Stanroll Bwan, Pago 5 bear, l oourely awn thereto on all four alder of tha tag, attached to both aid~a of the ar- tlclm of beddIn& a lubrtaatlal vhlts cloth tag four (4) by eight (8) lnohea la also, upon vhlch shall be lndollblz ltamp@d or printed l.n red ink, in the Zngllah lazquage, in plain type not loam tlmn one-half ( ) Inch la height, atat- ingj ~r.eoond-haul mbter t 1. t . . . . . “s.0. 5. Enioraament of lot: ‘The Stat. IWard of Health %a hereby charged vith the enforcement of this Act, for the pro- tection of health and to provent the spread of dlaeaa~. It la further empovand, and its duty shall be to make, uond, altar or ropaal gmwal ruler and regulations of procedum for carrying into offeat all the provlalona of this Act, and to prescribe metma, methods, and pmotioea to make rffrotlvo much provisions. . . . . . %eo . 9. Puialtlsa: hq poraon, who ahall be oonvloted of violeX. - .. i of’ any of the provisions of this Act, or or tno ruloa and regulations eabbllahed thora- uadar, shall ba sentenced to pe a flno of not leaa than Fifty Dollara ($SO.OOf nor non than One Hundnd Dollars ($100.00) for each offrnao. “(b) Xaoh dar of violation almll aonatltute a repante orfenae. . . * . .I Aa rot should k given l fair, ratlonel, reasonable and aonalblo oonatruotlon, considering it.8 language and aub- jeot mattar and vith a view to ooaompliahlng the leglalatlvo intent and purpose. (Tuma Surla. Vol. 39, p. 172, with au- thorities olted thonin.) 24.4 Honorable Stanaall Bryan, Page 6 Section 2(a), lupra, applier to “all bedding”, Certainly a vmnu?aoturer o? bedding would br on notice that an-omlaalon of the pnacrlbed tag vould bo In vlola- tlon of that r*otion. Section 2(a) and the dofinltlon of bedding In fhctlon l( a ),lupra, rafor to tha bedding after the manu- ?8oture or g*zsloldal treatment. Uo oonolud* that upon the oomplotlon of manu?aotun or romnufaoturo, 3eotlon 2(a) beooma applloable and the prescribed tag la required to be p&ad thoreon forthvlth. I? tbo kg la omlttod, or not am preaoribad, See- tlon 9, lupra, provider tb penalty for tha “vlolatlon of m of the provlalona of this Act. - (Emph8818ours) Sootion 2(a), aupra, prcvldea, ‘Evrry article of bedding manufrotumd for resale oontalniag second band material shall bear , . .’ It is lppareat that upon the oomplotion of manufaoturo and if t&n la an intent to m- sell, an orlaalon to plhca the prescribed tag thereon forth- with lr In violation of that section and thereby punishable under Bbctlon 9. It vlll bo not& that beddlmz vithln Section 2(e) la also vlthin Sootlon 2(a) and tkt two dlffomnt tags are n&red. Under Smtion 2(a) and (0) the mrp~albflltp for A violation la personal by the expnaa twma of. Section 9, sup=, and mompI tti person or persona oharged vith the duty of attaching the teg. lo reforonoe to “day of vlolatlon”, It la our opin- ion that the &glalature intended an offeaao upon the failure to p&co the pnaorlbwl tag upon much bedding am above set forth, and th8t each day, or fraatlonal pbrt of a day, auoh SalLure continued vould be a sepamto offenro. 3y the vord %8y’ la msnt a “oalomdar daf, or from midnight to midnight, Truatlng t&t the foregoing ?ullr answers your in- quiry, v* remain Yours very truly OF ‘IWCAS Al’l’ORllEYOERERAL