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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Harvey Shell, Chairman
LegislativeGame and Fish Committee
House of Representatives
Austin, .Te'xas
Dear Sir:
policy in matters 0r this
LegislativeCommitteeon
ever, we presume.,that.the
mine for the Commit
tion is necessary t
sition that peo-
nd other St.&es
o fish in the
The coast people feel that
ness is one of the three top
ing outside money into this
t this law and the enforce-
ch is being enforced now under
i ' our new Director of the Coestal Division is
5 oausing lots of tourists to stay clear of
the Texas Casst.
Wow, tinesmuchas there is something like
30,000 non-residentsoldiers drawing a very
meager salary, even as low as $21.00 a month,
HonorableHarvey Shell, Chairman, Page 2
who are on our Coast for temporary training
to Proteot our oountry if and when we should
get Snto Ls5'ar,
and no provision is made in
the present Law exempting anyone, I em re-
questing your formal opinion on whether or
not these soldiers should pay this #g.OO
license to enjoy about the only reoreation
that is availableto them.*
Article 4032a, Vernon's Annotated Texas Civil Stat-
utes, reade as follows:
Yieo. 1. No person who Is a non-resl-
dent of Texas, or who is en alien, shall fish
in the waters of this State without first
having procured Prom the Came, Fish and
Oyster Commission of Texas, or a Deputy Came
Xarden thereof, or from a County Olerk in
Texas, or other legally authorized agent,
a license to'fiah; and no person who is a
resident of this State shall fish with
artificiallures of any kind in the waters
of this State without first having procured
from the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission,
or a Deputy thereof, or from a County Clerk
in Texas, or other legally authorizedagent,
a license to fish.
Wee. 2. Any officer, deputy of legally
authorizedagent, issuing any license .toliah
,
under the provisionsof this Act, shall ool-
lect from the person to whom the license ia
issued the following fees!
"(1) If issued to a resident the sum
of One Dollar and Ten Centa ($l.lOj,of which
amount&e shall retain as his fee Ten (log)
Cents, the balance of which amount he shall
remit to the Came, Fish end Oyster COSUII~S-
sioner on or before the 10th day of the
month next suoceedfng that during which said
license was issued.
"(2) If issued to a non-residentor an
alien, the sum of Five Dollars ($S.OO),of
which amount he shall retain as iliS fee
737
Honorable Harvey Shell, Chairman,Page 3
Twenty Five (25#),Cents, the balanoe of whloh
amount he shall remit to the %me, Fish and
Oyster Commlssloneras required under sub-
division One (1.)of this section; provided
that he may Issue to such nonresidenta
license good for only five (5) days, ln-
eluding the day of issuance,upon payment
by thelicenseeof One Bcllar and Ten Cents
($l.lO),of which amount the offloer so : .,’
isauing said license shall retain as his
fee Ten (10) Cents, and the balance of
which amount he shall remIt to the Game,
Fish and Oyster Commissioneras provided for
in subdivisionOne (1) of this seotion. .
'The offioer Issuing such lioense shall
keep a complete and correot reoord of each
fishing license.issued,'shcwlng the name and
plaoe of residenoe of eaoh lioensee and the
serial number and date of issuanoe of said
license, on suoh form as the Game, Fish end
Oyster Commissionermay prescribei.and the
stubs of such licenses tindthe record thers-
of sha3.1belong to the State of Texas,
and shall be filed with said Co@laaioner
aa and when 'hemay direct.
nThe.lloansesprcvided~forhereIn shall
entitle the hclder thereH to fish In the
waters desoribed in this Act until end in-
cluding August 31st next succeedlng~thedate
of issuance thereof, except that the five (5)
days license shall,be glsodonly for the five
days frcn and inoludingthe day of the is-
suanoe thereof; and every license issued under
the provisions of this Act shall oontain; the
true date of'Issuance thereof, the 'nameof
licensee, his age; height, weight, color of
hair, color of eyes, county of residence, If
a resident of Texas, State or County Of resi-
dence, If,a nonresidentof Texas or an alien,
and such other informationas the Commissioner
may deem advisable to require, and the liceneee
shall sign upon said lioense a pledge to obey
the laws of Texas as to fishing.
HonorableHarvey Shell, Chairman, Page k
*Sea. 3. Any person required under the
provisions orthis &t to prooure a lloense
to fish.who shall fish in, or w&o shall tshe
by any means'f~isb,oysters, shrimp or other
l%rLinelife in any of the water8 of this
State in violation of the provisionsof this
Act without first proourlng cuoh license, or
who shall fail or refuse, ondemand by any
offloer, to show suoh officer his fishing
license requiredof him by this Act, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanorand, upon
conviotion,shall be fined in any sum not
less than Ten ($10.00)Dollars nor :ilorethan
One Hundred {jlOQ.OO)Dpllars; provided,
the provisions of this sot shall not apply
to a resident oitizen of Texas who holds a
license for oommeroialfishing under Artiole
I+032of the Revised Ciril Statutes of Texas,
of 1925, so long as he doss XLI.~oommerolal
fishing.
"SWO. 4. By the term non-resident,a8
used in this Act; shall be meant any oitizen
of the United States of America who is not
a citizen of the B%hte of Texas, who has oon-
tinuously for fourmonths next preceding
the issusnce,ofthe~fishingliownse to him
been an actual bona fide resident of the
State of Texas.
"Sea. 5. All funds obtained from the
sale of the licenses provided herein, after
the payment of the fees allowed under this
Aot, shall be deposited by the Game, Fish
and Oyster Commissionwrin a spwolal fund
to be known as the Speolal Fish Propagation
and Protection Fund; and this fund shall be
used for the purpose of building and main-
taining fish hatcheries,fairly distributed
over the State of Texas and for the propaga-
tion, distributionand proteotionof fish
in the State of Taxes."
The above statute par:sedby the 40th Legislature
of Texas olearly applies to all non-residents.
73?
HonorableHarvey Shell, Chairman, Page 5
Article 1, Section 28, of our State Constitution,
reads as follows:
"No po&r of suspendinglaws in this State
shall beexeroiswderoept by the Legislature.*
You are therefore respeotfullyadvised that it is
the opinion of this department that since the Legislature has
seen fit to require a lioense of non-residents,no officer or
egenoy of the executive or judicialbranohes possesses power
to suspend the enforaementof such law.
Whether such law should be repealed is e question
addressingitself peouliarly and exclusivelyto the Legls-
laturw.
Very truly yours
ATTOJI%EYGENhRALOFTEXAS
Wm. J. Fanning
Assistant
:'(JF:GO,