GERALD C. MANN AURTXN XX.T&XAS
Hon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr. Opinion No. O-2651
County Attorney Rer Application of the
Shackelford County chauffeur’s license law in
Albany, Texas connect ion with Railroad
Commission driver's license.
Dear Sir:
We are in receipt of your letters of recent date
requesting our opinion whether the owner of a cattle truck,
registered far loads of 7,000 pounds, who has had a Railroad
Commission permit which has expired, should now be prose-
cuted for operating a motor vehicle without having obtained
a chauffeur’s license.
Reference is herein made to several statutory en-
actments passed by the Legislature and effective since the
last codification of our laws. Therefore, for the sake of
brevity and clarity, the various statutes from wtiich we quote
are numbered as shown in Vernon’s Annotated Texas Statutes.
Article 6687a, Civil Statutes~, in paragraph (.g) ae-
fines a chauffeur:
” (g) Chauffeur. Any person who operates a
motor vehicle for any purpose, whole or part time,
as an employee, servant, agent, or independent &on-
tractor, whether paid in salary or commission; and
every person who operates a motor vehicle while
such vehicle is in use for hire or lease.”
Section 2 of said Article 6687a provides that no
person shall drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this
state unless such person has been licensed either as an oper-~
ator or chauffeur, “except those expressly exempt ,under this
act .I’
Section 3. of the same article provides a number of
exceptions, and paragraph (c) reads as follows:
l’(c) Drivers of commercial motor vehicles
operating under, the jurisdiction of the Railroad
Commission of Texas who are required to have a
driver’s license issued by that department, shall
Hon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 2 (O-2651)
not be required to secure a chauffeur’s or oper-
ator’s license under the terms of this Act for
the operation of such vehicles, but such persons
shall be amenable to the other provisions of
this law Incident to the cancellation of chauf-
feur’s or operator’s licenses.”
The Texas Motor Carrier Act, Article 911b, requires
certain motor carriers operated for compensation or hire to
comply with its provisions, and the motor carrier must procure
either a certificate of convenience and necessity, if a ccmmon
carrier or a permit, if a contract carrier, from the Raflroad
Commiss I on of Texas. The term “‘motor carrfer” is defined in
paragraph (g) of Section 1 of Article 911b, as follcws:
“(g) The term ‘motor carrier means any person,
firm, corporation, company, co-partnership, associa-
tion or joint stock association, and their lessees,
receivers or trustees appointed by any court whatso-
ever, owning, controlling, managing, operating or
causing to be operated any motor propelled vehicle
used in transporting property for compensation or
hire over any public highway in this state, where in
the course of such transportation a highway between
two or more incorporated cities, towns or villages
is traversed; provided that the term ‘motor earrierl
as used in this Act shall not include, and this act
shall not apply to motor vehicles operated exclusively
within the incorporated limits of cities or towns.”
Paragraph (b), Section 4 of Article 911b, requires
the driver’s license referred to in paragraph (c) of Sectfon
3 of Article 6687a, supra. We quoter
l’(b) The Commission is hereby vested with power
and authority and it is hereby made its duty to re-
quire that each driver of a motor propelled vehicle own-
ed or operated by a motor carrier under the provisions
of this Act shall have a driver’s license, which li-
cense shall be issued by the Commission pursuant to an
examination testing the ability and fitness of the
applicant and under such rules and regulations as the
commission may prescribe; provided that every drLver
aforesaid shall acquire a driver’s license within
thirty (30) days after this Act takes effect and shall
annually thereafter on or before the anniversary of
the date of the original license acquire a renewal
thereof. Such license issued shall be for a term of
one year. The commission Is empowered further to issue
_ .- -
Hon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 3 (C-2651)
temporary licenses, in case of emergency, for such
term as the commission may deem ex edient; provided
such term shall not exceed ten (10 P days and there
shall be no right or privilege of renewal thereof.
The Commission is hereby authorized to collect a fee
of One Dollar ($l*OO) for each annual license fee or
renewal. The Commission may suspend or revoke any
such license for cause after notice and public hear-
Qx* It shall be unlawful for any motor carrier to
operate a motor propelled vehicle in this state un-
less such vehicle is operated by a driver holding an
unrevoked and uncanceled license issued by the Com-
mission.11
In order to answer your question it is necessary that
we construe the meaning of paragraph (c) of Section 3 of Arti-
cle 6687a, supra, in the light of the other statutes involved
and which we have set out herein. It will be noted the exemp-
:ion applies to drdvers of commercial motor vehicles operating
ylder the .lurlsdiction of tb Railroad Commission” etc.
Obviously, the fact that a vehicle had been operated
under a Railroad Commission permit would not justify, within
itself, the conclusion that it should continue to be used as a
motor carrier. Before the driver% license of the commission
could be required, the vehicle must be owned or operated by a
motor carrier. (Paragraph (b) of Section 4, Article 911b, su-
pra. > If we assume, as Intimated in your letters that the ve-
hicle is being operated, in violation of the Motor Carrier Act,
although it should, under the facts, be operated in compliance
therewith, and the driver thereof fails and refuses to obtain
a Railroad Commission driver’s license should he be entitled to
claim the exemption provided by paragraph (c) of Section 3,
Article 6687a? Unless the driver Is operating the vehicle as
a motor carrier, clearly he would not be entitled to the exemp-
tion; and if on the contrary he is operating the motor vehicle
as an employee, servant, agent or independent contractor, or
if the vehicle is In use for hire or lease, a chauffeur’s li-
cense is required.
We think the phrase QDder the iurisdicti n of th e
Railroad CB II in the statute under consideration ad-
mlts of the construction that it includes only those peGsons
operating commercial motor vehicles in conformity with the laws
authorizing the commission to assume jurisdiction. The phrase
“under and by virtue of” has been held to mean “by or through
the authority of. I’ The word %nder’ has the same signification.
It is also defined ‘Iin subordination to,“’ and “in accordance
or conformity with.” See Cent.Dict., Webster’s New Int. Diet.,
Bassett v. Wills, 89 Tex. 162, 34 S.W. 93*
Hon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 4 (0-2651)
As to the meaning of “jurisdiction” we quote from
Corpus Juris (35 C.J. 426)s
“Jurisdiction, derived from ‘Jus dicere’ or
ljus aiO0,' is a term in general use9 of compre-
hensive and large import. The term has differ-
ent meanings, dependent upon the connection in
which it Is found and the subject matter to which
it is directed. But it is often used without
any determinate signification. It is generally
defined as the authority or power which a man
has to do justice in causes of complaint brought
before him; the power and authority to declare
the law. As applied to a sovereign, either state
or nation, jurisdiction signifies the authority
to make, declare, and execute laws; the right
to apply the law to acts of persons. Jurisdic-
tion always emanates directly and immediately
from the law; it is a Power which nobody uponwbom
the law has not conferred it can exercise0 I
See also Withers v. Patterson, 27 Tex. 491, 86 Am.
D. 643; Commonwealth v. Breakwater Co., 214 Mass. 10, 100 N&i.
1034.
Under the foregoing authorities, the operation in
question is not “under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commis-
sion” :although same may be “subject to” its jurisdiction. It
is, therefore, our opinion that the exemption set up in para-
graph (4 9 Section 3 of Article 6687a is not applicable and
prosecution will lie under the facts submitted by you, for fail-
ure to comply with the chauffeur’s license law.
Your first letter gave us the impression that your
question was whether a person should be required to obtain a
chauffeur’s license where he used his own truck to haul prop-
erty owned by him, Such question was fully answered in the
opinion heretofore sent to you.
Yours very truly
APPROVEDAUG 30, 1940 ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
/s/ Grover Sellers By /s/ Benjamin Woodal.
FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY Benjamin Woodall, Assistant
GENERAL
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
BY: BWB, CHAIRMAN
BWrob sub