Honorabk Jullra Rtontgorrery
Etrta HIghway Eogkeer
Austin. forss
mar strr ipklon No. o-2011
Ro: h which county should tba
buses of the All bmorlcan
Bus L.&~S. Inc., k ro~isterrd7
W’a we k rscript of your letter of &btarch 4, 1943,
In whkb you request aa opkloa of this department es to tie.
county ta nhkh the buses VT thhrAll Amrrlcan Bus ~Lnes.
lncorporatod, should bo rogtstcrd. ?be followkpl facts are
cmtalnat in your Ietter:
‘Tbe hll Amsrk*rr Bus :..ines. lacorporatec.
is l Delaware Corporation with Its corporata
hebdquarters in Los rrsgeles. CbUfornla Ii op-
eratea motor buses through the Stata uf Tewc: lx.
cluaivoly inter state They du not have l p r mlt
to do business k Texas l I l foreleo corporation.
neither do they have n common-trrrkr pomnit
frmn the Edlrum! C-Ynmtssion to traasport pas-
sengers for hlra. but cperrtr ‘tin a pennuwnt fed-
eral l4ajunctioaLssuod In Trrvk Cotrnty out of the
ban Antonto Federal Uhtrlct Court.
‘They o p u r a ta lcrws Toras over L’. S. Hlghray
77 worth of C1ekesrllb to Dalks lsd over U. 6
Highway 60 to El Peso and to the aorthwost bto
New Mlsxku.
.Ths prlacipal place of busiaess to Dallas whore
an agoat is amplayed who k b chdrga of tbo Tour
cad :. ldahoma burinc*r. They alsa hare aa bttoraey
k Dalks npon whom rarvke may bo had. ln addttloa
tu this, they mbintak sorvke garqps LaDdhs 8nd
El %se for servkhg and rrpairiag their buses.’
. .
Hon. Julleo Montgomery, page 2
h oplalon No. O-2053 tbts dopmtrnsnt discussed the
questloa of la which county tbc motor vehklcs of a forolga
cwporatloa should bc rcgistcrcd crad In answer thercto ruled
as follows:
4nztlclc Of7b of the Penal Cede, provldcs la
part aa follows;
4 ‘Sec. 2. A a~arosldcat owner of l motor
vcblclc trctlcr or semi-trailer whtch hoc bean
duly reg1stcrcd for the current year In the State
or county ef whhb the owner la a resident and
la accordascc with tbc laws tbcreof, may. in Ibu
of registerlop, such vchlclc as otherwise required
by f&w, apply to the State WtghWay Lepartmcnt
throu$u a couaty T8r Collector fur the ragtstra-
tlon thereof cc provided by few. . . .’
4brtkk 8L7b, Scctlon 1. of the Scan1 Code,
defines l ‘non-rcsfdeat’ es follows:
a ’ *Non-residentm mans every rcs(dcnt of
a state or county other tbaa the State of TOWS
whose sojourn k this State, or whose occupatlan,
or place of abode, or bushess in tbls State, If my,
co*rrrs a total perkd afn ot more than omc hundred
mkdtventy dsys fn the cdcttdar year.’
% ybur qucstloa you state thnt the non-restdent
regularly opcratos into or through TCXM. :>bvloasly.
you are +onecracd wlth the county of registration
of 8s ladWdua1 or corporstion th8t would not bc
a ‘mm-rcs(dont’ as deffacd abow.
‘The effect uf the fe~fshtlvo dofinltlon of ‘DOSI-
restdeat’ as quoted above la to mehe a person or
corporetlon who la a legal nsLdettt of another
stl but operates in Tens formore then one
hundred and twenty (IL51days a year a ‘rosfded
of Texas for ro~tstr~tfon~purposcs.
lft la the opfaton of thfs depcrtmrnt that a
foreign corporation wbkh has been made a ‘nabfeat’
of Tcus for registration purposes should bs treatad
as other reslde8t or domostk eorporatlams
for thb purpon and thnt tha county of resl-
doace of such 8 eorporstka ts the couaty of
Its phc@al pluo of bwlsess h this 6tde
In llw with our dlscussloa la eoawctles rltb
questlea 2 (b), rupra.
. . . .
%I course Uu above would be qwlU&d
by the rules heretefon mentioa*d nprrd-
tba ngtstrotlon of tbo motor vohkles b7 por-
sons In lo& control or fn k*bl posscssIon as
*owac~s’udw iutkk 6675e2, supra. h such
l easo tha motor vebkks could k rqlskrad
la th ec o unty o fr c s& lc ao cflUh0rof tbc l
t~ owwr**
u defiwd b Artkfe 6673s~1 (t). Ako. lf the
foro~rr rorporatioa or 80n-nsident IadlAIwl
ham no place of b\ukss that would 81~ It a
cottattyof ro~fdeaco k tbls btste ss d1~coss.d
broh but the motor nhkloo on h kgol por-
m0srkn or losol control of on agent or iadlvidual
rho has a cotmty of reslde.ue in Taamsthrn In
luh cuc such motor whkles woub%hsvs Lobe
rogkkrrd k tlw county ol tlm l~gd pesscssor’s
or k@ csatrolfer’s rosfde8eo. XCfollys of
aoeorslt7 nloo that if the fonl~r corperstlon
or rlarr-rostdomt tndivtdual has DO ‘count7 of
ruftkwe’ In Texas u dkciused rbovm and lko
ha8wa~eator hdlvWalhlO8a8wh0la lOgat
puuuor or w8trollar ef #a notor v~hkks.
then Mid fadlvidtl41 or corpot&ttoa mry npor
the motor vohlclos In uy cat7 h Tour.
ln you letter you skte that UIS prklpal place d bust-
mess of the All krurksa bus L&s, btcorporated, fa Term la
ba Cdfm County. ft k our optaku, tborofore, thst the bases
a to lwh eorpwstloo must be nplsknd
h c lo lq in arid county.
The a& w rub would bs qu~Iifkd, hawvor. lf tba motor buses
aro umdor tha poss~srkn or coalrol of lp lr wa who has the
*&gal right of ceatroP or l le& right of pessessloa’ war uld
vohkks. In such coso t&7 could also k nglstond tm tbo county
Noa. Julka Moatgoomry, w5* 4
OflWh b a d)OSHO~OT’8 01kati COdVOlk?% ?O8idOMO.
Thk departmoat doflmd the tenam ‘lo& rl&t cl poosouloa’
and -logal right of camtr01~ br ophloa No. O-2105 lI follows:
‘h hoklq to tha porpore khkcI ck k&-
lath doltnlttar of tha term ‘owau’ lt to lw
opiaka that tba k@atwe tnteaded to provide
a method whonby motor v&l&s which are
aktkaod la l pmtkukr couaty for the armatar
portfoa of l rqktrUka yeu k the poou*rloa
aad eoatrol of m bdlvlduai who.lm 8 nsfdont
of that county, who bar alI the righta h (h
motor vahkh that the ownor would hn with
rho aau~ptloa ol lolaI ttth could k rog~knd
la th e 6slwh &ldlvidwl’m
c o unty rarld*ace.
WLth thb b&htiW PolrpoM iJ2mm it b OXU
opbk8 that thn krma ‘latal rl5ht of porrtrrloa’
and ‘hgel rtgbt of control moan sacwthkg mom
tbaa the actual phyakrl pornsrton by an agent
or nrvaat. Wa thbk thmt tho bra18 ttaply leh
poourrha or control b be wttb a d0JJr.a bf par-
maaeacy thzoqhout tha ngktratka yaw md rot
l a tomporuy m4tter, A persaa who caa ba
clamsod as havb llth ulopal rllht of porsoortoa
or had right Of CoatrOf Would b. W Who Wti See
that (b *or veblcb k bcpt h TopBlrud k
lpuaWd Ir 8.4 oeadWaa, aad would k eatnoted
withIts c ua y. b rlth wwo F da ma, ropiakn a lM
tuma would precludm a perma who hu oaly the
p 608ee8k nlr pbydcaf
p h y sic a l camtrel of l motor
nhiclo. bat roti beludo l potaw who hu dl
rbhtm la tb mdot vohlch ao to tta castroI Ua
opanttoa, au BWImugamont but who doem net
hwo bati ttth. Our deflaftloe lm further qurllflod
‘UBt lwh p6.#8mka or coatrol would hwa to k of
l p o a ma ea tnature 6~ met oae abject to klag dl-
nrtod et say time by the lo+ titkholder wtthla
the nuenBblo caLpoctattoa of the p4rtt.r Bt the
tkna of the rqlstrdfoa of the metor *rhkk . . .*
In uld tiplalon wo a&o rmlod a8 followr k coaaectkn
with tha nbtlonmhtp of l local tkkt asent of l bus couquay.
to tb motor vmhkka of a&M tompaap
l‘hM8W.F to m UCOd q?bMtkll itk 6W
opkkn that l lee& tkket &goat of e bus canpmy
WOrJd not &vC 8 kg&l Fight Of ~8sO88kn OT
baaI right of control over the burw8 whkh
rcgulwly p880 throwh his tan. Thl excoptko
to tM 8 wo u ld b o l cum WhOFCby 8ola0 btru-
mont h the form of l lcwc or kflfnomt, dd
tkbt lgCIlt Would bc #bon Such louti r(lht Of
COdFOt OF b#d rf2ht of Po@Mnrbr. h tit6 COO-
autka, kowovor, ruch cc butrcancnt dnw8 up
for purporo8 of •V~B~OWI of the motor vchlclr
rcgtstraticm law &eve quoted wouldcot of ttrolf
8cfflco to mckc 8UCh porron cc ‘OwMr* wlthln
the moaning of the rcglstrmtioon ltatutc. . . .-
You UC th4refotc hdvtrod that the motor buroe of
tho All &nerlcm Bur L&or, ineorpcrctcd, under tbc fact@
stated In yuur lcttcr rbould bc re5tater.d h Dcllc8 County
ucle88 acme of 8uch buses lc #a the lop1 po88c881on or logo1
control. c8 dofincd cbovc, of cc ladlvidccl who rortdo~ h
caotbcr cow&y cad to ruch cc80 8ctd burcr coold bc rogl8tcrcd
La 8-h other county,
l! iurs very truly,
ATTORNbX GENESAL OF T&M
By a/ auly GOldboT~
Ahcclrt4nt
BG:LMtv
APPROVED MAR 26,194O
8/ Gerald c. M&an
Attornay Goaual of Toxcs
APPROVrn
OPINION COMMITTER
BY BWB, CHAlRMAN