OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Terse State Boardof Regl5txntlonfox
ProteeeionaliingfntsQkre
Austin, Texas
Gentlwmn: Attenticni F, 8,
!wotiosl22 of Ast on*a Civil Anno-
tatad Statutes, provibest
r33t.d
or ams~t in
08, lnaomptenoy, or
profaaaionengl-
estonal fxglneer,. . .*
Axtlole W?la, eupra, reads as Sollo7U3;
or after the first Cay of Jan-
rmon who oh&l1 practice, or
tho profemion of engineering
out beitlg re&3tered or exempted
2.naCmor&anOe with the pr~~ieione of thie i&t, or
nny pareon pxemantlng or att6nhptlnln$ to u5Q as his
own the omtiflcata oilregletrationor the sad. of
another, or any pareon who ahall give any ro36 or
rorgea avidcrnod
or any kindto the Boar& or to any
mmber thereof in obtaining a certf+iaateOP ragis-
Registration for Profeosi3nslEngineers,
person :uh~shall violate any of
thf3provialonsor thin Aot, be flnod not less
th,u One Huncired($100.00)Dollers nor more than
Five liundrcd(500.00)Dollars, or be confined ln
jai.1for a period of not exaeedin~ three (5)
amths or both. Each day of such violation shall
be a sepmte offense.
"The Board 13 oharCed vriththe d;ty of aid-
lrq in the unforoementsf tlioprovisions of thin
Act, and my member of tho Board may present to
a proseoutingoffioer oom?laints 22elatA.n~ to via-
lations of any of the provioions of this kot; and
the i3oardthrvugh ic3 membars, ofeiaera, 00~~~01
and agzta amy aeoist in the trial of any oases
involvia~ulleged violation of soid statutes, sub-
jeot ts thz control of the groseautingoffiaors.
"The Attorney General OS his assistanis shall
act :ASlegal ritiviserof the Board and shall render
suoh legalaa~?ietanoeas may be neoesstiry in en-
tor0i.n~;
and making effective tha provlslcnne of this
Aot; provide6 that this shall hot relieve the looal
prosecutln&ofticers of any of their duties under
the law as suah,n
?!er,uotefrom Texas Jurfsprudonoe,Volume II, page
330, 118folloi~~s:
trThoTerns statutes at numerous plaoes reflect
the *t;ciee
policy whioh demands that advertisement3
tell the truth and those those guilty of making;
f&la%, deceptive an2~ mieleading otatemente be re-
garded as offenders ag:iinotthe ofimlnal law.
Thus false advertisingof merchandise or anything
offered for sale ia an offense punishable by fine.
(tfltlcle
1554, Penal Code) hdvertbsin5 by banks
and trot compenies in 5trFngentlyr3#.ated, par-
ticularly in zqard to truthfuLnoes. (Article4%,
zevlsod Civil Statuten' Rrtioles 542, 543, Penal
Code) 51~ or a&cr&emants whioh were used by
a ooqoration now defunot may not be used under
p0nalty of a fine. The advertising of ecrployment aGent
Is regulated and aertain kinds of 8dvertisinG by
them are prohibited,
Texas State Board of lieglstration
for ProfessionalXnginoers,
Page 3
WPermi~s from lawful authority are sometimes
naoeseary before n person pursuing a oortain call-
ing or buoiness may advcrtiee. Thus the Blue.Sky
Law panalizas the adv.vcrtising of securities for
sale ivithcutfirst having obtained the permit re-
c,;lircd, And It 1s a penitentiaryoffense to
advertise one*s-self as a livestock commission
merchant iriLhoutfirst having given the bond re-
c;uirr;d by law. (Artlola1500, Penal code) Likc-
wise advertisingns s oertified Public Accountant,
or ilaine in advsertio&z?nts the initiala 'C, P. A.'
without having roaelved the reqtiiredoartifioate
15 a oriI!&naloffense punishable by fine. False-
ly advr?rtislng ono*s-self a5 n *RegisteredCotton
Yecd Brsederf or 'CertifiedCotton Seed Grower' is
prohibited.
n The use of the flags of the United
gtatLs*a&'of the state of Texas for advertising
purposes is prohibited under penalty, , . . But
newspaper advertisementof the business,profes-
elan an6 plaoe of business of those praotloingthe
healing art is expresslypermitted. In many states
advertising by attorneys at law 1s ret&rioted, but
there are no suoh provisions in the Texas statutes.*
(3% note, 56 A. L. K. 1313)
Article 2 of the Penal Code provides thatr
"In order that the system of penal 1!1win
forae in this state may be aomplete vrlthinit-
laws, writtan
self, and that no system of forelilfi
or unwritten,may bc appealed to, it is deolared
that no person shall be punished for any aat or
omission,unl330 the nanm is r;mdca penal offense,
and the penalty is affixad thereto by tha written
law of this state."
After making a oareful scaroh of the statutes,we find
no statute vihtihprohibits ndvortisiny;
bjrrcgistcred professional
engineers6
You are rcspeotfullyadvised that it is the opinion of
this department that it lo not a viol~~~titin
of the law for
s grndua~e oloctrioaland meohanioal engineer to advertise hFm-
TexasState for ProreashnalBn&neers,
Boardof Regietration
Page 4
eelf as auohr
fullyamwere yourin-
Trustingthatthe toregoing
ipiry,we remain
Yoltm3
verytruly
ATTORNEYGENh3A.LOF TEUS
(S) Ardell WilllaJn6
BP
ArdellWilliams
hssiatant
APPRoviLD
JAN I.61940
(s)OeraldOL Mann
ATTOi3NEYGENE;.ULOFTEX.AS
APEROVED
OESNION C OMMITTISB:
BY BWB
malrnan