4 b 

. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

I B(IQYLR sLLLLI(= 

r~o”*x* cc.rrKL 

Xanomble E. t. Shelton 

county Auditor 

Johns011 CoUntJ 

cleburm , Texae 

Dear Sir: 

Your letter of F 

as follovs: 

itioe aot as 

t of poll text 

suoh ofilolal 

leutlon alIS the conontained in your letter 

oplnionn of this depnrtof lees thun ten thousand Lnbabltants, 

t of a texpeger'8 poll 

him lnwrltSngto pay the 

the lntornrstlon necessary 

tax receipt," provided 

. . . be signed by the 

. be deposited vlth the 

Tax Collector and filed end preserved by him." In cltiea of 

more than ten thousand lnhebitents, Article 2962, V.A.C.S., 

provlde~ tkt a taxpayer who leaves the county of his realdenoe 

vltb the intention not to mbtum until after the firat dex of 

the follovl.ng Februaw "aball be entitled to vote, If possessing all other legal qualiflcrstionr, bypaying hia poll tax or 
gononble B. L. 8helton, Page 2 

obtaining his certlfleete of exsmptlon through an agent authoriced by him in vrltlng, vhIah shall state truly his Intention to depart from the County, the expected period of 

m absenae, and every fsat neoensary to ennble the Tax Colleator to fill the blanks In his reoelpt." This vrltten authority anwt be svorn to by the taxpayer, certified by an 

offloIs authorized to administer oaths, end deposited awl 

)npt in the office of the Tax Colledor. 

The rbove oltul Artleles follow &atIon 2 of Artlole VI of our Constitution by permitting a huaband to pay 

the poll tsx of his vIfe, sad vioe vena. Article 2960 V.A. 

cd. pmvldes that *no eandldate for oftloe shall pay the 

poll tax for another" and thst no one shall pay the pail tax 

of another for or on behalf of suah aamlIdete. The oomluding portion of thfa Artlcrle paultrr a purabaa~r of properef 

vhleh In bound for the payment of eny 011 tax to pay the 

tax 0r th fomer owner, hut forbm &e tax oollector to 

Isaue a poll tax reoeipt 0uthorIzIng any person to vote in 

return Sor suah payment. FInally, A,rtIoles 201, 203 and 204 

of the Penal Code respeatlvely provide that: 

“Whoever knowingly beoomes'sgent to obtain 

a poll tu receipt or aertiflaete 0r oxeaptlon 

exoept as provided by lav, or eny one vho gives 

money to enother to lmluoe him to phia poll 

tax, shall be fined not exaeedlng F Ire hundred 

dollars. 

"Any uandldate for offloe or other pa-non 

who pays orprooures another to pay the poll tax 

of a cltlten, exoept as permitted by law, shall 

be confined la the penitentisry not less than two 

nor more than five years. 

%lhoever loens or adviuwea aoaey to another 

knovIng it Is to be used for pIlyIng the poll tax 

of ruah other person shall be fined not to 6xteed five huudred dollers." 

When one penon rots RS agent for another in the 

peyment of the poll tsx of the latter, It Is possible that 

the aone vlth vhlch the psyamnt is ude be money (e) belanging 90 the taxpayer and turned oveP to the agent for the 
&noneble H. L. Shelton, Page 3 

purpose of paying the tax; (b) belong- to the agent and 

used by him In paying the tax vlthout en express or lm lied 

agreement that such sum be repeid by the taxpayer; or P 0) 

belonging to the agent and used by him vith either an express or iarplled agreauent that suoh sum be repeld by the 

toxpaaAlthough Articles 2961 and 2962 respectively provide that the poll tax lraf ?m paid” by an agent and thst 

the taxpayer msy obtain 8 receipt ‘4 psyZng hIr poll tax 

through nn egent, ve feel that these Artlolem vere never Intended to aut$orIse, and do not euthorlse, payments of the 

types doncmlnated ib) and (a) above. In employ- the above 

fonm of the verb pay" ve feel that the Iaglsletun Intended 

to denote the p4siaal act8 of tu.rnIng over the tupayer’s 

money to the tax oolleotor and furnlshiag the required inSonnation rather thnn the fumlshiog by the agent, either as 

a gift or as a loan, of the money vlth vhloh the payment Is 

to be made. Stated differently, ve See1 that those Artloles 

authorlire an agent to pay the poll tax of anothar only if 

the money used for suah purpose Is money vhIoh Is not that 

of the agent and vhlch her been received neither aa a gift 

nor 01 a loan fram the agent. 

With Artlclrr 2961 and 2962 so oonstrued, w peraelve no reason v4 (UI oiflcial nov hold* office msy not 

eat as an agent of the type herein descrtbed. Xotlae, hawever, thst the tax as8essor-oolleotor end hia deputlea ime 

agents of the State In the collectlon of taxes due the State 

and therefore oculd not act In the capacity of agent of the 

taxpayer, for the ma8011 that the iatter ageno)- vould be Inooapatlble vlth the fomer. This conolusIon Is In accord 

vlth t&at re8ched by former Attorzmy fleneral Loamy ln aa 

opinion rendered Jnnumy 22, 1915. An a result of this conclusion, no answr is required to your second question. 

In enawr to your third question, you ax-s respsctfully advised that th* f&et that #U&l 0ffid.d tUItiCi@ltW 

be* a csndldnte for reelection, but has not yet announced, 

vould not alter or affect our arawer to your flmt question. 

Tnutlq that the foregoing fully enavers your inquiries. w are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORBKT BBE+L OF TEXAS _,. .--._.., i