June 21, 1967 .., 

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; 

Hon. J. D. Kirkland, Chairman ’ Opinion No. M-98 

Texas Water Well Drillers Board 

Austin, Texas Re: Whether a non-resident applicant may be issued a license 

under the Texas Water Well 

Drillers Act. 

Dear Mr. Kirkland: 

You have asked that this office advise you on whether your Board 

is empowered to issue licenses to drill water wella in ‘Texas to nonresidents by the Water Well Drillers Act (Article 7621e, Vernon’s 

Civil Statutes). 

Section 3(a) of Article 7621e, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, rtatea 

in mandatory terms that “It shall be unlawful for any person to act 

as or to offer to perform services as a water well driller without 

first obtaining a certificate of registration in the wanner prescribed herein and purruant to the rules of Water Well Drillers 

Board. ” 

In Section 2, ibid, we find the only exceptions to the mandate 

of Section 3(a): Section 2(d) excludes test holea for mines and 

oil and gas wells, and Section 2(c) exempts from the licaneing requirements anyone working on a drilling rig under the direct supervision of a duly licensed driller or a landowner drilling a water 

well on his own land for his own use. 

~Section 3(c) sets forth the,provirion that each applicant desiring to become a registered driller,muet submit an application 

and an examination fee. Section 3(g) contains a “Grandfather Clause” 

which expired August 31, 1966. Section 3(h) provides that: “Elfh’ 

applicant shall have been a resident of the State of Texas for not 

less than 90 days ‘prior to makingapplication for registration as a 

water well driller.” (Empharie ad&d). Here is the clearly stated 

intent of the Legislature that the Board is without authority to 

accept an application from an applicant who has resided in the State 

for lers than ninety (90) consecutive days imediately prior to SUBmitting his applicatfon. 
Hon. J. D. Kirkland, page 2, Opinion No. (M-98) 

The residency requirement of Article 7621e is constitutionally 

valid and such enactmant was a proper exercise of Legislative power. 

It has long been the rule in Anglo-American jurisdictions that a 11; 

tense or privilege of public character may be granted or withheld 

for good cause by a proper exercise of the police,power’of the stats. 

Merriwether v. Dixon, 28 Tex. 15 (1856); Saint Louis Southwestern Ry. 

Co. of Texas v. Shiflet, 98 Tex. 326, 83 S.W. 677 (1904). 

The Texas Supreme Court specifically upheld residency as a valid 

qualification of licensing in De Grazier v. Stephens, 101 Tex. 194, 

105 S.W. 992, 16 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1033 (1907). 

The setting of minimum qualifications and standards of proficiency for water well drillers InTexas for the purpose of preventlhg 

groundwater pollution falls well within the purview of the valid 

exercise of ‘the State’s police power in the interest of the public 

health, safety, and welfare. 

Under the Reciprocity Section (Section 4) of the Act, the Board 

is empowered to dispense with the examination requirement for applicants who hold certificates of qualification or registration from 

certain states, territories, or possessions of the United States or 

foreign countries equal to the Texas standards. Section 4 expressly 

provides that applicants entitled to registration under the Act without taking the examination ‘I. . I must show compliance with the reaidency requirements of Section 3, subsection (h) hereof.” 

Therefore, we answer your query in the negative, and more fully 

as follows: 

(1) Pursuant to Article 7621e, an application for a Texas Water 

Well Driller”8 Certificate may not be accepted unless the applicant 

has resided in the State for at least ninety (90) consecutive days 

immediately prior to tender of his application. 

(2) The ~Texas Water Well Drillers, Board has the statutory duty 

to require compliance with the said requirement, and may require an 

affidavit, or other proof of residency, from each applicant. 

(3) Non-residents, however, are entitled to the same exemptions 

from licensing as are State residents. 

a. They may drill water wells on land they own within the State 

for their own use without a license. 

b.,They may work on a drilling rig under the direct rupervisfon 

of a duly licensed Texas Water Well Driller. 

c.,And. they need not obtain a water well drilling license to 

drill mining test holes or oil and gas wells. 

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i 

Hon. J. D. Kirkland, page 3, Opinion No. (M-98) 

SUMMARY 

Article 7621e, Vernonss Civil Statutes, sets a mandatory 

prerequisite that any applicant who desires to drill or offers 

to drill water wells in Texas must have resided within the 

State for ninety (9Q) consecutive days immediately prior to 

making application for such a drilling license. 

VFgtruly yours, 

-bAW#ORD c. MARTIN 

Attorney General of Texas ,; 

Prepared by Roger Tyler and John Duren 

Assistant Attorneys General 

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APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman 

W. V, Geppert, Co-Chairman 

Houghton Brownlee 

Malcolm Quick 

Arthur Sandlin 

Vince Taylor 

STAFF LEGAL ASSISTANT 

A. J. Carubbi, Jr. 

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