R-17 

. 

~I%XEATTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

Aus~ini aa. I’eftas 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTclFlNEY GENERAL 

Honorsble Hoiaer Garrison, Jti* 

Director,’ Dspar,tment of Public Sa,fetJr 

Camp Mak!Fj ; 

Austln,,Tqxrs Opinion NO, V-17 

lten lfsciaiity ior b mmr4sldsnt rotor trmsportation company to 

ptichase .Texas Registration Platea for 

vehltiles operated in 

intrastate and lnterstate commorco in 

Texas o 

Dear Sira ; 

I ., . 

Your r4qusat for bplnion, dated January 6, 

~ 19$7# pi?esents the following questlbna: (. ., 

“1, Would a t&king coinpany, duly 

incorporated in another State and maintaining Its principal offlce in such 

forefgn State, but maintaining offices, 

warehouses, pick-up and delivery trucks 

and services in Texas, be conaidsrsd a 

non-resident of this State, to the 4~;’ 

tent that they could not, bs required to 

purchase Texas registration plates for 

trucks engaged in Interstate and intrastate traffic wfth?.n Texas?* (Empm 

67 

,’ n2. Article 6675a-16, Revised Civil 

Statutes of Texas 

wfth ,othsr States 

i provides for agreement 

-regarding exemptions 

from registration :fees, Would a ,trucklng 

company incorpora ,ted In a foreign Stat4 _ but operatlng In Texas, as described above, 

be entftled to receive ths privilege of 

not having to register their vehicles in 

Texas because of an existing reciprocal 

agreement between the State in whidh the 
Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr.;. Page 2 : : ., :' 

,’ 

Company Is Incorporated and the Stats ,of 

Texas? 

Additional Information verbally received 

from you subsequent to the date of the written request is to the effect that the motor transportation companies involved are incorporated under the 

laws of the State of Louisiana and have their principal offices In Louisiana, but actuaPly maintain 

offices, warehouses, pick-up and deliverg'trucks, 

and services in Texas. Eased on this information, 

our opinion will relate only to motor transportation companies incorporated under the laws of the 

Stats of Louisiana, and operating as described by 

you in the State of Texas. 

The general rule Is that the owner and 

operator of a motor vehicle Is required to apply 

for the rsglstration,thereof each-year. 

i? 6. Do 577. This ROneraI IuIe aDDIi4s 

residbnts'and non-r&ldents of this State, because 

the police power of the State to regulate the use 

of motor vehicles on its highways extends to nonresidents as well as residents, and a State may 

prohibit the use of Its highways by a foreign vehicle unless and until it is DroDerls licsnsed in 

accordance with its laws. Sob Annotation - Fore1 n 

Owned Vehicles Operating Within, ats; *8 A+ 

1gg-s Article bb’pja, Sec%3?%-??,%. c’: SO,” Ge: 

quires "every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or 

semi-trailer used or to be used upon the public 

highways of this State" to apply each gear to the 

State Highway Department through ths County Tax 

Collector of the County in which he resides for 

the registration of each vehicle owned or controlled by him. Certain excsptions are made with 

reference to farm tractors, farm trailers, and 

Implements of husbandry. Article 827bi 'V.A,P.CO, 

provides for the registration ofnon-resident motor 

vehicles through the County Tax Collector, MIllor 

VI Foard County, 59 S.W'. (2d) 277 (Tex. Civ-, 

1939); and also provides for cer,tificates of tomporary registration of non-resident vehicles which 

are not operated for compensation or hire, It 

therefore follows that a non-resident motor transportation company'must registsr vehicles which 'are 

operated in,this State unless it falls within an 

exception granted by our statutes. 
. ” 

‘, : ; .,. 

,/ 

_’ 

Honorabl4 Ho~4r~,:Garrisori,'iJror :PaEe 3 'Y, .I," .' 

*, 34ctlon 'I6.of ArticI4 6675ap v4rnon8s ~nnotated~Civi1 Statutds'~ reads ,as, foIlows: 

"(a) :In ~'a'ddltlon. to and rsgardless of 

the provlsione qf i&&s Atit# or any other Act. 

relating to thb.oporatlog of motor vshfcles 

ov4r th4 pub110 hlghirays, of this State bye 

non-residents, the State Highway Departmsnt 

acting by ,and, through the~.State~Highway '.' 

Engineer 1s hsrpby authorized to enter~into agreements wlth,duly authorized officials 

of other Statas exempting the residents'of 

such other States using the public highways 

of thisState from the payment of registra-1. 

" tion fees for such periods or exten~sions of 

tlms as ,may'be ,grantsd residents of Texas 

using the public~higiWays of ,suoh other 

State. 

"(b) This section shall be cumulative 

of all other Iawd'on this subjsct, but in 

the' event ,of a conflict betv44n th4 provisions of .this section and any other Act on 

this subject, the provisions of this seetion shall prevail. 

"(6) Any person owning or operating a 

vehicle not registered ln thls State, in 

violation of the terms of any agrserent 

made under this section, or in the absence 

of any agrooment, ,ln violation of the ap; 

plfcable registration laws of this State, 

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 

conviction shall be fined'an 

'cesding Two Hundred ($200,00 7 

sum not'exDollars," 

Tho:above quoted section establishesthe 

manner by which a non-resident operator of motor ve- 

,ihicles may become sxcmpt~ from registration in Texas. 

The exemption is accomplished through the making of 

a reciprocal agreement betwsen the Texas Stats Highway Department and the duly authorized -official of 

the other Stats involved. You ~111 observe that 

the,Leglslature has not defined the term "non+esident' in the quoted section of the Article. This 

is also true of all other sections of Article 6675a, 

V, A, C,, 3. It 944111s obvious that the Lepfslature 

~intended for the term ?non-resident" to be d4flned 

in each,reciprocal agre4mentp and this for the 

reason that It must have be4n contemplated by the (1 I. 

I . 
Leglslatur4 that th4 wr#s of the' rbcfpr~ocal agnb-.~~t 

melii~ wduld'~eceaai~~lf'~ry'wf~th each State to: the :',: 

extent th&t Its 1~wa’iJsifrrea from oure in establiahlng a standard by wble?i w 'no+reafQ4nt" would bs I 

determined. 

Th4T4xaa'Strti lElghway Ds@artment, pursue' 

ant to th4 authority g&~~ka by SrctiQn 16 of Art&&4 

6675a, supra, has ant4~4d ~lnto a’recfproca ,agrW- ~ 

ment with,thr State of ~Loulslana. The latest agrebment between the two Statsa is dated June 15, 1941, 

34ction V-Common or Cqntract,Carrlersn 

and roads. lnpart as fOll4WJ: " 

*T@is agreement is not to b4 constrwd ao 

applying to common or contract ~a*rfers 411; 

gaged in interstate commercs D S LI 'axcept 

whore permits havs first been secured from 

the Texas Railroad Commission and from ,the 

Public Ss~vfce Commission in Loulaiana." 

Under this section of the reciprocity 

agrseaent, it Is to be observed that the 

agreement only applies to common and con- 

'~tract carriers by motor 'vehicles sng&ged 

~~ldto~:ta~eFjc~~erce,and only then, when 

hxl th t ha Seen secured from the 

,two' State regulatog bodies Involved (Thb 

Railroad Commission of Texas and The Tublfc 

Servfce Commlsslon of Louisiana) to ~44 the 

Ug@rayo. of.each,State in titerstats cusp- 

~eJrC4 Y Tho'agrs4ment does not apgly-~tb 

iihiqlok of non-r4sfdent motor transporta-. 

ti4m~colpanfss used in Lntra~~te’d~~eib~, 

rul wie,are sdvfaid lg tha Toxaa SWUi 3f.@- 

riaj-'Dipbrtmht Uihte the &$r44mont~ %n Qiwfstii%irss never'intend4d to"ap~lj"tb'~any 

vmhfole of a non-resident 'used wholly, or 

partially, in transporting .intrastats 

frefght. Such has, been the ~int4rprstatfon 

and application Of the agreem4nt bj~b?~th 

Tonas and Louislaua. Therefor4, a Dotor 

transportation company duly incorporated 

uider the laws of the State of Louisiana, 

and 'engaged in interstate and Intrastate 

~achercb ,in, Texas and LOU~O~UW muat 

$+rt8r vahfcles ueod + tr+ruJpprt!ng 

b#paat+tc, 'freight fn,Texas ln’accoPdatib3 '. 

\ >~ 

. 
. 

Honorab,le Homer Qarrlson, Jr -, Page 5, 

with” Texas law. This is true because the 

.reciprocal agreement betveon Texas and 

Louisiana does not create an exemption on 

non-resident. vehicles used in transporting 

intrastate freight in the Stats of Texas, 

Section VIII of' the reciprocal agreement 

dated June ~15, 1941, between Texas and Louisiana 

reads in part as follows: 

"Any' )eraon, comparq, or corporation 

which.hs a place of abode or business in 

the State of Texas or in'the State of 

Louisiana for more than thirty (30) consecutive days in the registration year9 

shall not be considered as a non-resfdent 

of such state. . .* 

This particular section wab very recently 

c,ensidered~in Eilbupn 'vi. Eesrln Transportation Co,, 

f97 So X. @d)"T$g,(Tex. Civ. App. 1946) 0 In that 

case9 Herrin~Transportation Company, a Texas Corporation, with'its principal office in Texas, and 

engaged in doing both an ,intrastate and interstate 

business in Texas aad..Lo&iana, sought an injunction against the Texas State Highway Department 

and its offi,clals restraining them from in any way 

interfering with Its vehicles registered under the 

laws of Louisiana and based and domiciled in Loufsfma, but'engaged in the transportation of Interstate 

freightinto and out of Texas. -The court in determfning whether or not Herrln was a non-resident of Texas 

so as'to be entitled to thenon-registration exemption 

provided for in the reciprocal agreement us~ed~ as a 

criterion 'the terms of the agreement itself, At 

page l5f2 of the reported decision the ~court said: 

"It feIloWs, ‘therdtire, as ~pIainly 

stated.in the ~agreement itself that appellee, a Texas corporatlon,'having bad 

'a place' of abode or business in the 

State of Texas. . a for more than thirty 

consecutive days in the registration 

gear, 'I cannot be considered a,non-residentof this State; and hence, not entitled co the claimed exemption? 

We cannot see any distinction betpeen the 

effect of the facts stated by you and the facts in 
,. 

,,,, ,I~:’ ,,, 8; 

k _ 

: 

Honorable I$omer Garrison, Jr., Page 6 

Hllburn v. Herrin Transportation co;,‘~supra, ex.tept 

t6 determine under ,the reolproci~y agreeme% Vith 

,Loui.siana Whether the +m@iinies inv~olved”mCllntained 

bff icdd, varehouaes, delivery truckb;‘Ciid.,servicegfor more than thirty consecutive days-in Tbxas during the’ registration”year.’ If the Louisiana motor’ 

trahsportstion’ cosipsnids’ have so operated ‘in Texas) 

then it followa that they’ are not ,non+esidents’ so 

as to be exempt from purohasing registration’ plates 

In Texas for motor’vehioles used in transporting 

interstate’ freight.’ -- 

_~ 

:., 

As heretofore pointed out, ,such:bompanies 

‘must pay the required statutory fee for registration on any vehicles ,used in this State in the 

transportations of intrastate freight, regardless 

of whether they maintain ‘offices, warehouses, piokup ana’delivery trucks; and serviaes ,in this State 

for any period of time. 

We call your attention to the fact that 

there is’ now, in ,the girbcess of being arecut,ed a 

new reciprocal ,agreement between Louisiana and ; 

Texas, but this nev agreement will not relate to 

the registration year which~began April 1, 1946, 

and will end March 31, 1947. 

(1) The existing reciprocal agree- .- 

ment between Texas and Louisiana which is 

dated June 15, 1941, and entered into pursuant to Ssc.~ 16 of Art L1. 6675a, Vernon”s 

Annotated ~Civil ‘Statutes? does; not apply 

to vehicles of a non-resident company -Or 

corporation used ih :trlnsportingintraatate, freight ~,i.n Texas. V’.~ 

(2) A motor transportation company, 

duly incorporated under the lavs of the 

State of Louisiana and malntalning its 

‘principal office in such State, but maintaining off Ices, warehouses, pick-up and 

delivery truCka, ‘and services in Texas 

for more than thirty consecutive day&~ fin 

any .regQstration year cannot be considers&a non-resident of the State of Texas $:’ 

.’ 
. 

Ronordble Htier @arrieon, Jr., Page 7 

. . ., 

Midir'the te-k bf'the'rec~pracal~~agr~e- ,., ,. mbnt~ aat&& Ji&& 33;, 'I,gk1;-':'a!, bs to 'b& .-', 

,tixbmpt fr&'ptiHQi&lng T@xis i+egi#'ttition 

plates for vehiolds engaged"ti' transpbrt-, 

$ng interstate trafflc;in Texas,.’ 

:‘,, 

'Yo*s very truly 

ATTOplrrr,t3- Or TXAS 

By : ,;--:?-- my+- 

"CharlebB. Crensbaw 

Awsistmt 

APPROVED