. ,..

Ronorable F.dGunn

Criminal District Attorney Kilam County Cameron, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0-4F15 Re: Legality of issuance of tax receipts onSunday, and related matters. Your letter of January 1, 1943, requesting the opinion of this department reads as follows:

"Youwill note the questions in writing from the Tax Collector of Milan County, andmyanswer in writing, giving myopinion on same. “Please give meyour opinion onthe questions for the benefit of the Tax Collector." The letter of the TaxAssessor-Collector presenting the questions onwhich you desire our opinion reads in part as follows :"The law gives Tax-payers up to, and including January 3lst of the following year for which taxes are assessed, to pay their State, County, andVoting Poll TaxReceipts, without penalty. "January 31st, 1943 falls onSunday. In this case, in your opinion, will,it be legal to issue Tax receipts and voting Poll Tax receipts on Sunday, January 31st, or will it be legal to issue 1942 Tax receipts without penalty and 1942Voting Poll Tax receipts onFeb. lst, 1943? If 9,

. . . . . . Under our statutes, taxes paid onor before January 31st of the next succeeding year, for which they were assessed are not delinquent. In other words property taxes do not become delinquent until after the 31st day of January following the year in5onorabI.e EdGunn, Page 2 0-4315

::?Lch they are due. 255s.w. 340.) (Houston Oil Companyof Texas v. Eoward,

Chapter 2, Title 7 of Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code conta.ins the statutes commonly referred to as the Sunday laws. Under these statutes certain labor done onSunday is a.criminal offense. After carefully considering these statutes it is our opinion that they do not prohibit anofficer from performing his ,official duties onSunday.

Wequote from Texas Jurisprudence, Volume 39, page 877 as follows :

“At commonlaw, Sunday is dies non jurid icus (a non juridical day); and it was stated in an early case that nojudicial function can lawfully be exercised on Sunday. The statute ,declares that no civil suit shall be commenced nor process issued or served on Sunday except in cases of injunction, attachment, garnishment, sequestration, or distress proceedings. The act formerly contsined the sameprohibition with respect to legal holidays. ”

. . . . . . . .

“Neither the Constitution nor’ the civil statutes lay any restrictions upon the Governor nor upon any

‘ofthe heads of the state departments with respect to Sundays or legal holidays; all public officers may keep their offices open onSundays and holida,ys, and perform all ministerial duties; but it 1s their privilege to refuse to function on those days, if they elect.” Wequote from the case of Stephens v., Porter, 69S.W. 423, as follows :

11

. . . There is no law in Texas prohibiting the commissioner of the general land office from holding his office open onSunday or any legal holiday, or from performing official acts onthose days. Neither our constitution nor our civil statutes lay any such restrictions upon the governor nor upon any of the heads of the state departments, probably because Ft might sometimes be necessa,ry for themto perform their official functions onthose days. Curcriminal statute (Pen. Code 1895, art. 196) provides that any person whoshall ‘labor on Sunday’ shall be fined,O-4915

,c.+, c ‘Labor ’ Is defined as follows: 'To exert G.sEular strength; to exert one's strength with ;oainful effort, particularly in servile occupations, to work; to toil,' Webst. Int. Dlct. 821. The term as used In the criminal statutes does not apply t0 an Officer 8ng8,ged in the performance of his official duties. The commonlawdid not ;z?ohibit officers from doing ministerial acts onSunday nor on holi.days. It declared that Sundae was dies non jurldicus, not ajudicial or court day, but our statute (Rev. St. 1895, art. 1180) has modifl& the commonlaw by simply declaring that 'no clvll suit shall be comeaced., nor stf111 any civil i>rocess be issued or served on Sunday, or any legal holiday, except ln cases of injunction, attachment or sequestration'. This exce:?tlon operates as moS:if'ication of that law, according to awellknown rule uf'construction. Under this statute It has been held that a sale under execution and sheriff's deed madeon a legal holiday was valld~. Crabtree v. Whlteselle, 65Tex. 111. See, also, Railway Co. v. Rardlng, 63 Tex. 162, where it was held ;>ro:Jer and valid for adistrict court totry a cause ona legal holiday. In Insurance Co. V. Shrader, 89Tex. 35, 32S.W. 872, 33S.W. 112, 30L.R.A. 492, 59Am. St. Rep. 25, it was held by our supreme court that anapplication for writ of error received by the clerk of this court onSunday, and so lndorsed, but not filed until Monday, must be considered as filed onSunday andvalid. The reasoning of our supreme court in the threecases cited leaves no doubt in our minds that the application of lorter to purchase section 58 in this case was not void by reason of its being received and filed in the general land office on Sunday, but was as valid ln all respects as if received and filed onany other clay Inthe week." Under the Texas statutes every person subject to pay a poll tax must pay said poll tax before the 1st day of February next ;,recedlng the election Inwhich they desire to vote. Articli? 2963, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes places amandatory duty unon the TaxAssessor-Collector to stamp onthe face of any ‘solI. to:: receipt Issued after Janua~ry31st of anyyear the ?,i?rde '%ldsr I!;2tSntitled ToVote". Certainly this provision would be violated w!,er12the Tax Assessor-Collector Issued apoll tax receipt after .TG:XGGY~

31st without the notation thereon as prescribed by said statute.Honorable EdGunn, Page 4 o-4815

In view of the foregoing you are respectfully advised that it is the opinion of this department that apoll tax receipt bearing the date of January 31, 1943, would entitle the holder thereof to vote, if not otherwise disqualified, even though it was issued onSunday. Youare further advis& that apoll tax receipt issued onMonday, February 1, 1943, must be stamped bythe TaxAssessor-Collector "Holder Not Entitled ToVote", and that the holder thereof is not entitled to vote. With reference to property tax receipts you are advised that the TaxAssessor-Collector can legally collect property tax on or before January 31st, 1943, and issue his receipt therefor without penalty. In other words property taxes are not delinquent until after January 31, 1943, that is property taxes for the preceding year. OnFebruary 1, 1943, property taxes that are unpaid become delinquent and the Assessor-Collector of taxes is not authorized to collect said taxes and issue areceipt therefor without the penalties, etc., as prescribed by statute.

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry, weare Yours very truly ATTORNEY

GENERALOFTEXAS
Bys/ Ardell Williams Ardell Williams Assistant AW:mp:wc APPROVED

JAN. 9, 1.943 s/ Gerald C. Mann ATTORNEY

GENERALOFTEXAS Approved Opinion Committee Bys/GWBChairman