ORNEY GENERAI, 

OF TKXAS 

Honorable Stsnsell Bryen 

District Attorney 

Waco, Texas 

Attention: Mr. Roy Rutlsnd, Jr. 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3591 

Fk: Is affidavit of purchaser df automobile 

re¶uired under H. B. 8, a public record 

to which the general public shall have 

ClCCGS8P 

You have inquired as to whether the affidavit required under Article VI, 

Section 5s of H. B. 8 of the Forty-Seventh Legislature, is a public record 

in the sense that the information contained in the affidavit is available to 

the public at large. 

Article VI, Section 1 (a) levies a tax of one per cent (1s) upon the total 

consideration paid or to be paid. by the buyer. This article further makes 

certain definitions and provisions necessary to the enforcomsnt of this law 

including Section 5a of Article VI which reads as follows: 

"At the time the tax herein levied is paid to said Tax Collector the 

purchaser shall file with said Tax Collector the affidavit of such 

purchaser (or if a corporation the affidavit of thePrasi%n*:$ Vice 

President, Secretary, or Manager) setting forth the then value in dollars 

of the total consideration received or to be received by such seller or 

his nominees, whether in money or other things of value." 

The only case we find reported in Texas upon the subject of the rfghts of the 

citizens of a state to inspect the records of the atate or county is PalacjiBs 

et alvs. Corbett et al, (Writ of error refused) 72 S. W. 777. In this case 

the Court of Civil Appeals at San Antonio adopted the common law upon this 

subject as the law in Texas. That is, if the reports or records are not 

confidential, but on the other hand are of a public nature, private citizens 

or their duly appointed representatives have a right to inspect such of the 

records as they have an interest in. This right, of course, is subject to 

limitation imposed by the Legislature In enacting the subjoct laws. We do 

have instances in which the Legislature has specifically limited the authority 

to examine or copy records required of individuals, partnerships, or 

corporations, such as the records of the Texas Unemployment Compensation 

Commiss Ion. 
Honorable Stansell Bryan, Page 2 (O-3591) 

Our exsminaticn of the authorities discloses that the rule of the Pslacios 

aam Is still the Law in Texas. This deprtment followed thE& dLcision 

in our Opinion Xoor. O-69 and o-2044. 

In an examination of Section v1: of H. B. 8 of the FortySeventh Legislatwe 

we find )o provlrion mking these reoords oonfidential or protesting them 

from exss&mtion of observation by interested pwsonnr. Thw, they are 

@varned by the lax as stated in ,the Pslsoloa osse. 

Tncrr bolng no authority for withholding the ln?.##mtion ocmtsirmd In be 

affidaoitr from tha pub110 we are of tha opini&"$hst the rffidsvlts mentioned 

in your in~lry are publio rroords wlun fhey Imw bean filed In tha offloe 

of the tar oollaotor and are subjrot to exsmlnation st reasonable houra by 

interested parmm. We are smolwing oopirr of our opinionr Nor. O-854 md 

O-2044 upon tha aubjrot of euminmtloaQ~ of publio reoordr. 

Yourr vary truly 

ATToBmr CmmRAL m TEUS 

I/ brrir Ho+ 

w 

Morris Hodgor 

Amirtant