. , . . 

Ronorable F.d Gunn 

Criminal District Attorney 

Kilam County 

Cameron, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0-4F15 

Re: Legality of issuance of tax 

receipts on Sunday, and related 

matters. 

Your letter of January 1, 1943, requesting the opinion 

of this department reads as follows: 

"You will note the questions in writing from 

the Tax Collector of Milan County, and my answer 

in writing, giving my opinion on same. 

“Please give me your opinion on the questions 

for the benefit of the Tax Collector." 

The letter of the Tax Assessor-Collector presenting the 

questions on which 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, and Voting 

Poll Tax Receipts, without penalty. 

"January 31st, 1943 falls on Sunday. 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 1942 Voting Poll Tax 

receipts on Feb. lst, 1943? 

If 9, 

. . . . . . 

Under our statutes, taxes paid on or 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 in 
5onorabI.e Ed Gunn, Page 2 0 -4315 

::?Lch they are due. 

255 s .w. 340 .) 

(Houston Oil Company of 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 on Sunday is a. criminal 

offense. After carefully considering these statutes it is our 

opinion that they do not prohibit an officer from performing his 

,official duties on Sunday. 

We quote from Texas Jurisprudence, Volume 39, page 877 

as follows : 

“At common law, Sunday is dies non jurid icus 

(a non juridical day); and it was stated in an 

early case that no judicial 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 same prohibition with respect to legal 

holidays. 

” . . . . . . . . 

“Neither the Constitution nor’ the civil statutes 

lay any restrictions upon the Governor nor upon any 

‘of the heads of the state departments with respect to 

Sundays or legal holidays; all public officers may 

keep their offices open on Sundays and holida,ys, and 

perform all ministerial duties; but it 1s their privilege to refuse to function on those days, if they 

elect.” 

We quote from the case of Stephens v., Porter, 69 S.W. 423, 

as follows : 

11 

. . . There is no law in Texas prohibiting the 

commissioner of the general land office from holding 

his office open on Sunday or any legal holiday, or 

from performing official acts on those 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 them to perform their 

official functions on those days. Cur criminal 

statute (Pen. Code 1895, art. 196) provides that any 

person who shall ‘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 common law did not ;z?ohibit 

officers from doing ministerial acts on Sunday nor 

on holi.days. It declared that Sundae was dies non 

jurldicus, not a judicial or court day, but our 

statute (Rev. St. 1895, art. 1180) has modifl& the 

common law 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 a wellknown rule uf' construction. Under this statute It has been held 

that a sale under execution and sheriff's deed 

made on a legal holiday was valld~. Crabtree v. 

Whlteselle, 65 Tex. 111. See, also, Railway Co. v. 

Rardlng, 63 Tex. 162, where it was held ;>ro:Jer and 

valid for a district court totry a cause on a legal 

holiday. In Insurance Co. V. Shrader, 89 Tex. 35, 

32 S.W. 872, 33 S.W. 112, 30 L.R.A. 492, 59 Am. 

St. Rep. 25, it was held by our supreme court that 

an application for writ of error received by the 

clerk of this court on Sunday, and so lndorsed, 

but not filed until Monday, must be considered as 

filed on Sunday and valid. The reasoning of our 

supreme court in the three cases 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 on any other 

clay In the 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 In which they desire to vote. Art ic li? 

2963, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes places a mandatory duty 

unon the Tax Assessor-Collector to stamp on the face of any ‘solI. 

to:: receipt Issued after Janua~ry 31st of any year the ?,i?rde '%ldsr 

I!;2t Sntitled To Vote". Certainly this provision would be violated 

w!,er12 the Tax Assessor-Collector Issued a poll tax receipt after 

.TG:XGGY~ 31st without the notation thereon as prescribed by said 

statute. 
Honorable Ed Gunn, Page 4 o-4815 

In view of the foregoing you are respectfully advised 

that it is the opinion of this department that a poll 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 on Sunday. You are further advis& 

that a poll tax receipt issued on Monday, February 1, 1943, 

must be stamped by the Tax Assessor-Collector "Holder Not 

Entitled To Vote", and that the holder thereof is not entitled 

to vote. 

With reference to property tax receipts you are advised 

that the Tax Assessor-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. On February 1, 1943, property taxes that are 

unpaid become delinquent and the Assessor-Collector of taxes is 

not authorized to collect said taxes and issue a receipt therefor without the penalties, etc., as prescribed by statute. 

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry, 

we are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/ Ardell Williams 

Ardell Williams 

Assistant 

AW:mp:wc 

APPROVED JAN. 9, 1.943 

s/ Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/GWB Chairman