R-17

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## ~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 lfsciaiityior b mmr4sldsnt rotor trmsportation company to ptichase.TexasRegistration Platea for vehltiles

operated in intrastateand lnterstate commorco in Texaso

Dear Sira ; I

. ., Your r4qusat for bplnion, dated January 6,

~ 19$7# pi?esentsthe 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 conaidsrsda non-resident of this State, to the 4~;’ tent that they could not, bs required to purchase Texas registrationplates for trucks engaged in Interstateand intrastate trafficwfth?.n Texas?* (Empm 67

,’ n2. Article 6675a-16, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas wfth ,othsrStatesi provides for agreement -regardingexemptions from registration

:fees, Would a ,trucklng company incorpora

,tedIn 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 theHonorable Homer Garrison, Jr.;.Page 2 : : ., :'

,’

Company Is Incorporatedand the Stats ,of Texas?
Additional Informationverbally received from you subsequent to the date of the written request is to the effect that the motor transportation companies involved are incorporatedunder 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 opinionwill relate only to motor transportation companies incorporatedunder the laws of the Stats of Louisiana, and operatingas 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,thereofeach-year. i?

## 6.Do 577. This ROneraI IuIe aDDIi4s residbnts'andnon-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 OperatingWithin, ats; *8A+ 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-residentmotor 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-residentmotor transportation company'mustregistsr vehicleswhich 'are operated in,this State unless it falls within an exception granted by our statutes.. ”

‘
, : ; .,.

,/

_’ Honorabl4 Ho~4r~,:Garrisori,'iJror :PaEe3 '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 otherAct. 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,grantsdresidents of Texas using the public~higiWays of ,suohother State.
"(b) This section shall be cumulative of all other Iawd'on this subjsct, but in the' event ,of

a conflictbetv44n th4 provisions of .thissection and any otherAct on this subject, the provisions of this seetion shall prevail.
"(6) Any person owning or operatinga 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, ,lnviolation of the ap; plfcable registration laws of this State, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined'an 'cesdingTwo 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 themaking of
a reciprocal agreement betwsen the Texas Stats Highway Department and the duly authorized -officialof the other Stats involved. You ~111 observe that the,Leglslaturehas not defined the term "non+esident' in the quoted section of theArticle. This is also true of all other sections of Article 6675a, V, A, C,,3. It 944111s obvious that the Lepfslature ~intendedfor the term ?non-resident" to be d4flned in each,reciprocalagre4mentp and this for the
reason that It must have be4n contemplatedby the

(1 I. I

.Leglslatur4 that th4 wr#s of the' rbcfpr~ocal

agnb-.~~t melii~ wduld'~eceaai~~lf'~ry'wf~theach 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 lElghwayDs@artment,pursue' ant to th4 authority g&~~ka by SrctiQn **16** of Art&&4 6675a, supra, has **ant4~4d** ~lntoa’recfproca ,agrW- ~ ment with,thr State of ~Loulslana. The latest **agreb** ment 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 'vehiclessng&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-r4sfdentmotor transporta-. ti4m~colpanfssused in Lntra~~te’d~~eib~, **rul** wie,are

**sdvfaid lg**  tha Toxaa **SWUi 3f.@-**  **riaj-'Dipbrtmht Uihte**  **the &$r44mont~**  **%n Qiwfs**  tii%irssnever'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 'engagedin interstateand Intrastate **~achercb ,in,**  Texas **and LOU~O~UW**  **muat** $+rt8r vahfcles **ueod** + tr+ruJpprt!ng b#paat+tc, 'freightfn,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 consideredas 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~TransportationCompany, 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 interferingwith Its vehicles registered under the laws of Louisiana and based and domiciled in Loufsfma, but'engaged in the transportationof Interstate freightinto and out of Texas. -Thecourt in determfning whether or not Herrln was a non-resident of Texas so as'to be entitled to thenon-registrationexemption provided for in the reciprocal agreement us~ed~ as a criterion 'theterms of the agreement itself, At page l5f2 of the reported decision the~courtsaid:

"It feIloWs,‘therdtire, as ~pIainly stated.in the~agreementitself that appellee, a Texas corporatlon,'havingbad 'aplace'of abode or business in the State of Texas.

. a for more than thirty consecutivedays in the registration gear,'I

cannot be considereda,non-residentof this State; and hence, not entitled co the claimed exemption?

We cannot see any distinctionbetpeen 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 Transportationco;,‘~supra, ex.tept t6 determine under ,thereolproci~y agreeme% Vith ,Loui.siana

Whether the +m@iinies inv~olved”mCllntained bfficdd, varehouaes, delivery truckb;‘Ciid.,servicegfor more than thirty consecutivedays-in Tbxas during the’

registration”year.’If the Louisiana motor’ trahsportstion’

cosipsnids’

have so operated ‘inTexas) 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 ‘mustpay the required statutory fee for registration on **any** vehicles ,usedin this State in the transportations **of** intrastate freight, regardless of whether theymaintain ‘offices, warehouses, piokup ana’delivery trucks; and serviaes ,inthis State for any period of time.

We call your attention to the fact that there is’

now,in ,thegirbcessof **being** arecut,ed a new reciprocal ,agreementbetween Louisiana and ; Texas, but this nev agreement will not relate to the registration year which~beganApril 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 ArtL1. 6675a, Vernon”s Annotated ~Civil‘Statutes?does; not apply to vehicles of a non-resident company-Or corporationused ih :trlnsportingintraatate, freight~,i.n

Texas. V’.~ (2) **A** motor transportation company, duly incorporatedunder the lavs of the State of Louisiana and malntalning its ‘principaloffice in such State, but maintaining offIces, warehouses, pick-up and delivery truCka, ‘andservices in Texas for more than thirty consecutiveday&~ 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;inTexas,.’

:‘
,, 'Yo*s very truly

ATTOplrrr,t3- Or TXAS 

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

"CharlebB. Crensbaw Awsistmt

APPROVED