THEAYTORNEYGENERAL 

Honorable Joe Resweber 

County Attorney 

Harris County 

Houston 2, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Re: Propriety of comparing 

Poll Tax list with Property 

Rolls prior to August 1st 

and striking name duplications in preparation for 

compilation of names for 

Jury wheel; and statutory 

construction of words 

"typist" and "shall type." 

We are in receipt of your letter in which you ask our 

opinion on the following questions: 

“1 . 

OF I‘EXAS 

MAY 1.7, 1961 

Opinion No. ~~-1061 

ment that 

In light of Article 2094's requireselection of jurors for service in 

. _ the district and county courts be made 'between 

the first and fifteenth days of August of each 

year' from the list of qualified jcrors in the 

county as shown by current tax lists, may the 

District Clerk, prior to August lst, make a 

comparison of the poll tax lists and property 

rolls to eliminate duplication of qualified 

jurors' names theron, in furtherance of their 

selection during the August 1st and 15th period? 

“2 . By use of the word 'typists,' and 

phrase 'shall type,' does Article 2095 prohibit 

the use of various kinds of mechanical equipment, 

such as key punch and other systems?" 

Article 2094 of Vernon's Civil Statutes provides in part 

as follows: 

"Between the first and fifteenth days of 

August of each year, in each county having a 

population of at least forty-six thousand 

(46,000), or having therein a city containing 

a population of at least eighteen thousand 
Honorable Joe Resweber, page 2 (~~-1061) 

(18,000), as shown by the last preceding 

Federal Census, and in each county having 

two (2) or more District Courts holding 

sessions therein, regardless of population, 

except as hereinafter provided, the tax 

collector or one of his deputies, together 

with the sheriff or one of his deputies, and 

the county clerk or one of his deputies, and 

the district clerk or one of his deputies, 

shall meet at the courthouse of their county 

and select from the list of qualified jurors 

as shown by the tax lists in the tax assessor's 

office for the current year, the jurors for 

service in the district and county courts of 

such county for the ensuing year, in the manner 

hereinafter provided." (Emphasis added) 

Article 2095 of Vernon's Civil Statutes provides in 

part as follows: 

"Said officers shall write the names of 

all persons who are known to be qualified jurors 

under the law, residing in their respective 

counties, on separate cards of uniform size and 

color, writing also on said cards, whenever possible, the post-office address of each juror so 

selected, . . ." (Emphasis added) 

Article 2133 of Vernon's Civil Statutes defines the 

qualifications of a juror. 

In Articles 2094 and 2095 of Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

the Legislature set out, among other things, what counties 

would come within the jury wheel law and provided that "the 

tax collector or one of his deputies, together with the 

sheriff or one of his deputies and the county clerk or one 

of his deputies, and the district clerk or one of his deputies 

shall meet at the courthouse" and shall select qualified 

jurors as shown by the tax list in the tax assessor's office 

for the current year. Said officers, In writing the names 

of persons down on separate cards, shall place only those 

E?"" 

'who are known to be qualified jurors under the 

The question of what part the tax lists play 

in these selections has long been settled In Texas. The 

Commission of Appeals In the case of Northern Texas Traction 
Honorable Joe Resweber, page 3 (~~-1061) 

Co. v. Bryan, 294 S.W. 527 (Comm. App. 1927), in discussing the history of the Jury Wheel system in Texas and the 

amendment of 1911 to Articles 2094 and 2095, stated at 

page 530 as follows: 

Aside from changing the time of 

filling the jury wheel from every second year 

to every'year, the only change effected in the 

Jury Wheel Law by said amendment was to require said officers to look to the tax lists 

In the tax assessor's office in making selection of names to be placed in the jury wheel; 

but did not relieve them of the duty to place 

in the jury wheel the names of all men residing in the county who were known to them to 

be qualified jurors under the law, as was prescribed by section 2 of the original act. We 

think, therefore, that the provisions of articles 2094 and 2095 contemplate a reasonably 

diligent effort, on the part of the officers 

designated therein, to collect and place in 

the jury wheel the names of all men In the 

county having the qualifications of jurors as 

prescribed by the statutes on that subject, to 

the end that these men shall be available as 

jurors when jury panels are drawn from the 

wheel. The information contained in the tax 

lists in the tax assessor's office for the 

current year is but an aid provided by law for 

the performance of this duty. LEmphasls addeg 

” In the exercise of reasonable 

diligenEe'l~the performance of their duty in 

this respect, it is proper for said officers 

to have recourse to the latest approved tax 

rolls of the county. . . ." 

This office held in Attorney General's 0 inion 

(1943) concerning that portion of Article 209 fi 

O-5521 

of Vernon's 

Civil Statutes which provides that the names used for 

filling the jury wheel are obtained "from the tax lists 

In the tax assessor's office for the current year," In 

part as follows: 

n . . . we are inevitably led to the 

conclusion that It was the purpose and 

intent of the Legislature in enacting 
Honorable Joe Resweber, pag e 4 (WW-106.l) .,i,, !,,,~~: :,,, ', i,,~.'.~ ,. 

the jury wheel law to (a) preserve the availability as jurors of all men in the county 

qualified for jury service under the general 

law; (b) to abolish in counties coming under 

the provisions of the jury wheel law, the 

element of discretion involved in the selection, by jury commissioners, of the individual 

jurors to make up jury panels, and to utilize 

instead the selection of jury panels by mechanical means; and (c) to sanction by law the use 

of the tax lists In the tax assessor's office 

for the current year as an aid to the designated officers in their performance of their duty 

to see that the names of all those known to be 

qualified jurors under the law find their way 

Into the jury wheel. We think the law contemplates that the designated officers should be 

diligent in their efforts to collect and place 

in the jury wheel the names of all men in the 

county having the qualifications of jurors 

as prescribed by the statutes of Texas. And 

always the controlling object to be effected 

is the placing in the jury wheel of all the 

qualified jurors in the county." (Emphasis added) 

When the designated officers named In the statute meet 

between the first and fifteenth days of August each year 

to select jurors for service in the district and county 

courts for the ensuing year 

imposed upon them to place the names of all persons "who 

, such officers have a duty 

are known to be qualified jurors under the law, residing 

In their respective counties on separate cards." It 

follows that not all persons whose names appear on the 

tax rolls are qualified jurors as those qualifications 

are defined in Article 2133 of Vernon's Civil Statutes. 

The names of minors, incompetents, felons, non-residents 

of the county and names of others not qualified under Article 2133 might well appear on the tax rolls and such named 

officers, if they have knowledge of any of these impediments, 

are charged with the responsibility of not placing their 

names in the wheel. 

Because the jury lists are not all Inclusive, but are 

to be used merely as an aid to those named in Article 2094 

to make the selections, it is our opinion that the District 

Clerk may prior to the actual selection of names of 

qualified jurors to be placed In the jury wheel, make any 

comparison to avoid duplication or perform any other task 

so as to aid the officials to place only those names in 

the jury wheel who are known to be qualified to serve. 
. . 

Honorable Joe Resweber, page 5 (WW-1061) 

Your second question concerns whether the word 

"typists" and the phrase "shall type" as found in Article 2095 prohibits the use of various kinds of mechanical equipment, euch as key punch and other systems. 

Article 2095 of Vernon's Civil Statutes states in 

part as follows: 

" 

. . . except that In counties having 

a population of one hundred and fifty thousand 

(150,000) or more, according to the last preceding Federal Census, the Commlssioners Court 

shall provide out of the jury fund a sum sufficient for the payment of typists and other 

expenses. The typists, under the direction, 

control and supervision of the District Clerk, 

shall type the names and addresses of qualified 

jurors upon the cards as herein described. . . ." 

As stated above, this office, In Attorney General's 

Opinion o-5521, in Interpreting the intemt of the Legislature in enacting the jury wheel law, stated in part as 

follows: 

"(b) to abolish, In counties coming 

under the provisions of the jury wheel law, 

the element of discretion involved in the 

selection, by jury commissioners, of the 

individual jurors to make up jury panels, 

and to utilize instead the selection of jury 

panels by mechanical means;" (Emphasis added) 

Black's Law Dictionary, 4th Ed., 1951, describes typewriting as a process of printing letter by letter by the 

use of a t pewriter, citing State v. Oakland, 69 Kam. 784, 

77 Pac. 6&, 696 (1904), in which case the Supreme Court 

of Kansas held that there was no merit to the appellant's 

contention that certain notices, required by statute to be 

"printed", were defective because they were typewritten. 

The Court declared at page 6%: 

I 

. Of what consequence was it whether 

the le&s in the notices were formed by a 

typewriting machine or a typesetting machine? 

. . . Printing is now accomplished by a great 

variety of machines, . . . There are cases 
Honorable Joe Resweber, page 6 (~~-1061) 

where there is room for a distinction between 

typewriting and printing, and in these the 

language used in the rule or statute ordinarily 

indicates a purpose to differentiate one from 

the other, but no such purpose Is apparent in 

the statute in question. . . .' 

In the case of In Re Sonora Daily 1.08 Calif. 2d 53, 

238 P.2d 111 (1951), the court dlscusse~ the word "printed" 

as was stated in a statute. That court held at page 112: 

"It has been held that a typewritten 

notice is 'orinted' under a statute reaulring the posting of printed notices. State 

v. City of Oakland, 69 Kan. 784, 77 P. 694, 

696. . . . Suffice it to say at this point 

that the word 'print' may be used to describe 

a large number of distinctive mechanical proceases. Perhaps the most suitable definition 

of the general sense of the verb is that found 

in Webster's dictionary, 'to strike off an 

Impression or Impressions of, from type, or 

from stereotype, electrotype, or engraved plates, 

or the like. (Emphasis added) 

The Legislature recognized that counties with larger 

populations would have a more difficult task in placing the 

names of qualified jurors on separate pieces of paper for 

the jury wheel, and provided in Article 2095 of Vernon's 

Civil Statutes that in counties having a population of 

150,000 or more, the Commissioners Court was to provide 

funds from the jury fund for the payment of expenses to 

accomplish the provisions of the statute. It recognized 

that the officers named In the statute would be unable to 

accomplish this mammoth task In our larger counties without 

undue delay and committing possible errors. This office has 

held that the Intent of the Legislature in enacting the jury 

wheel law was In part "to utilize . + . the selection of 

jury panels by mechanical means." To place a restriction 

on the manner of transcribing the name on a piece of paper 

of one believed to be a qualified person to serve on a jury 

would be, In our opinion, defeating the very intent of the 

Legislature. In reading Articles 2094 and 2095, there can 

be little doubt that the Legislature's Intention was to 

provide authority and direction to those who seek to protect their right of trial by jury, and those who qualify as 

to their obligation of citizenship, a fair and adequate 

method of jury selection, rather than placing limitations 
. . 

Honorable Joe Resweber, page 7 (~-1061) 

on those officials of technical means of accomplishing 

their duty. 

SUMMARY 

1. The provisions of Article 2094 

of Vernon's Civil Statutes will 

not be violated by a District 

Clerk in making comparisons of 

all tax lists and property rolls 

to eliminate duplication of 

potential qualified jurors' names 

prior to August 1st. 

2. Article 2095 of Vernon's Civil 

Statutes, by its use of the word 

"type" and phrase "shall type", 

does not prohibit the use of 

various kinds of mechanical equlpment, such as key punch and other 

systems. 

Yours very truly, 

LFP:afg:ms 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Tom I. McFarllng 

Martin DeStefano 

Joe B. McMaster 

Adistant 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Morgan Nesbitt