The Honorable Jackie W. St. Clair Opinion No. R-906 

Commissioner .. 

Texas Department of Labor h Re: Application of the 

Standards Texas Auctioneers Act to 

P. 0. Box 12157, Capitol Station livestock marketing 

Austin, Texas 78711 businesses or auction 

barns. 

Dear Commissioner St. Clair: 

You have reguested .our opinion regarding.the coverage 

and application of the Texas Auctioneer Act, article 8700, 

V.T.C.S., to livestock marketing businesses or auction barns. 

You first ask whether article 8700 includes livestock 

marketing businesses within the definition of "auctioneer" 

ancl whether, therefore, such a business is required to 

obtain a license. .' 

Article 8700 itself lends support to the position that 

a livestock marketing business isembraced withinthe'statute's 

terms. A list of seven "exempt transactions".-ins section 2 

does not include an exception for a livestock marketing 

business. Furthermore, section 6 furnishes evidence that 

the omission was not inadvertent. It specifies .that the 

provisions of section 5, which require an-auctioneer to' 

obtain a bond, 

shall not apply' to livestock auctioheers 

who are'engaged exclusively in the livestock auction business ih Texas through 

bonded livestock auction facilities ,... . . 

The clear implication of this provision is that some livestock auctioneers are subject to the bonding reg=ments of 

section 5, and hence, that all livestock auctioneers, since 

they are not exempted from other portions of the statute, 

are subject generally thereto. We note that an "auctioneer" 

for purposes of article 8700 includes an individual, 

corporation "or other group, however organized." See Attorney 

General @pinion H-7OF, (1975). - 

p. 3802 
The Honorable Jackie W. St. Clair - page 2 (W-906) 

You also ask whether a livestock marketing business 

must in all circumstances file a bond. As we have previously 

stated, section 5 of article 8700 requires every entity which 

seeks an auctioneer's license simultaneously to obtain a 

bona in the amount of $5.,000.00. Section 6, however, excludes 

from this bonding requirement *livestock auctioneers who are 

engaged exclusively in the livestock auction business in 

Texas through bonded livestock auction facilities." Bonded 

livestock auction facilities are provided for by the Federal 

Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, 7 U.S.C. 6 181, et seq., 

and by article 1287a, V.T.C.S. As to livestock markzing 

businesses which may not be covered by,either of these two 

bonding provisions, we believe that the bonding requirement 

of section 5 is applicable. 

In your third and final question, you ask: 

Does the federal Packers and Stockyards Act 

of 1921, 7 U.S.C.A., Section 181 et seq. 

preempt and rencler~ invalid the Texas Auctioneer 

Act, Article 8700, V.T.C.S.,~as it applies to 

those livestock marketing businesses currently 

covered by federal regulation? 

The Federal Packers and Stockyards Act was enacted in 1921, 

and the primary purpose of the Act was to assure fair competition and trade practices in the field of livestock 

marketing. The coverage of the Act was expanded in 1958 

to include all livestock marketing acitivities which were 

a part of interstate commerce; however, the federal Act does 

not require any .auctioneering license as such, but rather 

provides for registration of auction markets regardless of 

size. As stated in the bill analysis and legislative history 

of the 1958 Amendment to the Act, 

who are eii a in y 

--o&,~h%%%~~s~i~~ss 

259 t e place or places where they operate. . 

3 U.S. C&e Cong.T& Ad. News 5212, 5219 (1958) 

(Emphasis added). 

‘I 

. 

. 

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p. 3803 
The Honorable 'Jackie W. St. Clair - page 3 (H-906) 

As the Supreme Court held in Peres v. Cam bell, 402 U.S. 637 

(19711, then Supremacy Clause minva .-E&-- 1 ate only a state 

law which, frustrates the full effectiveness of the federal 

statute. Justice White, speaking for the majority, stated 

the test as follows: 

Deciding whether a state statute is in 

conflict with a federal statute and hence 

invalid under the Supremacy Clause is 

essentially a two-step process of first 

ascertaining the construction of the two 

statutes and then determining the constitutional question whether~they are in conflict. 

- Id. at 644. 

In this particular case, the Texas Auctioneer Act seeks only 

to upgrade the professional standards of the auctioneering 

. aspect of the livestock marketing business;and we note that 

the federal act does not attempt to regulate the specific 

activities of auctioneers, but rather regulates-the general 

conduct of participants in the livestock marketing business 

at federally bonded facilities. This regulation, however, 

does not include licensing of auctioneers, and we do not 

believe the Texas Auctioneer Act invades the field already 

covered by an Act of Congress. 

6 g, 100 F. supp. 781 (D. Minn%~)v$%*?l%gF%%@ 

78th Cir.)~, cert. denied, 344 U.S. 934 (1952); Attorney 

deneral Opinion O-5458 (1943). In our opinion, there is no 

conflict between the Federal Packers and Stockyards Act of 

1921 and the Texas Auctioneer Act. Therefore, we answer 

your final question in the negative. 

SUMMARY 

Livestock marketing businesses or auction 

barns are covered by the definition of 

"auctioneer" under article 0700, V.T.C.S., 

and are required to obtain an auctioneer's 

license. Auction barns are not required 

to file a bond under the Texas Auctioneer Act, 

so long as they are bonded pursuant to, either the 

Federal Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, 7 

U.S.C. 6 181, et seq. or the Live Stock 

Auction Commisxon Merchants Act, article 

1287a. V.T.C.S. The Federal Packers and 

p. 3804 
The Honorable Jackie W. St. Clair - page 4 (R-906) 

stockyards Act does not preempt or render 

invalid the Texas Auctioneer Act, because 

there is no conflict between the two statutes. 

APPROVED: i/ 

First Assistant 

p. 3805