AUSTIN. Txxas 78711 

March 19, 1975 

The Honorable 0. W. McStay 

Executive Secretary 

State Board of Barber Examiners 

512 Sam Houston Bldg. 

Austin, Texas 78701 

Opinion No. H- 557 

Re: Authority of the State 

Board of Barber Examiners 

ta suspend licenses. 

Dear Mr. McStay: 

The State Board of Barber Examiners has requested our opinion 

on two questions involving article 8407a, V. T. C. S., the Texas Barber 

Law: 

1. Under what conditions can a barber teach 

hair cutting for hire and reward? 

2. Does the Board have the power to suspend 

or revoke the license of a barber; if so, under 

what conditions and procedures? 

A registered barber is authorized to engage in shaving and 

trimming the beard, cutting the hair, hair styling, and certain forms 

of care for scalp and facial tissues. V. T. C.S. art. 8401, sec. 1; 

art. 8407a, sec. 4. 

A certificate of registration, however, does not authorize its 

holder to teach others hair cutting for hire and reward. 

Section 9 of article 8407a prohibits any person, firm or corporation from operating a barber school, or soliciting students until it 

demonstrates to the State Board of Barber Examiners that it has been 

established in accordance with that section. A licensed barber school 

or college is expressly authorized by section 9(b) to teach “hair-cutting. ” 

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The Honorable 0. W. McStay page 2 (H-557) 

A qualified barber school which issues “Class A” certificates 

must be under the direct supervision and control of a barber who holds 

a current registered “Class A” certificate to practice barbering and 

who has had five years experience in his profession. V. T. C. S. art. 

8407a, sec. 9(f). 

Each school shall have at least one (1) teacher who 

has a teacher’s certificate issued by the Board 

upon examination and who is capable and qualified to 

teach the curriculum . . . All such teachers are 

required to obtain a teacher’s certificate from the 

Board, and, in addition, . . . must meet the following requirements: 

(1) Demonstrate their ability to teach the said 

curriculum outlined herein through a written and 

practical test to be given by the Board. 

(2) Hold a current certificate as a registered 

“Class A” barber under this law. 

(3) Demonstrate to the Board that such applicant 

is qualified to teach and instruct, to be determined 

at the discretion of the Board, and show evidence that 

the applkant has had at least six (6) months experience 

as a teacher in an approved school or college in Texas 

or in another state approved by the Board, or have 

completed a six-month postgraduate course as a teacher 

in an approved barber school or college in Texas. 

Sec. 9(f). (Emphasis added). 

Section 9 contemplates that any barber instructing others in 

barbering must teach in a licensed barber school and must have a 

teaching certificate issued by the Board. In our opinion, a barber 

would be conducting a barber school without a permit if he taught 

hair-cutting outside a licensed barber school to students for hire 

and reward. 

po 2505 
- . 

The Honorable 0. W. McStay page 3 (H-557) 

Limiting instruction in hair-cutting to licensed teachers in 

recognized barber schools serves two reasonable state objectives: 

1) it notifies the public to expect to be served by student barbers,and 

2) it protects student barbers who might otherwise pay for barbering 

instructions which do not qualify them to be licensed as registered 

assistant barbers under section 8 of article 8407a, V. T. C. S. See 

Texas State Board of Barber Examiners v. Beaumont Barber COT&~, 

Inc. , 454 S. W. 2d 729 (Tex. Sup. 1970). 

Your second question asks whether the Board of Barber Examiners 

has power to suspend a barber’s license, and, if so, under that conditions and procedures. 

Section 21 of article 8407a, requires the Board to suspend or 

revoke any certificate of registration “for any one of, or a combination of the following causes: 

(A) Gross malpractice; 

(B) Continued practice by a person knowingly 

having an infectious or contagious disease; 

(C) Advertising by means of knowingly making 

false or deceptive statements; 

(D) Advertising, practicing, or attempting to 

practice under another’s trade name or another?s 

name: 

(E) Habitual drunkenness or habitual addiction 

to the use of morphine, cocaine, or other habit-forming drugs; 

(F) Immoral or unethical conduct; 

(G) The commission of any of the offenses described in section 24 of this Act; 

po 2506 
The Honorable 0. W. McStay page 4 (H-557) 

See also Turner v. Bennett, 108 S. W. 2d 967 (Tex. Civ. App. --Beaumont 

1937, no writ). 

Section 22 of article 8407a establishes the procedure for revoking 

a barber’s certificate or permit. The procedure involves a summons 

issued by a barber inspector, a hearing before a county judge within, 20 

days of the summons, a fact-finding inquiry by the judge, a decision by 

the Board based on the judge’s findings, and a trial de nova in the District 

Court if an individual appeals from the Board’s decision suspending or 

revoking his registration. 

Compliance with the statutoril~y prescribed procedure is necessary 

before the Board may revoke a barber’s certificate or permit under the 

provisions of article 8407a, V. T. C. S. 

SUMMARY 

A barber may only teach hair-cutting for hire 

and reward if he has obtained a teacher’s certificate 

from the State Board of Barber Examiners and teaches 

in a licensed barber school or college. 

The Board has authority to revoke or suspend a 

barber’s certificate of registration if the findings 

of the county judge warrant such action. 

Very truly yours, 

~~ c/ Attorney General of Texas 

KENDALL, First Assistant 

C, ROBERT HEATH, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

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