GERALDC. MANN 

### AURTXNXX. T&XAS

Hon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr. County Attorney Shackelford County Albany, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-2651 Rer Application of the chauffeur’s license law in connect ion with Railroad Commission 

### driver'slicense.

Weare in receipt of your letters of recent date requesting our opinion whether the owner of a cattle truck, registered far loads of 7,000 pounds, whohas had aRailroad Commission permit which has expired, should now be prosecuted for operating amotor vehicle without having obtained
a chauffeur’s license.

Reference is herein madeto several statutory enactments passed by the Legislature and effective since the last codification of our laws. Therefore, for the sake of brevity and clarity, the various statutes from wtiich we quote are numbered as shown in Vernon’s Annotated Texas Statutes.

Article 6687a, Civil Statutes~, in paragraph (.g) aefines achauffeur:

”(g) Chauffeur. Anyperson who operates a motor vehicle for any purpose, whole or part time,
as an employee, servant, agent, or independent &ontractor, whether paid in salary or commission; and every person who operates amotor vehicle while such vehicle is in use for hire or lease.”
Section 2 of said Article 6687a provides that no person shall drive any motor vehicle upon ahighway in this state unless such person has been licensed either as an oper-~ ator or chauffeur, “except those expressly exempt ,under this act.I’
Section 3.of the samearticle provides anumber of exceptions, and paragraph (c) reads as follows:

l’(c) Drivers of commercial motor vehicles operating under, the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas whoare required to have a driver’s license issued by that department, shallHon. Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 2 (O-2651)

not be required to secure a chauffeur’s or operator’s license under the terms of this Act for the operation of such vehicles, but such persons shall be amenable to the other provisions of this law Incident to the cancellation of chauffeur’s or operator’s licenses.”
The Texas Motor Carrier Act, Article 911b, requires certain motor carriers operated for compensation or hire to comply with its provisions, and the motor carrier must procure either a certificate of convenience and necessity, if a ccmmon carrier CommissI or a permit, if a contract carrier, from the Raflroad

on of Texas. The term “‘motor carrfer” is defined in paragraph (g) of Section 1 of Article 911b, as follcws:

“(g) The term ‘motor carrier means any person, firm, corporation, company, co-partnership, association or joint stock association, and their lessees, receivers or trustees appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, controlling, managing, operating or causing to be operated any motor propelled vehicle used in transporting property for compensation or hire over any public highway in this state, where in the course of such transportation ahighway between two or more incorporated cities, towns or villages is traversed; provided that the term ‘motor earrierl
as used in this Act shall not include, and this act shall not apply to motor vehicles operated exclusively within the incorporated limits of cities or towns.” Paragraph (b), Section 4 of Article 911b, requires the driver’s license referred to in paragraph (c) of Sectfon 3of Article 6687a, supra. Wequoter

l’(b) The Commission is hereby vested with power and authority and it is hereby madeits duty to require that each driver of amotor propelled vehicle owned or operated by a motor carrier under the provisions of this Act shall have a driver’s license, which license shall be issued by the Commission pursuant to an examination testing the ability and fitness of the applicant and under such rules and regulations as the commission mayprescribe; provided that every drLver aforesaid shall acquire a driver’s license within thirty (30) days after this Act takes effect and shall annually thereafter on or before the anniversary of the date of the original license acquire a renewal thereof. Such license issued shall be for a term of
one year. The commission Is empowered further to issue_ .- -

Hon. Thomas

### L.Blanton, Jr., page 

### 3 (C-2651)

temporary licenses, in case of emergency, for such term as the commission maydeem ex edient; provided such term shall not exceed ten (10Pdays and there shall be no right or privilege of renewal thereof. The

### Commissionis hereby authorized to collect afee of One

### Dollar($l*OO) for each annual license fee or renewal. The Commission maysuspend or revoke any such license for cause after notice and public hearQx* It shall be unlawful for any motor carrier to operate amotor propelled vehicle in this state unless such vehicle is operated by a driver holding an unrevoked and uncanceled license issued by the Commission.11
In order to answer your question it is necessary that
we construe the meaning of paragraph (c) of Section 

### 3of Article 

### 6687a,supra, in the light of the other statutes involved andwhich wehave set out herein. It will be noted the exemp- :ion applies to drdvers of commercial motor vehicles operating ylder the .lurlsdiction of tb Railroad Commission” etc.

Obviously, the fact that avehicle had been operated under aRailroad Commission permit would not justify, within itself, the conclusion that it should continue to be used as a motor carrier. Before the driver% license of the commission could be required, the vehicle must be owned or operated by a motor carrier. pra. > (Paragraph (b) of Section 4, Article 911b, suIf we assume, as Intimated in your letters that the vehicle is being operated, in violation of the Motor Carrier Act, although it should, under the facts, be operated in compliance therewith, and the driver thereof fails and refuses to obtain
aRailroad Commission driver’s license should he be entitled to claim the exemption provided by paragraph (c) of Section 

### 3, Article 

### 6687a? Unless the driver Is operating the vehicle as a motor carrier, clearly hewould not be entitled to the exemption; and if on the contrary he is operating the motor vehicle
as an employee, servant, agent or independent contractor, or if the vehicle is In use for hire or lease, a chauffeur’s license is required.

Wethink the phrase QDder the iurisdicti n of the Railroad CB IIin the statute under consideration admlts of the construction that it includes only those peGsons operating commercial motor vehicles in conformity with the laws authorizing the commission to assume jurisdiction. The phrase

“under and by virtue of ” has been held to mean “by or through the authority of. I’ Theword %nder’ has the same signification. It is also defined ‘Iin subordination to,“’ and “in accordance
or conformity with.” See Cent.Dict., Webster’s NewInt. Diet., Bassett v. Wills, 

### 89Tex.162,34S.W.93*Hon. ThomasL. Blanton, Jr., page 4 (0-2651)

Asto the meaning of “ jurisdiction” Corpus Juris (35 C.J. 426)s we quote from

“Jurisdiction, derived from ‘Jus dicere’ or ljus 

### aiO0,'is a term in general use9 of comprehensive and large import. The term has different meanings, dependent upon the connection in which it Is found and the subject matter to which it is directed. But it is often used without any determinate signification. It is generally defined as the authority or power which a man has to dojustice in causes of complaint brought before him; the power and authority to declare the law. Asapplied to a sovereign, either state or nation, jurisdiction signifies the authority to make, declare, and execute laws; the right to apply the law to acts of persons. Jurisdiction always emanates directly and immediately from the law; it is aPower which nobody uponwbom the law has not conferred it can exercise0 I

See also Withers v. Patterson, 27 Tex. 491, 86 Am. D. 643; Commonwealth v. Breakwater Co., 214 Mass. 10, 100 N&i. 1034.
Under the foregoing authorities, the operation in question is not “under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission” :although samemaybe “subject to ” its jurisdiction. It is, therefore, graph (4 9 our opinion that the exemption set up in paraSection 3 of Article 6687a is not applicable and prosecution will lie under the facts submitted by you, for failure to comply with the chauffeur’s license law.

Your first letter gave us the impression that your question was whether aperson should be required to obtain a chauffeur’s license where he used his owntruck to haul property owned by him, Such question was fully answered in the opinion heretofore sent to you.

APPROVED

AUG30, 1940 /s/ Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTANTATTORNEY GENERAL Yours very truly ATTORNEY

GENERAL

OFTEXAS By /s/ Benjamin Woodal. Benjamin Woodall, Assistant

APPROVED:OPINIONCOMMITTEE BY: BWB,CHAIRMAN
BWr obsub