March 12, 1951. ' 

Hon. J. A. Phillips,, Chairman 

Texas State Board of Public Accountancy 

Austin, Texab 

opiai~oa Rio. v-1156.,, 

Re: Eligibility of a member 

of the Naval Reserve 

on inactive duty status 

for a public accountant's permit under provisions extending the 

time for appllcatlons 

of members of the armed 

Dear Mr:Phlll.%~ps: 

forces for a year after 

honorable discharge. 

Your 1,etter of January 22, 1951, reads a8 follows: 

"Section 11 (c) of the Public Account? 

ancy Act of 1945, State of Texas, provides: 

"'In the case of any person serving in 

the armed, forces of the United States or anr 

of the United Nations on thk 

of this Act, the Board shall 

for compliaice prescribed by 

of this Act, for a ,perlod of 

from the time such per,son la 

charged from spch service.', 

effective dateextend the time 

any provlslons 

twelve months 

honorably dla- 

"It appears tha$,:Mr. Ray Harks of 

George West, Texas, was serving in our 

armed forces on the effective date of the 

1945 act. I am enclosing two letters Prom 

Mr. Harris, together with certified copies 

of two documents, and am here requesting 

that your office give us an opinion In respect of whether an application could now 

be tlmely filed by Mr. Harris. 

"It appears that Mr. Harris Is In the 

U.S. navy Reserve and that he has not tech- 

'nlcallg received an honorable discharge." 
‘. 

. 

254 Hon. J. A. Phillips, Page 2, (v-1156) 

The documents referred to In your letter appear to certify that Mr. Harris was on active duty 

with the United States Navy In World War II from July 

31, 1944, to April 24, 1946, at the end of which time 

he was released from active duty. They contain an 

endorsement lndlcatlng that such service and separation therefrom were honorable. 

Mr. Harris contends that he has never been 

"discharged " but was merely released to Inactive duty 

in the U.S. Ravg Reserve and Is entitled to make an 

application for a public accountant's license at this 

time under the provisions of Section 11 (c) of the 

Public Accountancy Act of 1945, Article 41a, V.C.S. 

Your letter did not state whether Mr. Harris possessed 

the necessary quallflcatlone at the time he entered 

the service, but, for the purpose of this opinion, we 

assume that he did. 

Your Inquiry may be answered by determining 

the Intent of the Legislature when It authorized the 

Texas State Board of Public Accountancy to extend the 

time for compliance with the provisions of the Act 

for a period of twelve months after members of the 

armed forces are discharged. The purpose of this section of the Act was to relieve persons "serving In the 

armed forces" from the necessity of making an appllcatlon while "serving" and for twelve months thereafter. 

Such persons' actlvitles were disrupted In moat instances by their military service, and It was lnconvenient, If not lmposalble, for them to comply with 

the provisions of the Act. Once the "service' had 

ended and a reasonable time thereafter had elapsed, 

the reason for the extension of' time ceased to exist. 

The term nhonorable discharge" sometimes refers to the act of the proper military authorities In 

completely releasing personnel from membership in the 

armed services and authoritatively certifying that the 

service was honorable. See In re FOng Chew Chun 

P.2d 904 (C.C.A. 9th 1945). The term, when used&in 

149 

that sense, has a technical significance and places 

persons "honorably discharged" In a technical status 

of completely severed membershlp. As thus used, military personnel whose membership has not been termlnated have not been "honorably discharged." Thls would 

apply to those who were released from active duty but 

who have retained their status as members of reserve 

forces. 
Hon. J. A. Phillips, Page 3,. (v&1156) 25s 

However, as we Interpret the purpose of this 

Act, the Leglslature'dld not ~necessarlly use the term 

"honorably discharged" In such a technical sense. We 

construe this term as describing the termination of the 

"service" referred to, whether It be a final termination 

of membership or only such a termination as released the 

Individual to normal civilian pursuits. 

The only adjudicated case which we have found 

nn the subject supports our conclusion. In Dlerkee v. 

City of LO&AngeleS, 156 P. ,2d 741 (Cal. Sup. 1945) th 

Court determined uhf ?ther time: served In the armed !'orc& 

could be credited to a policeman to qualify him for retirement under 'a 'charter provision allowing credit for 

such service, conditioned on a return to employment wlthIn one year after having been "honorably discharged from 

such service." The particular pollceman had been relieved from active duty in the service but was and remained a member of the reserve at the time he returned 

to employment with the city. The Court allowed the 

credit for several reasons, one of which was stated'to 

be: 

"We are satisfied that the words 'honor-~ 

ablg discharged from such service' must be 

construed to mean, In a proper case, honorably relieved, released, transferred, or retired from active duty status, and, hence, 

that the plaintiff herein, when he resumed 

the discharge of duties In the police department on November 24, 1942, under the circumstances hereinabove related, fulfilled all 

the requirements of section 189 which are 

applicable to a city employe-veteran whose 

time of service for a police pension Is not 

otherwise complete." 

We therefore conclude that Mr. Harrl,s was "discharged," within the meaning of Section 11 (c) of the 

public Accountancy Act of 1945, Article 41a, V.C.S., on 

April-24, 1946. Whether he was "honorably" discharged 

depends on whether at the time of relief from active duty 

his service was offlclally determined to have.been honorable. The certificate Of satisfactory service accompanying your request indicates that Harris was separated under 

honorable conditions. However, whether the service was 

determined to have been honorable Is material only If the 

application was made within the time allowed in the Act. 
Hon. J.~A. Phillips, Page 4, (V-1156) 

ASsUming , as Indicated by your letter and 

attachments. that Mr. Harris was relieved from active 

duty on April 24, 1946, kd has been 

reserve basis ever since, he may not 

der Section 11 (c). 

on an Inactive 

now qualify unSUMMAHY 

A member of the U.S.,Naval Reserve 

who was released from active duty In the 

Navy on April 24, 1946, was "discharged" 

on that date within the meaning of Section 11 c) of the Public Accountancy Act 

of 1945 I Art. 41a, Sec. 11 (c), V.C.S.). 

APPROVED: Yours very truly, 

Ned McDaniel PRICE DANIEL 

State Affairs Division Attorney General 

Jesse P. Luton, Jr. 

ReVieWing Asalstant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Gi?&d@ . 

Aselstant 

WSL:jmc