OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

m UO in T6061 

1 Ststuter, 

bonding require 

y RQt inOlUth the hauling Of t&6 

orohnrd to the peokfnu shed. Th6 

rokingl the fruit, lo.osd6 the l 6s16 

er in6txY6tion6 f%Oa the d6616r. 

The dutlea of the fira then o6eso. It cl068 not 

billm i'mIt lt6 des~tnatton, but thl6 put 

of the transaotion is perform66 by the d6dLer. 

Ths fina does not buy or otfu to m, ~611 or 

offer to ssll, or ship for the purpose of selling either 6s owner, agent or otharwl.68, 6ny 

oitrua fruit.* 
Hon. Tom 1. Hartley, page 2 

It la 616matary that *the intention oi the. 

L6glslatur6 in enaotiag a law lr the law itself*, Wo 

66S6llO6 of tho law", and 'th6 spirit uhioh gives life" 

to ths claaotnmat. 

SO TZI. JUR. 186; 

POPHAM V. PATTW~SO.X, 51 R.W. (Sd) 680; 

HESS V. SKINNXR R4~INXXRI<?Q CC. t. TIJRNEX, 20s 

3.18. 599, 207 S.W. 171, S16 Y.W. 681; 

KOY f. SCRNEIDER, SSl S.W. MO. 

Where the language OS a statute alearly aad dl8- 

tinetly reveal6 the legIalRtlt6 intent, there Is no reason to look elscnrheze. 

GAWLETT v. COLWI3XWW'Z3* COUJXT (Cir. App.) 250 

S.W. 1010, 236 S.W. 970, 222 S.W. 2948 

RAILROAD OObXI~jSIGN V. TFXAS & N.O.R2XtaOm CC., 

(Cit. App.) 42 S.W. (2d) 1091. 

When the Legislature defines a word or group of 

worU6, whioh It has th6 power to do aad often dO68, the 

d6fInItion, If olear and uaambIguou8, Is bindlug as aa 

6xpresalon of the 16glrlstlre Inteat,:-regardlesr of the 

maaIag of the word In oomn parlanoe 02 in other ooaaeotlozm. 59 TEL JUR. 200. 

The guestion besore us Involves the aaal~ais of 

the d6fiaitiomof the L6gIslature In Seotion 1 of Art. 

lleb, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, and their applloatIon to the stated set of raots. 

At tho outset we advance the opinion that thtie 

deflnltlocs me clew and iaambiguoua. 

saotlon 1 (1) defines a *p66ker* 6s followsa 

"Any person ho prepares and/or psoks oitrus 

f'rult or its products for barter, sale, exchange 

or shipment. * 

The fir= whose aatirities are detlned, belag 

within the purview of the deflaltlon of *psrsons" given 

in S6otIun 1 (0) Is beyond qusstlon or doubt a l padkslf. 

It prepsrea and pxicka citrus fruit Sor aMpeat and 

gale. 
Bon. TomL.Hartley, page S 

The qu6stIon re6olves itself into whether or 

not a *paoker*, as deilned In Seotlon 1 (I) IS aeomsarlly a statutory *dealer* wIthin the Aotcs d6flaitlon 

of *dealer*. 

A w4ealerW, aoaoralng to seotIon 1 (0). la: 

*Any person who hand168 fruit, es the word 

*handle* la 4efln64 ln (4) of thl6 seotioa * + + a 

We =6 nowthmwa b&ok U~O- the 6tQtUtOm deilaltlon of the word mhan4lea. To be a *dealer*', a

'VmkeP must *han41aa fruit la the uenso that the Legislature used the word *handlow, regardles8 of the meaning of the word in oolllpon parlanoe Or in other ooaaeotions. 

UPPSTEIN v. STATE, 145 S.W. 144~ 

BAMCS v. STATE, 28 'Pet. 6U. 

The Citrus Lloea8Ing and B6ndl.q Law IndUputably fixer 

its oua meaning t0 the WOT&# ~64. 

lows: 

Seotlon 1 (a) defines the'word *handlaw, a8 folWean8 bwlng or offering to buy, aelllng 

or offering to Bell, or shipping for the purpose 

of #ellIng, whether as owner, agent or othexwla6, 

any oltrurr fruit within the State OS Texas, an4 

ptmnons buying and/or ahlpplng oltrw fruit tar 

oannlng and/or prooesslng or handler?, as th6 

term Is defined." (Uaderreo~lng oura'j w6 think 

It should be *are"). 

We now oonsid6r th6 queetion of whether or not 

the partloular *paoker" under onaslderatlon Whandlom" 

inuit witf;in,the etatutory meaning of the word wh6zid16W. 

There Is neoeseltated a strlot applloatlon of the 46flnltlon to the faota presenteb and realted at the outset 

or this opinion. It 16 erpreaaly stated that the paoker does not buy or offer to buy the fruit from his OUStamer; he doea not sell or offer to sell the fruit; h6 

does cct ship the fruit himelf for the purpose of 

selling VLcther ad owner, agent or otherwise", although 

he "loads the saae into o-p8 under iua~a-cotions irap 
435 

Eon. Tom L. E:rtley, page 4 

the a0aw. Suoh loading la not tan-u& to ahlpPW. The pao%ln~ fir& la the present lnstanoe, does 

not evea bill the frxxlt to It8 destination. Finally, 

the paokar In not within the ocverage of the phrase 

npersoru'buylng and/or shipping oItru8 fruit for oannlog em&/or prooessing*. 

A oareful examination of the entire ditru8 Lioen8lng and Bonding Aot, Artlole 118b, reveal8 the use 

of the word *packer* in only two other Instanoea, for 

example In Seotlon 15, a.8 r0ii0rr: 

*It shall be unlanful for any dealer, 

prooesscr or wW6hOuSWXiI to purohase or reo6 =%= ve 

or handlo any oltrw fruit wlthout requiring the 

per8oa rrc~n whom suoh eltrua fruit Is puroha8e4 

or reoelved, to furnish a statement In writing 

0s (a) the owner 0s said oltrur fruit, (b) th6 

grower 0s 88ia Oltru8 fruit, together wlth the 

approximate location of the orohard where uid 

fruit watt growa, (0) the date said fruit wa8 

gathered and by whose authority aan wea gathered, sad suoh reoords ahallbe kept la a permanent 

book or folder MU shall be available to inep66- 

iFajby w Interested party.* (Und6reooriB6 

. 

Here the juxtaposition or the word8 ?a6y~t~a 

*paokeP amounts to a logI8latlve a8bOde 

*paok&@ need not in every instan bo a *dea 7 Or*. 

The sac reasoning -ala apply tc Seotion i30, 

whloh provldes~ 

*The venue or any Md all orlmlnal aoto and 

oivii spits instituted uri(Im the prooieiona 0s 

this act shall be in the aounty where the violation oocurred or where the oltru8 fruits wef6 

reoeived by the dealez, paoker or warehcmseman.~ 

(Underiumring ours). 

under Seotlon I! dealing with *lloense fee aooompanylag applloatIona, the f6liaring fees are prresorlbadr 

"(1) For lloenae as a *dealer* 01 *hmbler* 
423; 

Hon. Tom L. Hartley, ~Ri3-e 5 

of oltrua fruit. the sum or menty-rive mllwa ($25). 

(8) For license as a *oonunlselon merohant' 

and/or loontraot dealer*, as the term Is In 

thir Aot detlned, Twenty-rive Dollarr (*es). 

(3) For license aa a %lnImum oash dealer' 

the 8um Of Fire Dollarr ($5). 

(4) For a license as a *buying agent', the 

8um oi One Dollars ($1). 

(5) For a llcenao as Q *transportlog agent', 

the ewn or One Dollars ($l)." 

It Is to be noted thetno fee Ie prerorlbed for 

a paoker acting In suoh oapaolty alone. Only where the 

“psoker”, aa delined In Seotlon 1 (I) III a atatut 

gdealera or ghandler*, a aoommIsslon merohant* and "7 or 

eoontraot deUeP, a "lain- sarh dealer*, a %aying 

agent*, or a *transporting agent*, does he hare to prooure a llcerrao and pan a fee therefor under the Texa8 

LIoenaIng and Bonding Aot. 

Analyzing the Aot ae a wholo, it is apparant 

that the intontlon or the Leglelature In Ita l naotment 

was to exsrolse oontrol over upewsonea engaged In the 

buying, selling, shippin 

shipping ror oannlng aa 7 

for selling, and wing and/or 

or prrooeszdng 0r oltru8 rrdt. 

It le our opinion that a *paoker* ae defined In 

Section 1 (I) ot Artiole llSb, Vernon's Annotated Cltll 

3tatutes, i.e., the Texas CItrue Llceneing and Bonding 

Act, is not automatically a ndealer* as delined In 3eotion 1 (e) and (b) of the Aot and subject to the requirewnt or a dealer's lioense aa set out in 3eotIomS and 4, 

or a ~oommIssi.on merchant* and/or "doalare or a *eontraot dealer" as defined In Seotion 1 (1) of the Aot 

and subjeot to the requirements ot lloenae and bond under 

Sections 8 and 3eotlon 4 (b). 

It 1s our rurther opinion that a firm engage4 solely 

&B&b3i&g~~ i&&%@% B~~~t~"l~uuf~rr~~~a~~~rchard io the packing shed or not, and also loading the 
Hon. Tom L. Hartley, page (I 

ma, after pFokiaq It, into railroad box-oemi or truoks 

under iastruotloao from the pereoa or persona for whom 

the paoklng wes done, Is neither a ude81erR or a 'oommirrrlon merohentn and/or *dealer* or a "ooatract dealer" 

within the ststutory aerIaItlone of the term as used 

la the Texas Citrus Llcenelng and Boadlng Act, I.e., 

Artiole 11&b, Vernon's Annotated Civil Sttitutes, sad In 

not subjeot to the recvireaeata of license and surety 

bond imposed by Section 2 and Scotion 4 (b). 

It ia our opinion that euch a packer h8 .ue hare 

under oon8ideratloa may lawfully be required to obtain 

a *traaeportlag agent" llceaee under Geotioa 4 (a) of 

the Aot where the packer either haul8 the fruit from 

the orchard to the shed or load8 the ssme into oar8 uader 

lnstruotlons rros the person or persons for who,?1 the 

packing Is being done. 

We have oonsldered the Aot and it8 provfaions 

and deiialtions thoroughly because the ooaoluelonr we 

have reached are la confliot with portion8 of aa opinion 

rendered to the Hon. J.E. AlcDonald, CosunissIoaer of Agrioulture, oa September 10, 1937, by Hon. D& Wllll~Ord, 

h.xlsteat Attorney General, the pert&mat; provlsloaa 

which are 8s rollowsr 

"Questioa No. 2 reed8 as hollows: 

w*Referrlag you to subseotloa (I) udder Seotlon 1 0r ssfd bat and thst portion 0r Section 

13 rercrrlag to citrus rruit peoker, 1s the 

packer, whether a Cooperatlre Rcrketlag Aseoolatlon, CorRoratlon, or Oustom paoker, required 

to ffieke appLlchtloa, pay license fee, and mke 

bond, and cone under the general provlaiona Or 

the law?' 

"To this question I answer 'yes', f'or the 

reason that the term *Paoker* mesas and lnoludee 

any person who prepare8 and/or paaks citrus! fruit 

for bnrtcr, sale, exohaage, or shipment. Clearly, 

the lciw contemplate8 that the packer la a dealer, within the purview and lntendment Or said 

Act." 

Lusofsr ~$8 the tlbove referred to opinion holds 
438, 

HOL. Tom I.. fIartley, pge 7 

that a *duston Packer* is automatically a Wdealerlr* under the Act regardless of the nature of r;is work an6 

Is recclmd to make apylloatloa, pay lioease ree, an4 

make bona, under the ~:rovlsloas of the Texas Citrus 

Licenslcg and Bonding Law, it Is overruled by this oplnlot w?:loh shall oontrol as to the relationship of *paokeP 

and wdealer*~.,ynder the Aot. 

Trusting that the above fully answers your iaqulw, we are 

iX3:ob 

YOWS W=ytNlJ 

ATITR~EY CLXFXAL OF TZ49 

BY 

A~sistaat 

VErOCT 25, 1939 

ATTORNEY GZiiXRAL Or' TEXAS