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 inactiveduty 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 compliaiceprescribed by of this Act, for a ,perlodof from the time such per,sonla charged from spch service.',effectivedateextend the time any provlslons twelvemonths honorably dla-

"It appears tha$,:Mr. Ray Harks of GeorgeWest, Texas, was serving in our armed forces on the effectivedate of the 1945 act. I am enclosing two letters Prom Mr. Harris, togetherwith 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 thatMr. Harris Is In the U.S. navy Reserve and that he has not tech- 'nlcallgreceived 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 InWorld 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 therefromwere honorable.

Mr. Harris contends thathe has never been "discharged" but was merely released to Inactiveduty 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 AccountancyAct of 1945, Article 41a,V.C.S. Your letter did not statewhether Mr. Harris possessed the necessary quallflcatloneat the timehe entered the service,but, for the purpose of this opinion,we assume thathe did.

Your Inquirymay be answeredby determining the Intent of the Legislaturewhen It authorized the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy to extend the time for compliancewith the provisions of the Act for a period of twelvemonths aftermembers 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' actlvitleswere disrupted Inmoat instancesby theirmilitary service,and It was lnconvenient, If not lmposalble,for them to complywith the provisions of the Act. Once the "service'had ended and a reasonable time thereafterhad elapsed, the reason for the extension of'time ceased to exist.

The term nhonorabledischarge" sometimesrefers to the act of the proper military authorities In completelyreleasing personnelfrom membership in the armed services and authoritativelycertifying that the servicewas 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 significanceand places persons "honorablydischarged" In a technical status of completely severedmembershlp. As thus used,military personnelwhose membership has not been termlnatedhave not been "honorablydischarged." 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 "honorablydischarged" 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 terminationas 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.,2d741 (Cal. Sup. 1945) th ?thertime:served In the armed !'orc& Court determined uhf could be credited to a policeman to qualify him for retirementunder 'a'charter provision allowing credit for such service, conditioned on a return to employmentwlthIn one year after having been "honorablydischarged from such service." The particular pollcemanhad been relieved from active duty in the servicebut was and remained a member of the reserve at the time he returned to employmentwith 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 plaintiffherein, when he resumed the discharge of duties In the police department on November 24, 1942, under the circumstanceshereinabove related, fulfilled all the requirements of section 189 which are applicable to a city employe-veteranwhose time of service for a police pension Is not otherwise complete."

We therefore conclude that Mr. Harrl,s was "discharged,"within themeaning 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 servicewas offlclallydetermined to have.been honorable. The certificate Of satisfactory service accompanying your request indicates that Harris was separatedunder honorable conditions. However, whether the servicewas determined to have been honorable Is material only If the applicationwas made within the time allowed in the Act.Hon. J.~A. Phillips, Page 4, (V-1156)

ASsUming
,as Indicatedby 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 theU.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 AccountancyAct 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

CharlesD. Mathews First Assistant Gi?&d@

. Aselstant

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