r . 

OR?*'EY GENERAL 

FTF,XAS 

ArmTIN. TICXAR 78711 

October 19, 1972 

Honorable Joe Resweber 

County Attorney 

Harris County Courthouse 

Houston, Texas 77002 

Opinion No.M-1240 

Re: Whether vehicle license receipts are public records to 

be kept by the County Tax 

Assessor-Collector, and reDear Mr. Resweber: lated questions. 

In your recent opinion request, accompanied by an able 

brief, you asked two questions regarding the duties of the Harris 

County Tax Assessor-Collector in the handling and disposition of 

copies of vehicle license receipts issued by that office. Specifically you asked: 

"1 . Is the County Tax Office required to keep 

these records, and if so, for what length of time? 

"2 . If these records are not required, but 

maintained for auditing purposes only, are they 

public records and is the county tax office required to furnish information by telephone to persons seeking the ownership of automobiles?" 

In the case of Noqueria v. State, 59 S.W.2d 831 (Tex. 

Crim. 1933), the court cites many definitions of "record" and 

"public record", including the following: 

"'Record,' in its broadest sense is a memorandum public or private, of what has been done, 

ordinarily applied to public records only, in 

which sense it is a written memorial made by a 

public officer." 

11 

. . . the term 'record' is ordinarily applied to public records only, in which sense a 

record is a written memorial made by a public 

official authorized by law to perform that function 

and intended to serve as something written, said, 

or done." 

-6071- 
Hon. Joe Resweber, page 2 (M-1240) 

The county tax assessor is a public official, elected 

under the authority of the Texas Constitution, Article VIII, 

Sections 14 and 16, by the people of his county. He is authorized 

to collect fees for and to issue vehicle license receipts under 

Articles 6675a-2, et seq.? Vernon’s Civil Statutes. Each copy 

of a vehicle license receipt he makes is “a written memorial 

made by a public official authorized by law to perform that 

function . . .” 

Harris County, like many counties crowded for space, 

has most of its public records on microfilm. Article 6574b 

Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides for the photographic duplication of public records and the destruction of the records. Section 

4 of Article 6574b reads: 

“Sec. 4. Said photographic duplicates of all 

public records shall be placed in conveniently accessible files and provisions shall be made for preserving safekeeping, using, examining, exhibiting, 

projecting and enlarging the same whenever requested 

during regular office hours. Whenever photographic 

duplicates of public records are so made, certified 

and placed, the original public records may be, by 

order of the Commissioners Court of the county, or 

of the governing body of any political subdivision 

of Texas, destroyed or otherwise disposed of, provided, however, that no original record shall be 

destroyed or otherwise disposed of unless or until 

the time for filing legal proceedings based on any 

such record shall have elapsed, and, in no event, 

shall any original public record be destroyed or 

otherwise disposed of until said public record is 

at least five (5) years old; and provided further, 

that notice of such proposed destruction or disposition of original public records are, in his 

opinion, needed for the Texas State Library, they 

shall be transferred thereto in the manner provided 

in Article 5439, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925.” 

Attorney General’s Opinion W-793 (1960) has interpreted 

Section 4 as follows: 

“It is therefore the opinion of this Department that the provision in Article 6574b 

that no original records may be destroyed until 

the ‘time for filing legal proceedings based on 

-6072- 
Hon. Joe Resweber, page 3 (M- 1240) 

any such record shall have elapsed’ is not controlling in relation to this statute and that 

original public records, other than any deed 

record, deed of trust record, mechanic’s lien 

record or any minute book of any court, or any 

minute book of any political subdivision of 

Texas , may be destroyed according to Article 

6574b! when the following conditions have been 

complied with: (1) when in the judgment of the 

Commissioners’ Court or other governing bodies 

a necessity exists; (2) when the records have 

been properly duplicated in a manner set out in 

said statute; (3) when said public records are 

five (5) years old; and (4) when notice of said 

destruction is given the State Librarian, and 

if such records are, in his opinion, not needed 

for the Texas State Library.” 

Thus the length of time the county tax office must keep the motor 

vehicle license receipts records is fives (5) years. 

Question two considers the furnishing of information by 

telephone to persons seeking the ownership of automobiles. The 

leading Casey repo~rted in Texas upon the subject of the rights 

of the citizens of a state to inspect the records of the state 

or county is Palacios, et al. v. Corbett, et al., 172 S.W. 777 

(Tex.Civ.App.Ie San Antonio 

Court of Appeals applied the common law upon this subject as 

the law in Texas (Art. 1, V.C.S.). This case has been followed 

by this office in Attorney General’s Opinions O-854 (1939), 

O-2044 (194,0), and O-3591 (1941), which last opinion reads in 

part as follows: 

11 

. . . if the reports or records are not 

confidential, but on the other hand are of a 

public nature, private citizens or their duly 

appointed representatives have a right to inspect such of the records as they have an interest 

in. This right, of course, is subject to limitation imposed by the Legislature in enacting the 

subject laws. We do have instances in which the 

Legislature has specifically limited the authority 

to examine or copy records required of individuals, 

partnerships, or corporations, such as the records 

of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Commission.” 

-6073- 
Hon. Joe Resweber, page 4 (M-1240) 

In examining the statutes pertaining to motor vehicle 

license receipts, we find no provision making these records confidential or protecting them from examination or observation by 

interested persons. We do find in Article 6574b, Sec. 4, that 

examination of photographic duplicates of all public records 

"shall be . . . whenever requested during regular office hours 

. . . . It and as we have held in the above cited opinions, examinations must be made at reasonable hours and without interfering 

in the normal operation of the office. 

We find no authority requiring or empowering the county 

tax office to give any information over the telephone to anyone 

calling and requesting information on the ownership of automobiles. 

It would appear, however, that this information could be given at 

the discretion of the tax office as a matter of courtesy to the 

public. 

SUMMARY 

The county tax office's motor vehicle license 

receipt records are public records and must be preserved for five years under the law. These records 

may be examined at the tax office during reasonable 

hours or regular office hours by interested persons. Information from these records requested by 

telephone can be given at the discretion of the 

tax office as a matter of courtesy to the public 

but the tax office is not required to provide this 

service. 

Ve truly yours, 

Prepared by Linda Neeley 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

-6074- 
. , 

Hon. Joe Resweber, page 5 (M-1240) 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Ben Harrison 

Jim Swearingen 

Austin Bray 

James Hackney 

SAMUEL D. MCDANIEL 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant 

-6075-