NE-Y ENEZRAL 

December 8, 1950 

Hon. D. W. Miles, R.D., President 

Texas State Board of 

Haturopathic Examiners 

Houston, Texas opinion No. V-1128. 

Ret 

Dear Sira 

Authority of the State 

Board of Naturopathic 

Examiners to collect a 

license fee of $50.00 

from all applicants who 

am licensed other than 

by examination. 

followsr 

Your request for'an opinion is 

?e desire the opinion of your 

substantially as 

Office 

regarding the legality of the State Board 

of Naturopathic Examiners1 requiring all 

persons liaenssd under the provisions of 

Article 4590d, V.C.S., other than those 

licensed after passing an examination, to 

pa~l;r;egistration or license fee of fifty 

. 

'At the first meeting of the Board, 

which was held in IVovember, 1949, it adopted a resolution requiring all persons lltensed under the provisions of Article 

45906, V.C.S. to pay a registration or lltense fee of fifty dollars, except in instances where the license was granted after 

examination. Such fees were to be need in 

defraying the expenses incurred In licensing qualified applicants and in aiding In 

the enforcement of the statutes of Texas 

regulating the practice of naturopathy. 

The Board estimated that the probable expense of lioenses, printing, stationery, 

per diem, travel, regulation, supervision 

and other connected expenssa would total 

about Fifty ($50.00) Dollars per licensee. 

After the above resolution was adopted, 
Eon. D. W. Xiles, B.D., page 2 (V-1128) 

the Board adopted and approved the appllcation for license form under the above 

provisions. The form adopted and used required all such licensees to pay the above 

fee. The Board construed the first sentence of Section 3, article 4590d V.C.S. 

and the next-to-last sentence of Se&Ion 

1, article 45906 V.C.S. as authorizing the 

above action. 

*All licensees under the above provision have remitted In the above amount as 

a registration or license fee, and the authority of the Board In requiring said fee 

has not been challenged by any member of 

the profession. However, the State auditorts offioe has requested that we secure 

your opinion relative to the legality of 

the above. * 

Section 1 of Article 4590d, V.C.S., provides 

la part: 

* 

. The Board may prescribe ad&nlstrativi rules and regulations, in harmony 

with the provisions of this title governing 

Its own prooeebings and the examlnatlons of 

appll~ants for the practloe of naturopathy. 

. . . 

Section 3 of Article &jgOd, V.C .S., provides 

in part: 

“The State Board of Raturopathic Xxaminers may, In the disoretlon of the Board 

In each instance, upon payment by the appllcants for re 

Dollars ($50 7 

lstratlon of a fee of Fifty 

grant lloense to practice naturopathy to any reputable naturopathic physlolan who Is a graduate of a reputable 

naturopathic college or has qualified on 

examination for the license of naturopathic 

qualification for a oommieslon as a naturopathic physician in the Medical Corps of 

the United States Army or navy and to llcentlates of other States or Territories 

having requirements for naturopathic reglstratlon and practice equal to those estabUsed by this Law. . . .I 
.’ . 

Hon. D. W. Miles, I.D., page 3 (v-1128) 

Section 12 of Article 4590d, V~.C.S., provides; 

“Any natuPopathlc physlclan who has 

been practlslng naturopathy In this State 

for three (3) years next preceding the 

passage of this Act and when membershlp 

was not fraudulently obtained, shall be 

granted a license under the provisions of 

this Act, provided however, that any naturopathic physician having resided In 

Texas ~three (3) years and having practiced 

naturopathy for one (1) year in Texas next 

preceding the passage of this Act will not 

be required to have a certificate of proficiency from the Minimum Standards Board 

as a prerequisite for obtaining such naturopathic 1lcense:~naturopathic physlclans in practice lq this State for more 

than one (1) year, but less than three (3) 

years, shall be examined in theory, philosophy, pathology, practice, symptomatology, and diagnosis, peculiar to naturopathy; 

all naturopathic physlclans who have been 

in practice In this State for less than one 

(1) year shall be required to take examlnatlons as provided in Seotlon 8 hereof .* 

It is well settled as a rule of statutory construction In this State that it Is proper to look to all 

parts of a legislative Act to ascertain its proper construction and meaning, that Is, to ascertain the leglslatlve Intent. It Is the legislative intent that is the 

law. In applying this rule courts will not look alone 

to one phrase, clause, or sentence of an Act, but to the 

entire Act, and this Includes the caption, the body of 

the Act, and the emergency clause. Trawalter v. Schaefer 142 Tex. 521, 179 S.W.W 765 ( 

%&on, 121 Tex. 615, 51 S.W.2d 680 

44) P &am V. Pat- 

-sections 3 and 12 of Article 

l&).o Thi. b ing 

4590d will be’coisldered together, and when considered together it Is 

reasonable to conclude that the Legislature Intended 

that a license fee of $50.00 be exacted of all persons 

licensed under the provlslons of Article 45qOd, except 

where such license was granted after an examination. 

Since the enactment of the provisions under 

discussion, the State Board of lVaturopatNc,Examiners 

has followed the practice of requiring all persons lltensed under the provisions of Article 4590d to pay a 
Hon. D. W. Miles, R.D., page 4 (v-1128) 

license fee of $50.00, except where such license was 

granted after examination. In fact, a resolution was 

adopted by the Board In lVovember of 1949 requiring such 

licenae fee . As previously observed, such a construction is reasonable and sound. Furthermore, the statute 

being somewhat ambiguous the departmental construction 

placed on the Act with respect to the requirement of 

license fees should be.followed 

San Antonio Union Jun%or Collene Mst. v 

241 206 S W . 26 99> (1947) 

s!knce Ass In v: Holmes, 145 T 

9461 . 

In view of the foregoing It is our opinion 

that the Act in question (Art. 4590d, V.C.S .) kuthorlzes the State Board of IVaturopathlc Examiners to collect a license fee of $50.00 from each applicant who 

is llosnsed other than by examination. 

SUMMARY 

Artlole 45904, V.C.S., authorizes the 

State Board of Iiaturopathia Examiners to 

collect a license fee of $50.00 from all 

applicants who are licensed other than by 

examlnatlon. 

APPROVED? 

Ji C. Davis, Jr. 

County Affairs Mvlslon 

Everett Hutchinson 

Executive Assistant 

~Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Bwazlw 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

w hn”c”y’ Burnell’ Waldrep 

Assistant