Honorable Henry Wade Opinion No. C-249 

District Attorney 

Dallas County Re: IB it mandatory that employees 

Records Building of the City of Dallae, operaDallas, Texas ting the Dallas Transit Co. 

buses, have a commercial 

Dear Mr. Wade: chauffeur's license? 

You recently requested an opinion of this office on the 

following question: 

"Is It mandatory that employees of the 

City of Dallas, operating the Dallas Transit 

Co. have a commercial chauffeur's license?" 

You have furnished us with the following facts: 

"The City of Dallas recently acquired 

the operating properties of the Dallas 

Transit Company (whloh operated buses within the city limits of Dallas and environs); 

and the City of Dallas Is now operating this 

public transit system as an official department of the City of Dallas. 

"The Dallas Transit Company is wholly 

owned by th.e City of Dallas, and the bus 

operators employed to drive same are full 

time employees of thee Mty of Dallas." 

Article 6687b, Section l(o), Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

defines chauffeur as: 

"'Chauffeur.' Every person who is the 

driver for wages, compensation, or hire, or 

for fare, of a motor vehicle transporting 

passengers." 

Article 6687b, Section 3,~ Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides in part as follows: 

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Honorable Henry Wade, Page, 2 (C- 249 ) 

“Sec. 3. What persona are exempt from 

license 

II . . . . 

“4. . . . It shall not be necessary for 

an employee, of any incorporated city, town 

or village of this State or county of this 

State when holding an operator’s permit to 

obtain a chauffeur’s license in order to 

operate an official motor vehicle in the 

service of such incorporated city, town, 

village or county. 

I, II . . . . 

This language has appeared in the statute since Its original 

passage In 1941. Acts 47th Leg. 1941, ch. 173, p. 247. We 

see the question to be one of determining what is an 'official 

motor vehicle" In the "service" of an Incorporated city, town, 

village or county. The Act does not define the term. The word 

"official" is used as an adjective describing motor vehicles. 

The Merriam-Webster Third Edition International Dictionary, 

1961, uses the following definition for the adjective "official": 

"belonging or relating to an office, position, or trust: connected with holding an 

office. . .: holding an office or serving In 

a public position: authorized to perform a 

service. . .'I 

If we consider the term "official motor vehicle" as a noun, 

the definition becomes more restrictive. We are, therefore, 

of the opinion that Article 6687b, Section 3, Paragraph 4, means 

those motor vehicles owned by the city for the use of an official 

of the city, as for example where a mayor, city manager, police 

chief, etc. are furnished with automobiles which are drlven by 

city employees; also fire engines, police vehicles, etc. Rowever, city buses are not "official" vehicles of the city, because they are not in the service of the city, as such, and 

the passengers are being transported for hire or compensation. 

The city only indirectly benefits from the profits accruing 

from the operation. The service to the traveling public is 

not a governmental function of the city. 

18 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations (3rd Ed. Rev.) 

Sec. 53.108 on p. 426 says: 

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Honorable Henry Wade, Page ‘3 (C-249 ) 

"In operating a system of buses for the 

transportation of passengers for hire, a city 

functions in its corporate, as distinguished 

from it governmental capacity, and may be 

held liable for injuries sustained through the 

negligent operation of a bus. A city Is liable 

as a common carrier with respect to passengers, 

and is required to exercise a high degree of 

care for their safety, not only while being 

transported, but also when entering the vehicle, or alighting therefrom. . . ." 

City of Amarillo v. Tutor, 267 S.W. 697, Tex. Comm. App. 1924 ; 

City of Amarillo v. Green, 267 S.W. 702 t Tex. Comm. App. 1924 1 ; 

39 T ex.Jur.2d 27b, Municipal and Interurban Transportation, Sec. 

2. It, therefore, seems that the Legislature Intended to give 

the public the protection of operators with a chauffeur's 

license driving city-owned buses as the city, acting in Its 

corporate or non-governmental capacity, is required to exercise 

a high degree of care for the safety of the passengers being. 

transported. 

We are, therefore, of the opinion that Paragraph 4, Section 3 of Article 6687b does not apply to city owned buses 

because such buses are not "official motor vehicles" in the 

service of the city, and the city in operating the bus company 

is not acting in a governmental capacity. 

SUMMARY 

Rnployees of the City of Dallas operating 

Dallas Transit Company buses must have a commercial chauffeur's license as required by Article 

6687b, V. C. S., even though the Dallas Transit 

Company is wholly owned by the City of Dallas and 

the bus operators employed to drive the buses of 

the company are full-time employees of the City 

of Dallas. 

Yours very truly, 

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Honorable Henry Wade, Page 4 (C-249 ) 

NVS:aj 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Paul R. Robertson 

John Reeves 

Robert Smith 

W. 0. Shultz 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTOIWEP GENERAL 

BY: Stanton Stone 

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