:



## EA NEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS AUSTIN 3x1.

TEXAS

Honorable CecilM. Pruett County Attorney Hutchlnson County Borger, Texas June 11, 

## 1962

Opinion No. WW-1355
Re: Constructionof Article 157aV.P.C., with reference to the use of the Great Seal of Texas on stationery,mailed by a State Offfclal for the purpose of campalgnit-g.
Dear Mr. Pruett: You have requested the opinion of this office on the folloting question:

"Would the use of the Great Seal of the State of Texas on stationery,mailed by a State Offical, for the purpose of campaigningfor election, be consideredadvertising,or giving publicity to goods, wares, or merchandise, or any commercialundertaking, or for any trade or commercialpurposes, as defined in this statute?" We answer your question in the negative. Section 1 of Chapter 350, Acts of the 54th Legislature, which has been codifiedas Article 157a,V.P.C. reads as follows:
"No person, firm, or corporation,or any agent,

servant, representative,employee, or receiver, of any firm or corporation, shalluse any facsimile, imitation, label, trademark, design, device, Imprint or form of the Great Seal of Texas for the purpose of advertising or giving publicity to any goods, wares or merchandise or any commercialundertaking, or for any trade orHonorable CecilM. Pruett,page 2 OpinionNo. WW-1355

commercialpurpose. Any person, whether in his individual capacity,or as an officer, agent, servant, representative,employee or receiver of any corporation,who shall violate this Article shall be fined not less than Fifty Dollars ($50) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($lOO),and each day of suchuse shall be a separate offense. Provided,however, the reproductionof official documentsbearing the Great Seal of Texas shall not be a violationhereof if such documentsare reproduced In full and are used for a purpose related to the purpose for which said documents were issued by the State.lt (Emphasissupplied) It is appar;nt that the latterportion of the underlined language (i.e.,

...giving publicity to any goods, wares or merchandise, or any commercialundertaking, or for any trade or commercialpurpose")has no application to campaigningfor election or for politicalpurposes,unless a political campaign is includedwithin themeaning of the terms, "'commercialundertaking'?

or "trade or commercialpurpose." It Is a fundamental rule of statutory constructionthat words In commonuse will be read according to their natural, ordinary, and popularmeaning,unless a contrary intention Is clearly apparent. In particular,words used in a penal statute should not be broadened or extendedbeyond their ordinary meaning. 39 Tex. Jur. Sec. 105. In ordinaryusage, a political campaignhas a customary and popularmeaning separate and apart from the ordinary conceptionof a commercialundertaking, and had the Legislature Intended the prohibition to apply also to political campaigning, it could easily have so stated.
It could be argued that the statuteprohibits the use of any form of the Great Seal of Texas for the purpose of any type of advertising, or In other words that the languageof the statute reading "for the purpose of advertising" Is not modified or limitedby the subsequentphrases. It is noted that no punctuation separates the word advertising from the remainder of the sentence and we think the clear context of the sentence, if there be any ambiguity,requires a construction that the words "advertisingor giving publicity" are used in the conjunctiveand not the disjunctive sense and that the type advertising in which the use of the Great, Seal is prohibited Is described in the remainder of the sentence. In this connection,we are aware that the title of the act reads in part as follows:z -

Honorable Cecil M. Pruett,page 3 OpinionNo. WW-1355

"An act to regulate the use of the Great Seal of Texas so as to nrohibit the use thereof for advertisin -or an unoffical use except as prov

*iin this Act..." (Emphasisadded) While it is true that an act is to be interpreted in the full light of its title, the title itself has no enacting force and cannot conferpowers not mentioned in the body of the act. Red River National Bank vs. Ferguson, 109 Tex. 287, 206 S.W. 923. Furthermore, the title or caption of a bill cannot be controllingas a ainst of the act. Salazar vs. State, t the plain language Grim. R. 529. 1 9 S.W. 2d 169, 145 Tex.

Here, the only "unofficialuse" of the Great Seal which is prohibited in the body of the act relates to commercialadvertising. Since this Is a criminal statute which must be strictly construed, 39 Tex. Jur. Sec. we do notbelieve the language of the statute can be146, extendedto includethe factual situation set forth in your letter.
Your question is accordingly answered in the negative. SUMMARY Section 1 of Chapter 350, Acts of the 54th Legislature, which has been codifiedas Article 157a,Vernon's Penal Code, does not prohibit the use of the Great Seal of Texas on stationery,mailed by a State Official, for the purpose of campaigning for election. Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas 6

BYAssistantAttorney General MN:lp APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Coleman Gay Rcbert Patterson W. 0. Shultz REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.