April 10, 1952

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. Secretary-Treasurer Texas StateBoard of Chlropody Examiners 1121 19th Street Lubbock, Texas OpinionNo. V-1434

Re: Eligibility of holders of certificatesof preliminary education, issuedprior to the 1951 revision of preliminary educationrequirements, to take future examiDear Sir: nations to practice chiropody.

Your request for an opinion of this office reads in part as follows:

"For the past severalyears this Board has had a rule that one must first obtain a Certificate of PreliminaryEducationprior to making application to take the Board's examination to obtain a license to practice Chiropody in this State. These pre-educationrequirements
are set forth in Article 4570,V.C.S., 1939.

"Inrevision of the same Article by the Fifty Second Legislature, 1951, the pre-educationrequirementswere raised to include at least thirtyhours from a college of Arts and Sciences in addition to high school education. The revised Article became effective immediately after the Governor's signature on May 3, 1951. At the close of the revisedArticle it is stated 'Theprovisions of this. Article shall not affect studentsnow enrolled in recognized schools or colleges of chiropody,or for a period of
one (1)year from date of thisAct becoming law.?Han, Marshall Harvey, D.S.C., page 2 (V-1434)

"ThisBoard meets each Januaryand June to examine candidates for license and conduct other business. The next meeting dates are set for June&&27, 1952 in Austin, Texas.

"QUESTION:

"Wo~uld thoseholders of Qualifying Certificates of PreliminaryEducation (high school only)whose certificateswere issuedprior to revision of Article 4570, be eligible to apply to take the examination for license at the above mentioned,
or any other subsequentregular examination held by this Board?"

Article 4570,V.C.S,, provides:

"All applicants for license to practice chiropody in this State, not otherwise licensed under the provisions of law, shall present satisfactoryevidence to the State Board of Chiropody Examiners that such applicantshave attained the age of,twentyone (21)years, are of good moral character and are free of all contagiousand communicable diseases, and furnish a certified certificateof health to that effect, and are~citizens of the United States of America, and who are graduates of a recognized high schoolwith credits sufficientand acceptable to enter the state university of the state in which the high schoolgraduationwas attained, or the University of Texas,witho,utcondition toward a Bachelor's Degree, and the applicant shallhave completed at least thirty (30) semesterhours of college courses acceptable at the time
samewas completed, for credit on a Bachelor's Degree at the University of Texas, and shall present satisfactoryevidence of graduation from a bona fide rep,utable school of chiropody In the form of a diplomawhich has conferred the degree of Doctor of Surgical Chiropody. Such chiropody schoolsmay be consideredreputable, within the meaning of this Act, whose course of instructionshall embrace at least four (4)Hon. Marshall Harvey, D.S.C., page 3 (V-1434)

terms of at least eight (8) months each, and which meets the approval of the State 'Boardof ChiropodyExaminers. All educational attainments or credits for evaluationwithin the meaning of this Act; or applicableunder this law, shall have been completedwithin the geographical boundaries of the United States, and no educational credits attained in any foreign country that are not acceptable to the University of Texas toward a Bachelor'sDegree, shall be acceptable to the State Board of Chiropody Examiners. Candidates for a license to practice chiropody in Texas shallmake an application, inwriting, on a form prescribedby the Board, and all credits and information verified bs affidavit contained in the form. The"provisionsof thisArticle shall not affect studentsnow enrolled in recognized schools or colleges of chiropody,or for a period of one (1) year from the date of thisAct becoming law." (Emphasisadded.) - The underlined part of the article exempts two classes of applicants from its provisions; namely,,

those studentswho were enrolled in recognized schools or colleges of chiropody on the effective date of the act (May3, 1951), and those who, althoughnot in school on the effective date of the act, take the examinationwithin a year from May 3, 1951. As to the first class, there is no time limit and those applicantswho were enrolled in a recognized school or college on May 3, 1951, and who are qualifiedunder the law as it existed prior to the amendment are eligible to apply for examination In June of 1952 or any subsequentdate.

Applicants other than the students in this first class are not eligible to take the examination in June 1952, or at any subsequentdate unless they meet the requirements of the present statute,
even though they may have been issued Certificates of PreliminaryEducation prior to the effective date of the 1951 amendment, since the one year duringwhich the second class of exempt applicantswould be eligible to take the examination expires on May 3, 1952. It follows that a personholding a certificatebasedHon. Marshall Harvey, D.S.C., page 4 (V-1434)

on high school training onlywill not be eligible to take examinationsgiven by theBoard after May 3, 1952, unless he was enrolled as a student in a recognized school or college of chiropodyon May 3, 19510

SUMMARY Applicantswho were enrolled in a recognized school or college of chiropody
on May 3, 1951, and who are qualified under the law as it existed on that date
are eligible to take the examinationgiven by the Texas StateBoard of Chiropody Examiners in June, 1952, or at any subsequent date on which the examinationsare held. Applicantswho were not enrolled in
a recognized school or college of chiropody on May 3, 1951 are not eligible to take the examinationgiven by the Board in June, 1952, or at any subsequent time unless they meet the requirements of the present statute, even though they hold Certificates of PreliminaryEducation issued prior to May 3, 1951.

Yours very truly,

APPROVED:

J. C. Davis, Jr. County Affairs Division PRICEDANIEL Attorney General

Mary Kate Wall Reviewing Assistant

Charles D. Mathews First Assistant BY & ,c &&
uce Allen Assistant

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