.- 

e. 

November 15, 1950 

Hon.. A. C. Winborn 

District Attorney 

Harris County 

Houston, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Opinion No. V-1120, 

Re: Proper form for citations in 

delinquent personal property 

tax suits. 

You request the opinion of this office upon two questions 

stated as follows: 

“Question No. 1. Must the citation in personal 

property tax suits describe the property upon which 

the tax is assessed by particular classification, rather 

than in general terms? 

“Question No. 2. Must the citation set forth each 

year, with the amount of tax for the year, rather than 

setting out the years (as 1941 to 1949). together with 

the total sum of taxes sued upon? ” 

Rule 117a of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which was 

promulgated by order oft August 18, 1947 and became effective December 31, 1947, controls the form of citation in delinquent tax suits. 

Rule 2, in defining the scope of the rules, specifically provides that 

Rule 117a shall control with respect to citations in tax suits. 

Subdivision 4 of Rule 117a provides in part as follows: 

“T.he statement of the nature of the suit, to be 

set out in the citation, shall be sufficient if it contains 

.a brief general description of the property upon which 

the taxes are due and the amount of such taxes, exclusive of interest, penalties, and costs, ~ ~ . ” 

Subdivision 6 of Rule 117a provides a form of citation 

by personal service either in or out of the State and reads as follows: 

“The form of citation for personal service shall 

be sufficient if it is in substantially the following form, 

with proper~ changes to make the same applicable to 

personal property, where necessary, and if the suit includes or is for the recovery of taxes assessed on personal property, a general description of such personal 

property shall be sufficient: 
~Hon. A. C. Winborn, Page 2 (V-1120) 

“TtIE STATE OF TEXAS 

,............., Defendant . . , 

“YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to appear 

and answer before the Honorable District Court , . . . 

Judicial District ,......... County, Texas, at the 

Courthouse of said county in. . . . . . . . , Texas, at 

or before 10 o’clock a. m. of the Monday next after the 

expiration nf 20 days from the date of service of this 

citation, then and there to answer the petition of . . . 

. . . . . . , Plaintiff, filed in said Court on the . . . day 

of v . . . . . . , A. D., 19 . . , against . . . . . . . . . . , 

Defendant . . , said suit being number . . . . . . on the 

docket of said Court, the nature of which demand is a 

suit to collect delinquent ad valorem taxes on the property hereinafter described. 

“The amount of taxes due Plaintiff, exclusive of 

interest, penalties, and costs, is the sum of $ . . . . , 

said property being described as follows, to-wit: . . . I 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..k . . . 

(Then ~follow certain additional clauses not material to the questions at hand.) 

You will note that both subdivisions 4 and 6 of Rule 117a 

state that a general description of the personal property shall be 

sufficient, and that the form given in subdivision 6 does not provide 

a statement as to any year or years that taxes are delinquent upon 

.the personal property and does not provide for the setting out of the 

amount due for any particular year. We therefore answer both your 

questions in the negative. 

SUMMARY 

Citations in person&property tax suits need 

only describe the property in general terms and need 

not set forth the year or years that the taxes are delinquent. Rule 117a, Rules of Civil Procedure. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: 

Everett Hutchinson 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

Executive Assistant 

BY 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant Assistant 

WVG/mwb