The Honorable Joe Resweber 

County Attorney 

Harris County Courthouse 

Houston, Texas 77002 

Opinion No. H- 481 

Re: Whether person not a 

citizen of the United States 

may be appointed notary 

public in Texas. 

Dear Mr. Resweber: 

You have submitted to us the following question: 

Whether the application of a person not a 

citizen of the United States for appointment as 

a notary public can be processed by the county 

clerk. 

Both Article 4, Section 26 of the Texas Constitution and Article 

5949 of the Revised Civil Statutes place upon the Secretary of State the 

responsibility of appointing notaries public. However, Section 3 of 

Article 5949, calls for the application of a person desiring such an 

appointment to be filed with the county clerk who is directed to send 

the names of applicants to the Secretary of State “certifying that 

according to the information furnished him, such person is eligible 

for appointment as Notary Public for such county . . . . ” Undoubtedly 

it is this provision that prompted the inquiry by your county clerk. 

The Constitution sets out no qualifications for notaries public. 

Rather it calis ,for qualifications to be prescribed by law. Prior to 

1945, the qual.ifications were found in Article 5949 as: 

To be eligible for appointment as Notary 

Public for any county, a person shall be at 

least twenty-one (21) years of age, and a 

resident of the county for which he is appointed . . . . 

ps 2181 
. .- 

The Honorable Joe Resweber page 2 (H-481) 

In Attorney General Opinion No. O-6504 (1945) it was concluded 

that a person Who was neither a citizen of the United States nor of the 

State of Texas was qualified to be appointed notary public if he met the 

other statutory requirements. 

This opinion prompted the immediate amendment of Article 5949 

so that it read: 

To be eligible for appointment as Notary 

Public for any county, a person shall be a 

citizen of this State and at least twenty-one 

(21) years of age . . . . 

Section 2 of the amending Act (Acts 1945, 49th Leg., ch. 373, 

p. 674) is in part: 

The fact that the present law does not require 

a Notary Public to be a citizen of Texas creates 

an emergency and imperative public necessity . . . . 

The exact nature of Texas citizenship vis-a-tie United States 

citizenship seems unclear. That there is a state citizenship distinct 

from federal citizenship seems well-established. Slaughter-House 

Cx, 83 U.S. 402 (1873); United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 

(1875). And see Constitution of Texas, Article 5, Sections 2 and 7 

requiring, respectively, that Supreme Court justices and judges of 

district courts be citizens of the United States “and of this State.” 

Perhaps the best definition of state citizenship is found in the 

opening words of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: 

All persons borncr naturalized in the United 

States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 

are citizens of the United States and of the State 

where they reside . . . . 

p. 2182 
. . - 

The Honorable Joe Resweber page 3 (H-481) 

We take, as a definition of “citizen of this State” as used in Article 

5949, then, that the person be a citizen of the United States and a resident 

of Texas. Under this interpretation an alien would not be eligible to be 

appointed a notary public, and we would answer your question in the 

negative. 

SUMMARY 

Under the provisions of Article 5949, V. T. C. S., 

an alien may not be appointed a notary public in the 

State of Texas. 

Very truly yours, 

Attorney General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant 

C. ROBERT HEATH. Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

p. 2183