February 19. 1975 

The Honorable Dolph Briscoe 

Governor of Texas 

State Capitol 

Austin, Texas 78711 

Opinion No. H- 534 

Re: Length of term of members 

of the Board of Nurse Examiners. 

Dear Governor Briscoe: 

You have requested our opinion regarding the construction of article 

4513, V. T. C. S., which provides for the appointment of a Board of Nurse 

Examiners. The statute authorizes the Governor to: 

. . . bienniallv appoint a Board of Nurse Examiners 

to consistof six members. and the term of office of 

those so appointed shall be two for six years; two for 

four vears; and two for two vears. The terms of ’ 

office for members of the Board shall expire on 

January 31 of odd-numbered years, Each member 

of said Board shall be a registered nurse at least 

twenty-five years of age, of good moral character and 

a graduate of an accredited school of professional 

nursing, and three members shall have at least three 

years’ teaching experience in educational work among 

nurses. One of the two personsaFpointed every two 

years’ shall be a person with at least three years’ 

teaching experience in education work among nurses. 

As you have indicated, the statute appears to have created a Board 

with two members serving for two years; two serving for four years, and 

two serving for six years, since the word “initial” or “first” has not b&en 

inserted prior to “term of office, ” and since the usual provision that 

“members appointed thereafter shall serve for six years” has been omitted. 

p. 2408 
The Honorable Dolph Briscoe page 2 (H- 534) 

However, the language causing the confusion, underlined in the 

foregoing quotation, has existed in the statute since 1931 and has never 

given rise to any question. Traditionally, Board members have served 

six year terms and we must assume the Legislature was cognizant of 

that fact when, in 1969, it amended the statute but reenacted the identical 

language. In 1969 this office issued Attorney General Opinion M-433 

finding that the 1969 amendment did not abolish the old Board and that its 

members should continue in office until the expiration of the terms for 

which they were appointed. In addition, the language of the statute which 

provides that “one of the two persons appointed every two years shall be 

a person with at least three years’ teaching experience in education work 

among nurses” is rendered meaningless unless the statute is interpreted 

to provide for six-year terms, with two persons appointed every two 

years. 

This conclusion is buttressed by considering the constitutional 

difficulty that arises if the alternative construction is adopted. Article 

16, section 30a, of the Texas Constitution authorizes the Legislature 

to establish six-year terms for members of “boards . . . established 

by law. ” Article 16, section 30, provides that “[t]he duration of all offices 

not fixed by this Constitution shall never exceed two years. ” If article 

4513 is interpreted as creating a Board to which two members are 

appointed for four-year terms, it is clearly violative of the constitutiona 

directive, which proscribes any term of office whose duration is more 

than two but less than six years. 

It is an established principle that when a statute is susceptible 

to more than one construction, one which would render it constitutional 

and the other which would render it invalid, the former must prevail. 

Alobaidi v. State, 433 S. W. 2d 440 (Tex. Grim. App. 1968), cert. denied, 

393 U.S. 943; Newsom v. State, 372 S. W. 2d 681 (Tex. Grim. App. 1963); 

Amaimo v. Carter, 212 S. W. 2d 950 (Tex. Civ. App. --Beaumont 1948, 

writ ref., n. r. e.). We therefore hold that the 1969 revision of article 

4513 did not alter the term of office of the members of the Board of Nurse 

Examiners, and that term is for six years. 

p. 2409 
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The Honorable Dolph Briscoe page 3 (H- 534) 

SUMMARY 

Under article 4513, V. T. C. S., each member 

of the Board of Nurse Examiners is appointed for 

a term of six years. 

Very truly yours, 

0 Attorney General of Texas 

sL b 

DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant 

C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

p. 2410