OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS ’ 

i AU- 

--ls= Q.0, 

l;rse Violet 9. Greenhill, Chief 

Dlvisi~n of Child xelrare 

stats Departiaent or i?ublic 

Austin, Texas 

Dsar lfrs. Greenhillr 

This department h r 

oplnlon. Y.-e quote the ;ert 

request ror an 

r0u0ws I 

r, your letter as 

bond required for such 

t or brought into Texas 

been given in confoinity 

and in co$‘orzity with 

‘;tates Co.mlttee 

for the caze of European children, that the 

children brought to ‘&is oountry will Lot becone a ?ubllo charge? 

*The imediate need for your 0pid.0n in 

this netter has arisen out of a request from 

a Texas resident VisitirE: in New York. This 

individual has asked to be advised of the 
yrs. Violet 9. Greenhill, Page 2 

2’ formalities required,, under Taxas law, to 

bring a refugee child to this State to live 

, 

in his home for the duration of the Xar. 

~e+a~eHatte.ching a copy of this let+.er. 

. 

The letter to which you refer in the final paragraph of the foregoing, reads: 

mA Client oi mine, who is a resident 

0r your state, end who is in this city at 

the present time, is desirous of taking 

with him a refugee child now in the Chited 

States and to give the child a hone gratuitously with himself and his raaily for 

the duration of the war. 

“1 would appreciate it very much if 

you would advise me whether any preliminary 

formalities must be met vjith before the 

child can be made a resident of your state. 

“1 wish to repeat that the child is 

now lawfully in ,tierica, and my client, out 

of the kindness of his heart, wants .to give 

him all the necessaries of life, and have 

the child live with him uutil he Can, be 

sent back to his own pareqts abroad.* 

, The Acts of 1931, 42nd Legislature, Senate F&11, No. 

375, Chapter 194, Fage 323, or,ated the Division of Child Uelfare in the Board of Control and defined, its rUW2tiORS as 

r0110ws t 

sec. 2. “It shall be the duty of the 

Board to promote through the Child Y:elfare 

Division the enforcessnt of all laws for the 

proteotion, of defective, illegitimate, deP 

endent, neglected and delinquent children 

* * and to take the initiative in all matters Involving the interest of such children 

where adequate provision therefor has not 

already been nade.” 

Sections 0 and 7 0r that Act areincorporated in 

Ve~rnon’s Annotated Penal Code as titicle 606a. That Article 

provides: 
‘. yrs. Tliolet 9. Greenhill, Page 3 

, .i 

I..’ 

QArt. 606a. ’ Bringing child into state 

for placing out or adcytion without consent i of State Board or Control 

*Sec. 0. It *shall be unlaxfkl ror any 

person, for timself or as agent or re?resentative of another, to bring or send into this 

Sta.te any child below the age of sixteen (16) 

years for the Qurpose 0r placing him out or 

proouring his adoption without first having 

obtained tha consent of the State Board or 

Control, which may be lcaas by application 

directly to the Board of Control, or through 

the County Child Xelfsre Board. Said consent 

shall be given on a regular rors to be prascribed by the Board of Control snd no person 

shall bring any such child into this State 

without such permit and without having filed 

with the Eoard of Control a bond payable to 

the State, JZI a form to be prescribed by the 

Attorney Genaral, and apgroved by the Board 

in the penal sum of One Tho;lsand ($l,OOO.OOj 

.., Dollars, conditioned that the: Person bringing 

or sending such child into this State u-i.11 

not send or bring any child \*ihO is incorrigible 

:, or unsound of mind or budy; that he v:ill re- 

.:move any such child why becomes a public 

charge or pay the eqe.lse of removal of such 

’ charge, who, in the opi’nion of the Board of 

Control, beccaes a menc:e to the oozmunity 

prior to this adolMon or becoming of legal 

age; that he will place the child under a 

written contract approved by the County Child 

Welfare Board and the Board of Control; and 

that the person with whom the child Is ?l+zed 

shall be responsible for his proper care and 

training. Before any child shall be brought 

or sent into the State for the purpose of 

placing him in a foster home, the person ao 

bringing or sendin: such child shall first 

notify the Eoard of Control of his intention 

and the Board of Control shall ifrzedietely 

notify the County Child :;elfarz Board, who 

shall make a report to the Board of Control 

on the person whom it is indicated will have 

oharge of the child, and shall obtain from 

c 

73s 

_ _.- 
us. Violet S. Greenhill, Page 4 

the Board of Control a Certificate stating 

that such home is, :ond such person or persons 

fn charge, are in the opinion of the Board of 

Control, -uitsble to have charge ?? such .~. 

ohlld . Suoh notification shall state the 

name, age and description of the child, the 

name and address of the person to whom the 

same is to be placed, and such other iniornation as may be required by the Board of Control, and the mm shKL1 be sworn to by such~ 

Qerson. The 3oard of Control shall require 

the person sending said child into this State, 

or the person who is in charge of the same 

after he has beon brought here, to make a 

report at certain stated times, snd in the 

event such reports are not mde suc,h. Board 

shall be authorized to deport said child 

from this State and the expenses thereof 

shall be recovered under said bond; provided, 

however, tha~t nothing herein shall be deened 

to prohibit a resident of this State from 

bringi= into the State a relative OF child 

for adoption into his own family. The 5oard 

of Control and Child Zelfare Eoards shall not 

allo:? minors to come into and be brought into 

this State in violation of this Act. 

.:- -.- 

739 

“Sec. 7 If any’person shall bring into : 

this State OS direct, conspire, or cause to 

‘,e brought into or San’:. into this State any 

ehlld in violation of the foregoing section, 

he shall be guilty of a misiemearxr and upon 

I 

conviction therzof 33211 be r’ined in a sum 

not less than Twenty-five ($25.00) Dollars 

nor more than One Thousand ($l,OOO.CO) Dollars, or by confineaent in the County Jail 

not exceeding t:%;elve months, or by both such 

rim and imprisonment, Acts 1931, 42nd Leg., 

Q. 323, ch. 194.” 

The language of Article G06a, supra, is not aabiguOUS. By the passage of this .Ict, the Legislature sought to 

correct an existing evil; caoely, the importation of defective, 

illegitimate, dependent, neglected, or delincuect children 

Into this State by irresponsible persons or agencies. XOre 

than frequently, these children becme yublic charges and OCcassioned an overcrowded condition in our State Institutions. 

(See Seotion 14 of the Act). 
. . 

,Llrs. Viol&t S. Oreenhill, Fage 5 

The Legislature qualified the application of this 

statutory provision, however, to those persons or agencies 

who bring or send children under sixteen (IS) years of age 

into the State for the purpose of “plhctng them outW or 

wyrocuring their adoption.” In the instant case, a person 

desires to bring a refugee child into this State and provide 

it with all the necessities of life and have the child live 

with him. k bzLs QKYL ~JUIUX wP.U Q-..&~II.,~ =&Yu& wti% +Jn-e 

ahild’s return to his rightful parents. 

In the described situation, no bond need be made 

for reason there is neither a “plaoing out* nor the procurement of an adoption. 

In the event there is a “placing out’ or the procurement of an adoption, the provisions of Article 606a, 

supra, nust be set and conplied with for there is no evident 

exemption of war refugee ahfldren. The Act applies to *any 

child below the age of sixteen (16) * * *.* 

We trust that the foregoing answers your inquiry. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GEFiEE.L CB TEXkS 

Wm. J. Fan-~ Lng 

Ass1 &ant 

GX:RS ARPROVmS= 30, 1S40