OFFICE OF TNE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN ,‘- 

‘. 

FJ Ronorebls Char147 Lookhart 

I 

State Trearurer 

Austin, Texrr 

Dear Slrr Opinion Elo. O-i32 

rnon(e Annotated Ci+- 

ua the rou rubyit to 

‘~mag ae8hn their iarm, 

unt that vlll be 

on well, isetalan4 otherwkre eAre thee* 

he State Hate fax?* 

graph la ddotion R oi &tWle ?04?e, 

Btatutrr, read8 l e tolZowr 

herein otherwire provided there 

arsrrrrd a tax of Ten (&Of) Centa 

drod ($100.00) Dollara or fraatlon 

thereof, over the first Two amarea ($200.00) Doilaro, 

on all noter mb ob21g4tloae 4eoucsd br ohattel mmtgag4, area of trwt, me4h.anlo~e lien eontreot, ronaor”r 

lien, oonditional ml48 aontmat and all lnrtrumontr 

of a 8lmilar nature whioh ire film3 or recorded U the 
‘-. 70 

Honorable Charley Lockhart, page 2 

office of the County Clerk under the Reglstratlon 

Laws of this State; ?irorlaen that no tax ehall be 

levied on Instrument0 securing an amount of Two Rundred ($200.00) Dollars, or less. After thr effective 

date of this Act, except as’herelnafter provided, no 

such instrument ahell be fllea or recorded by any 

County Clerk in thle State untll there haa been affixad to euoh instrument stamps in aocordanoe xlth 

the provlalona of thlr eeotlon: providing further that !:’ 

should the lnatrument flied in the office of the 

County Clerk be eecurlty of an obligation that has property pledger? 8s aeourlty ln a state or Stater other 

than Texas, the tax ehall be baaed upon the reasonable 

cesh value of all oropertp pledged ln Texas in the 

proportion that sald droperty in Texsr beam to the 

total relue of the prorterty seourlng the obligation; 

end, provldlng further that, exoept as to renewals 

or extenslone of accrued interest, the provlalone 

of this seotion ahal. not apply to lnetrumente theretofore stamped uniier the provisions of thla Aot or 

the one amended hereby, end rhe.11 not apply to inetrumenta given in the refunding of existing bond8 

or obllgntloas where the preoealng lnetrument of LOourlty was mtamDed In eooordanoe vlth this Act or 

the one emended hereby; provided further thst the 

tax levied in this Pot ehell apply to only one lnstruBent, the one of the greatest denomlnatlon, where 

sever81 Instruments are oontemporaneourly exeouted 

to eeoure one obligation; and provided further that 

when once stamped e8 prorlded herein, an lnatrument 

may be recorded in any number of counties in thir 

State vlthout ngeln being 60 stamped. This section 

ehell not apply to lnetrumentrr, notes, or other 

obligations taken by or on behalf of the United 

Stetee, or of the Stste of Texae, or any oorporrte 

agency or ln~trumentallty of the United Statee, or of 

the Stete of Texee in carrying out a governmental 

purpose am expressed In any Act of the Congreas of 

the United State6 or of the Legleleture of the State 

of Texas, nor ohall the prorislona of this aeotloa 

apply to obligations or lnetrumente seoured by lien6 

on crone nnd ferm or agricultural ?roauots, or to 

liventook or farm lmplementr, or en abatraot of Judgment.# 

As you will note from 8 reading of the above, aeohanlo’a 

llen oontraote ere within the etetute. We presume thet the 

lnetrueents to which you refer are written contraota flled under 

Seotlon 1 of Artiole 5433, R. C. S. or in oomollance with Artlole 
Honorable Charley Loakhart, nage 3 

5460, R. c. s. Such Instruments clearly fall within the 

meaning of the term l meohenIo's lien oontract' ea used in 

the ete,tute quoted above. Said Aot provides that 'except 

es hereinafter provided no ruoh lnatrument ahall be filed 

or recorded . . . until there haa been afflxed to suoh 

Instrument stamps in aocordanoe with the QrOViEiOn8 of thle 

reotlon.* Reed.lng down into the Act we f’,al nothing to 

take these pertlouler lnstruaente out of the operation of the 

taxing atetute. The lrrlgatlon well oould under no olroumatanoes be conridered a farm lmclement or a farm or agrloultural product. While it le altogether orobablp that the equlpment when installed could not be olarned es "farm lmplementr' 

we do not find it neceesery to tleflnltely determine that quertlon. In our Conference ODinIon No. 3061 we held that where 

the eeourlty 1s primarily of the kind whioh will not confer exemption the mere lnolurlon of farm implements in the mortgage 

would not take the lnetrument out of the taxing etatute. Llene 

of the Und you mention go not only to the lmprovenentn plaoed 

on the land but to the land ltaelf. 

5460, Revised Civil Statutea. 

Artloles 6452, 6488, 5459, 

the negative. 

Aenoe, we enewer your queetion Sri 

Youre very truly 

ATTORBEX QEB-XRAL OF TEXAS 

ORL: JO 

ByL&CLII: 

alenn B. Lewis 

Aseletent