“33~~ fiTTOWNEY ,GENERA.L 

I OFTEXAS ‘. 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

October 4, 1951 

Hon. Cecil E. Burney, President 

State Bar of Texas 

Corpus Christi, Texas Opinion No, V-1299 

Re: Exemption from ad valorem taxes of proposed 

Dear Sir: 

permanent headquarters 

of the State Bar of Texas. 

We quote the following excerpt from your request of 

September 24, 1951: 

“The State Bar of Texas is in the process of 

acquiring a site for the ercctien of permanent headquarters for the, organization in Austin. It is necessary that we obtain from you an opinion concerning 

the liability of the State Bar for ad valorem taxes on 

this property.” 

Section 2 of Article 320a-1, V.C.S., the State Bar Act, 

reads as follows: 

“Sec. 2;. There is hereby created the State Bar, 

which is hereby constituted an administrative agency 

.., of the Judicial Department of the State, with power to 

contract with relation to its own affairs and which 

may sue and be sued and have such other powers as 

are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of 

this Act. * 

In Attorney General’s Opinion O-2784 (1~940), this ‘office ,held that the State Bar was exempt from Federal Employment 

Taxes with respect to services performed by persons employed 

and paid by it under the State Bar Act and the rules of the Supreme 

Court issued under such Act. We quote the following excerpt from 

Opinion O-2784: 

“In our opinion, the State Bar of Texas is an instrumentality 6f the State of Texas and is wholly owned 

by the State, within the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code 

4 

uoted above. [ 26 U.S.C.A., Sets. 1426(b)(7) 

and 1607(c) 7), excepting from taxes “service performed 

in the employ of a State, or any political subdivision 
Hon. Cecil E. Burney, Page 2 (V-1299) 

thereof, or any instrumentality of any one or more of 

the foregoing which is wholly owned by one or more 

States or political subdivisions; . . ,“I The regulation 

and discipline of lawyers and the formation and administration of an integrated bar are properly within the 

functions of the ~iudicial branch of the,novernment of 

the State. Compare In re Inte ration Gf State Bar ,of 

Oklahoma, 185 Okla. 

tion of Nebraska Stat:~&9~~%%i~~, 

m N W 265; In re Edwards, 45 Idaho 676, 266 Pac. 

665; State Bar of California v. Superior Court, 207 

Gal.:>23 278 Pac. 432-i In re Gibson;.35 ,N.M; 550, 4 

P.2d 643: 

“The Stat& Bar of Texas is de,signed s~olely~ for 

the purpose of carrying out theses functions., The fees 

which~are paid by the lawyers under the requirements 

of the statutes, and the rules,:of the Supreme ~Couit are 

used under the direction of ,the Supreme Court for. the 

purpose of carrying out the provisions of the State Bar 

Act and for no .othe,r purpose. ~vti private persqn has 

any’interest whatever in the State Bar or its funds.” 

Attorney General.‘s, Opinion V-480 (1948). in holding 

that employees of the State Bar of Texas were eligible to be members of the Texas Employees Retirement System, again recognized 

the State Bar as an agency of the JudicialDepartment of the State. 

Article XI, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of 

‘Texas reads, in’part, as follows: 

“The property of counties, cities and towns, 

owned and held only for pub1i.c purposes, such as public buildings and the sites therefor. [~ sic] Fire engines and the furniture thereof, and all property used. 

or intended for extinguishing fires, public grounds 

and all ,other property devoted exclusively to the use 

and benefit of the public shall be exempt from for,ced 

sale and from taxation , . I . ” 

The above quoted constitutional provision is self-operative, A. & M. Consol. Independent School Dist. v. City of Bryan, 

143~Tex. 348, 184 S.W.Zd 914 (1945). 

The State Bar of Texas, as an agency of the Judicial Department of our ‘State government, is a governmental agency. Its 

functions being governmental in nature, its purposes are, perforce, 

public purposes; and its property is therefore “public property devoted exclusively to public use and is exempt from taxation under 
Hon. Cecil E. Burney, Page 3 (V-1299) 

Art. XI, Sed. 9, of the Constitution; . . .*. Lower Colorado River, 

Authority v. Chemical Bank & Trust Go., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S.W. 

2d 48 (1945). You are accordingly advised that the proposed permanent headquarters would be exempt from taxation. 

SUMMARY 

The State Bar of Texas is a governmental agency 

of the State, and property acquired by it as a site for 

a permanent headquarters becomes public property devote’d exclusively to public use and is exempt from 

taxation under Article XI, Section 9, of the Constitution 

of Texas. Lower Colorado River Authority v. Chemical Bank & Trust C O., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S . W . 2d 48 

n9451 . 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: 

W. V. Geppert 

Taxation Division 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Price Daniel 

Attorney General 

MMC/mwb 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

-‘l&s.Mari&taMcG egor Creel 

’ Assistant