Honorable 0. N. Huwhreys 

Acting Administrator, Texas 

Liquor Control Board 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. M- 208 

Re: Whether a permit or a 

license may be refused 

an applicant under Articles 

666-11 and 667-5, 2, V.P.C., 

where the applicant is a 

United States citizen, but 

he was not such citizen 

a period of three years 

immediately preceding the 

filing of his application, 

although a Texas resident 

for three or more years 

during that time? 

Dear Mr. Humphreys: 

The letter from your department requesting an Opinion 

of this office reads, in part, as follows: 

"In Section 11 of Article I of the Texas Liquor 

Control Act (Article 666-11 of Vernon's Texas Penal 

Code) it is provided as follows: 

'The Board or Administrator may refuse to 

issue a permit . . .to any applicant. . . 

if it has reasonable grounds to believe 

and finds any of the following to be true: 

. . . (11). That the applicant is not a 

citizen of the United States or has not been 

a citizen of Texas for a period of three 

(3) years immediately preceding the filing 

of his application, . . .i' 

"In Section 5, 2, of Article II of the 

Control Act (Article 667-5, 2 of Vernon's 

Code) it is provided as follows: 

Texas Liquor 

Texas Penal 

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Hon. 0. N. HumphreYS, Page 2, (M- 208 

I 

. . . . The County Judge shall refuse to approve the application for such license if 

he has reasonable grounds to believe and 

finds any of the following to be true: . ...2. 

If a Distributor or Retailer: . ...(e) That 

the applicant is not a citizen of Texas for 

a period of three (3) years irmnediately preceding the filing of his application. . .;I~ 

"Our question is this: May an application for 

a permit or license be refused where the applicant 

is a citizen of the United States but has not been 

a citizen of the United States for a period of three 

years preceding the filing of his application and 

has been a resident of the State of Texas for a period 

of three or more years immediately preceding the 

filing of his application?" 

In DeGrasier v. Stephens, 191 Tex. 194, 105 S.W. 992 

(1907), the court upheld a statutory requirement that an 

;;I;zant for a retail liquor license be a citizen of the 

issueA. 

and also a resident of the county wherein the license is 

The court said that the requirement did not contravene the Privileges and Immunitites, Equal Protection, and/or 

Due Process Clause, but was calculated to aid in regulating 

the liquor traffic, by rendering the licensee subject to process where suit is brought on his bond, and by facilitating 

the.determination of his other qualifications to exercise his 

license. cf: Ziffin v. Reeves, 308 U.S. 132 (1939). 

The provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act that 

require a natural person, or a partnership composed of natural 

persons, or an association of natural persons to be resident 

citizens of Texas for three (3) years innnediately preceding 

the filing of an application in order to be eligible to receive 

a permit or license have been held constitutional in Attorney 

General's Opinion No. C-427 (1965). 

The question now presented requires a definition of the 

term "citizen of Texas". Section 43-B, of Article I of the 

Texas Liquor Control Act (Article 666-43B, V.P.C.) provides 

as follows: 

"When the terms 'citizen of Texas' and 'citizen 

of this state' are used in this Act, they shall 

mean not only citizenship in Texas, as required by 

this Act, but shall also require citizenship in 

the United States." 

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Hon. 0. N. Humphrey9 Page 3, (M- 208 

When Section 43-B of Art. I is read into Section 11 

of Article I and Section 5, 2 of Article II of the Texas 

Liquor Control Act, it becomes apparent that the application 

may be refused unless the applicant has been both a citizen 

of the United States and a citizen of Texas for a period of 

three (3) years immediately preceding the filing of his 

application. 

Therefore, in answer to your specific question, it is 

the opinion of this office that an application for a permit 

or license may be refused where the applicant is now a citizen 

of the United States, but has not been a citizen of the United 

States for a period of three (3) years immediately preceding 

the filing of his application, although he has been a resident 

of the State of Texas for a period of three (3) or more years 

immediately preceding the filing of his application. 

SUMMARY 

An application for a permit or license may be 

refused under Article 666-11 and 667-5, 2, V.P.C., 

where the applicant is a United States citizen, but 

he was not'such a citizen for a period of three (3) 

years immediately preceding the filing of his application although a Texas resi ent for three (3) or 

more years during that 

Prepared by Douglas H. Chilton y 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman 

Kerns Taylor, Co-Chairman 

W. V. Geppert 

Lonny Zwiener 

Arthur Sandlin 

Jack Sparks 

STAFF LEGAL ASSISTANT 

A. J. Carubbi, Jr. 

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