OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF q-R-G 

AUSTIN 

Honorab-r Uneet @ainn 

County Attorner, Pl Par0 County 

iI1 Panti, Texar 

Your letter of De06 uestiag the opinion 

of thlr department on’the themia reads, in 

0 or the reu al60 please advise ou whothor or 

tlfioster lamed by Dootorr outelds 

Teraa are aoooptable. Pmthermore, 

where medioel oertitioatw are signed by amy Dootor'~, 

who are at posta ln the Stat. of Texas, but act registered phgsloianm in the Stat0 of %xae, am they 

acceptable to the County Clerk? This is very lmportant, since there are thousand@ of aoldlsrs applying for marriage llaeases and mtiy of them brine 

iaedioal certifioatos iseued by their army physiolans. 
ff 

“i$S a praoticsl matter, wo ballere thet es*- 

tlfloatea laauad by am Doatora residing within 

the-Stats should bs aooaptabla, but a mcra aSriouS 

QueStion la preaantod when the OartlflaSte IS lamad by a Dootor sow time prior t0 the SppllcStion for S llaoneo, IS aonw other Stats or even 

some other couatq. 

“Thaw *,uaat~lon of Sartlildstaa iSSUsd la SOmS 

other oouatry ariaea~by virtue o? persona SeSkiW 

to obtala oertlfioatea for porforlrmO8 of Proxy 

Iprrrlagaa. Of oouraa, the Clerk 18 aat interested 

l la the puaatlon of proxy lParrlage8 but oaly la porSorming his duty la laaulng lloanaSa. Tha oath raqalred to ba takoa awaora that’thara la no lagal 

objeotloa to tha pertorimmoa oi the merrlaga. Of 

ocmraa, IS the proxy marriage la lllegl, the oath 

oould aot bo algaad and the nmrrlaga lloenaa-should 

not ba laauad. If la ,our owa opinion that proxy 

amrlagaa aro not ra1f.d la thla Stats. Ii the Attorney General deems it propar 0n6 is818 it 18 

oloaely anotigh related to tha duty or the Clerk 

in the iaauaaoe Oi lloOnaaa, I would aQpraOiata his 

OQlalOa oa this queatloa so that our Clerk may be 

aided aooordfagly.* 

&tlolo 46040, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Gtatutee, roads as 

rollo*ar 

*Beion the County Olerk shall laaua any 

Plarrlaga lloanaa the bun ShSll odoca a oSrtltlOats i&mu S reputablS:licSnaad F lyalolan to whew 

that ha la iroo tror aU roao~aal dlaaasaa.a 

It nil1 be noted that the ton$olnfg l tatu~f~praaorlbaa no 

tim6 that tho oortlrioato rrom a ro*PJt'ciblo iieaaaad phyaiolin 

shall remain valid for thS purpoas ,& ~issufn& e Amiags llosase,. 

%MrSUy S~akfn8~ WhSa a statute, prSaOrlbS8 ~0~) tlm within whloh 

SS aot muet bo dono, than bha sot should ba dona within S maonable time. 

What is a reaaoaabla time wfthia whloh an sot must be done 

ordlnar$ly iwan so muoh tia@ as la naoaaaary, under. the oi.roumStanOeS, and whet the dutiaa raqulra IS tha partloular SSSS. (See 

Words and Phraeea, Per& Ed., Vol. 6, page' 376). &Sted mother 

I 
way, reaaonsbla tLno la auoh pro.qtltuda as the sltu.:rtion of the 

pnrtlaa and the oiroumtanaaa of the ease will allow. It never 

olBsna an lndulgenao in unneoeaasry delay or In delay ocoaaloned 

by vain and frultleaa effort to do tho aot required. (See 

Fronoh v, Lewis, 218 Pa. 141, 11 L. R. A. 948, N. S.) 

In ~SWC~ to your first question, you are advised thtlt it 

is out opinion that the oertlflosta from a reputable and licensed 

phyelolsn remains vslld for the purp6so of issuing a marriage 

lloanaa under Artlclo 46040, aupra, rot a reaaonnble letqth of 

time after the phyalolan has iseued auoh oertlfloate~ 

The phyalolaa making the 04rtlflaate must, under the terms 

of tho atntuta, be ‘reputable” and “licensed.” In the abaenaa 

0s apeolal leglalatlve authority, Texas does not reoo(pllaa the 

l.ioanalng and reglatering of phyalolana under the law of another 

Stats. The only phyalolana permitted to praotlce medlolna in 

this 3tate without lirat obtaining s llaenso aad reglaterlng under the laws of thie State are those phyaloisna apeolfioally 

exempt from suoh registration as provided by Artiole 4504, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Stotuteo. Therefore, the physloien referrod to in Article 46040, aupra, oould only man a physloian 

who la licensed in ‘and who prsotloaa medloine in the Strite or 

Texas, or ono who la apeoifloally exempt from suoh license and 

registration under Artlclo 4504, l upre. 

It la our oplnloa that oartlfloatea issued by .phyalolrlna 

who two not lloenaad and praotlolng within tho State oi Texas 

aro not aooeptablo under UtlOle 46040. In other words, bafore the oertffloate la seaeptablo to the Coun$g Clerk, auoh 

phyalolan must be lloenaed in an4 oaa who practloea madlolna in 

the Stata of Texaa,~ or on0 who is l poolfloally l xaapt from auoh 

lioanaa and raglatratloa under iatlolo 4504. In tier of the 

fore~oln6, it la our oplnlon that Army doctors who ero at a 

post in tha Stats of Texas, but aot registered phyalofana la 

the Stats of Texas, are authorfxod to laaua oartlfl~atoa under 

wrtlola 46040. 

In view of what &a boon heretofore said, we damm it uaaeooaaary to express anp~ opinion regarding proxy aarrlages. 

khea the County Clark La oogalzant that the oertfflcate haa baaa 

iaeuod by a reptabla lloeaaad phfaiolan who la raglatered and 

praotlolng madlolno in this Ststo, or by en &my doctor who lg 
,t . post in thlr 3tuto, hl8 inquiry is ended. Nowhero doaa 

I Leglrlaturs authorize, O? roqulro, the Clerk to go beyond 

,,br crrtifloato itself. AOO~rdln&lT, ii the omtifiaata be 

:irrued by a rrputable llOennr@d phy8lolan who ia regietrred 

'ad lioenaed to practioe nedioina in this Stat., or by an 

km dootor who ie situated on l g o a t in thlcl Stata, and if 

#it oertifler that the applioant ior 8uoh lloen6e 18 *free from 

iall remreal diaraaer* and if the other rtatutory raquira1IPrntr 

b0 IEd, it is the duty Or the Clerk to forthwfth i,,a,Je the 

j uoonD@. 

Toure very truly 

ATMFWX GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Ardell William 

Assistant 

j,FFF.@VEL;DEC 23, 1943