Hon. E. P. Jennings 

County Auditor 

Harding County 

Kountze, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-1023 

Re: Automible reglstration 

We have received your request for an opinion 

of this department as to whether a person visiting and 

being employed in this state and having a vIsitor's 

license is required to register his automobile in this 

atate. 

Article 82713, Section 3 of the Penal Code 

of Texas provides: 

"The non-resident owner or operator of 

any passenger car shall within twenty-five 

days after commencing to operate such vehicle, 

or causing or permlttlng it to be operated 

within this State apply to the Department, 

through any County Tax C,ollector, for the 

temporary re 

! 

istration thereof u 

form stating R 

on the appropriate of icial erein the 

name and home address of the owner and the 

temporary address, if any, 

operator while within this 

Article 827b, Section 

in part, as follows: 

"A non-resident owner 

of the owner of 

State, * + * ' 

2 of the Penal Code reads, 

of a motor vehicle, 

trailer or semi-trailer which has been duly 

registered for the current year in the State 

or country of which the owner is a resident 

and in accordance with the laws thereof, may, 

in lieu of registering such vehicle as otherwise required by law, apply to the State High- 
Hon. E. P. Jennings, page 2 (o-1023) 

way Department through a County Tax Collector 

::w thz fe$atration thereof as provided by 

. 

Article 827b, of our Penal Code defines "nonresident" as follows: 

"Means every resident of a state or 

country other than the State of Texas whose 

sojourn in this State, or whose occupation 

or place of abode, or business in this State, 

If any, covers a total period of not more than 

one hundred and twenty days in the calendar 

year." 

Article 827b, Section 4 of the Penal Code reads 

as follows: 

The County Tax Collector shall file 

each application received, and issue to the 

owner a temporary registration certificate 

of distinctive form to be furnished by the 

Department containing the date it is issued, 

a brief description of the vehicle and a 

statement that the owner has procured temporary registration of such vehicle as a nonresident. Said certificate shall entitle the 

own&.- oroperator of said vehicle to operate 

it in this state for a period not exceeding 

one hundred and twenty days from date of iasuance of said certificate." 

We understand from your letter that the party 

you inquire about is a visitor in Texas and has purchased 

and paid for the one hundred and twenty day non-resident's 

license. We think the definition quoted from Article 827b 

of "non-resident' answers the situation that you inquire 

about. However, this privilege is limited by section 4, 

article 827b in requiring that the one hundred and twenty 

days must date from the time of issuance. 

You also ask: 
Hon. E. P. Jennings, page 3 (o-1023 

"What application applies to establishing realdence of single person and marrled 

person relative to the question of reaiatering automobile in the above question? 

Article 6675a-2 provides: 

"Every owner of a motor vehicle, traller or semi-trailer used or to be used upon 

the public highways of this State, and each 

chauffeur, shall apply each year to the State 

Highway Department through the County Tax 

Collector of the County in which he resides 

for the registration of each such vehicle 

owned or controlled by him, * * *' 

The above article fixes situs of registration 

as the county in which he resides. s 

Residence as used in the statutes has been 

considered as synonymous with domicile. 19 C.J. p. 397. 

In volumn 54, p. 708 Corpus Juris, we find 

the following definition: 

"The best definition is that to be deducted from the Roman Law; that a man's residence is the place where his family dwells 

or which he makes the chief seat of his affairs and interest. Residence is the favorite term employed in the statutes to express 

the connection between person and place. 

The meaning when employed in a statute is 

often provocative of dispute, often making 

Ft difficult to give an exact definition of 

what la meant by residence as used in particular statutes, for when used in statutes 

it has different meanings in different connections, and may be used with different 

meanings in different statutes, and also, 

it sometimes has different shades of meaning in the statutes and even in the conatruc- 
Hon. E. P. Jennings, page 4 (O-1023) 

tion. An examination of the authorities 

discloses that it has received different 

-___._ _ . __ deflnltlona ln VarlOuS cases, prlnclpallg 

Involving franchise, taxation, and jurisdiction. As its statutory definition depends upon the legislative purpose as well 

as the oontext of the statute it must be 

construed in every case In accordance with 

the object and intent of the statute in 

which it occurs; hence its meaning Is to 

be determLned from the facts and circumstances taken together in each particular 

case. However, It is said that when used 

in the statutes, or actions, or suits relating to taxation, rights of suffrage, 

divorce, limitation of actions, and the 

like, it is used in the sense of legal 

residence, that is to say, place of 

domicile or permanent abode." 

We believe the intention of the legislature 

in the use of the term "resides" was legal residence. 

We trust that this construction will enable 

you to determine from your facts the residence of a 

single and a married person. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS 

MH:omb:mjs 

By /a/ Morris Hodges 

Morris Hodges 

Assistant 

APPROVED JUL 10, 1939 

&-A&$%$ 

ATTORNEYGENERAL 

APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE 

E!Y/s/RWF CHAIRMAN