Hon. Qene Maauin 

District Attorney 

McLennan County 

Waco, Texas 

opinion No. v-598 

Re: The authority of the 

county clerk to charge 

a fee for birth certlficates furnished the 

Waco State Rome. 

Dear Sir: 

Your request for an opinion is as follows: 

"Can the County Registrar of births 

charge the Waco State Home, which is a 

State Institution, for birth certlficates 

which they must obtain on the children 

who are committed to this home, an8 donsequentlg war&s of the State of Texas?" 

Youstate that it is the county clerk of MCLennan County who is furnishing the Waco State Rome certifiea copies of birth certificates. 

It was held in the case of Tobin v. Skaggs, 

107 S,W.(2d) 677, that: 

"The office of county clerk was not 

created, nor Is it maintained, for the 

private gain Of perSOnS Occupyirig it from 

time to time. nor for the nuruose of raising revenues; except as fees iuas be collected as an incident to its ooeration for 

public DtWDOSSS. (Emphasis added) 

Rule 51a of Article 4477, V. C. S., authorizes 

the county clerk to Issue certified copies of birth certificates and collect a fee of fifty cents for such service. We quote the following from Rule 51a: 

,I 

. . . Certified copies of said b~irth 

or death certificate shall be issued by 

either the County Clerk or the State Registrar and fee for said certified copy shall 
. . 

Hon. Gene Maddln, page 2 (V-598) 

be fifty cents (504). . .' 

Since there Is' no provision in the rule above 

quoted which would exempt the Waco State Home from the 

payment of the fee due the county clerk, the question 

for our determination is whether a county office may 

collect a statutory fee. from a state agency. In this 

connection we quote the following from Attorney General's Opinion No. 0-783: 

"It will be noticed that the language of these statutes concerning who shall 

pay these charges is very plain and mandatory, and that it is all inclusive. Article 58 provides that 'all applicants 

shall pay13 and ArticleT provides thit' l 

'before x cotton seed breeder or cotton 

seed grower is registered . . . he or it 

shall agree in writing to pay.' 

"We are, not unmindful of the rule 

and the departmental construction in many 

cases to the effect that ordinarily one 

state department cannotcharge another 

state department a See because to do so 

would amount to the state taking money 

out of one pocket and putting it into 

another; but in this particular case under consideration we think the statute 

shows that it was intended by the legislature that passed it that every one, including state departments and agencies, 

should pay for this work of cotton field 

inspection when they request it and it 

is done for their benefit. 

'Our answer to your inquiry is that 

the Department of Agriculture should collect the application and inspection fees 

and charges for services performed,under 

the Field Seed Certification law (Artlcles 56 to 67, inc., R. C. S.) SOP other 

State departments and agencies, 

ing Texas Technological College. 

fncludIt way held in Opinion Ho. i-589, dated May 

26, 1948, that 'the State Registrar Is required to collect a fee of fifty cents for all csirtified copies of 
Hon. Gene Maddin, page 3 (V-598) 

birth and death certificates from 

ties requesting same,except those 

all persons or agenpersons or agencies 

specifically exempt from the payment of such fee unde3; 

the provisions of Rule 54a, of Article 4477, V. C. S. 

A copy of that opinion la enclosed. 

In view of the foregoing, it is the opinion of 

this office that the county clerk is required to collect 

a fee dflfty cents for each certified copy of a birth 

certificate furnished the Waco State Rome. 

The county clerk is required to collect a fee of fifty cents for each certlSied copy of a birth certificate furnished 

the Waco State Home. R.51a,Art.4477,V.C.S. 

Yours very truly, 

ATTORREY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

JR:mw