OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

I 

Honorable Traylor Russell 

Dl#trlot Attorney 

lat. Pleasant, Texas 

Dear sir: 

cent dots, which re 

of Title 15 of the 

on Finmoe Corporaor create aorporaase and leare landr,.pwohaae, 

nd plants, and purohase 

faollltier; maahlmry, materthe smnfacture of strategic 

“The corporations 80 organiced ape knovn am 

defame plant corporationa. Such a oorporatfon 

vao organized for the purpose of oonrtracting on 

lands aoquuired located in the South part of Morris 

County, e plant for the purpore of mnelterlng IFon. 

The oorporation is now, and haa been for BOW CUm, 

engaged in the oonrtruotion of thlrr plant. 

“By virtue of exeoutive order Ho. 8972 undai' 

date of Ikoember 12, 1942, the Secretary of Uar 

394 
395 

Honorable Traylor Russell, page 2 

and the Searetary of Ilsvy mere authorised *to establish and maintain mllltary guards and patrols 

and to take other appropriate meesures to proteot 

from injury and destruotlon certain strateglo 

premises materials and utilities, all of vhloh 

are set out In CUP. 15 issued b 

ment under date of Naroh 17, t 

the Usr Dspart19 3. This olroular 

further states, 

"*Aooord%ngly, the 8e6rets.q of War dlreoted the Pilitary organisatlon of plant guard foroes 

as Auxiliary IUlitary Pollee.' 

"Xt is further provided in the oiroular mentioned above that these atembers of the Auxiliary 

Pollee shall take an oath of offloe, a oopy of 

vhich is enolosed herevlth and the olroular further provides that these Auxiliary Wllltary Polio4 

shall be subject to oall at all t&se8 for lllilitary 

use IA aAy 4m4rg4Aoy. 

"The rwr4n84 Plant Oorporatlon In Morris 

County has employed a number of these Auxiliary 

Pollee to guard its premises and materials. The 

majority of these msn are local SIOA, living in 

the vlolnity of 25 lalles of the plaoe of thelr work, 

Boeh 1s armed vith a pistol which must be provided 

by eaoh ~indivldual. Under lnstruotiow of the 

corporation offloers of this unit, these men have 

been oarrylng these pistols with them from their 

place of residenoe to their vork. They do not 

carry these pistols on their person vhile goips 

to and from their work but are required to oerry 

the@ not loaded In their vehlole in which they may 

be traveling and Iu the event they leave this vehicle for any purpose, they are Instruoted to leave 

the gun in the automobile. They are father Instructed that In travellag to and from their vork 

to their placre of residence that they must travel 

the most usual dlreotly traveled road. Recently, 

ths Sheriff of Morris County arrested one of these 

Auxlllary Nllitary Poll04 and filed oharges 

against him under Art. 483, Chapter 4, Title 9, 

P.C. of Texas. This man so arrested aad charged 

vas at the Use of his arrest traveling from his 

place of residence to his plaoe of work. 
396 

goAorabl4 Traylor Russell, page 3 

"Based UpOA the foregoing faots, I ask of 

Yom department an oplnlon in regard to the folloving t 

“1. Are the msmbers of the Auxiliary Mllltery Polioe authorised to oarry OOAO4816d v4apons 

at any and all times, regardless of whether they 

be traveling to and from their place of resldenoe 

t0 their pl804 Of vork? 

"2. If the above question is answered in the 

Aegatlve; then are the members of the A~x$llary 

Mllltary Police permitted to carry et all tQnes 

oonoealed veapons vith them from their plaoe of 

residenoe to their vork? 

"f 4~01084 herevlth a oopy of circular 15 

vhioh has been delivered to me and kindly ask that 

you return this olroular along vith the oath of 

off104 vlth your O~iAiOA. 

I " . . . . 

We have oarefully read Clroular Ro. 13, issued by 

the War Department, Headquarters, Army Service Boroe, Washington, D. C., dated as of March 17, 1943, pertaining to A~xlllary Willtary Pollo4, together with the Agreement bstveen the 

United States of Amerloa and the plant guard. 

Ye are setting forth oertain portions of said Clrcular Ho. 15, which ve feel are pertinent and have an important 

bearing OA the lasu4s 1Avolved. 

On page 1, the purpose of the Auxiliary Military 

Police is stated as follova: 

"1. . . . The purpose is to lnorease the 

authority, efffolenoy, aad responsibility of guard 

forces at plants important to the proseoutlon of 

the var, and t&ugh military tralnlng to provide 

euxfll8ry forces throughout the United States to 

SUpplemeAt the Army IA vartims 4m4rg4noy sltuatlons." 

The mission of the Aauxiliary Mlitary Polio4 is provided on page 2 and from vhloh the following is taken: 
I., . 

39’7 

Ronor8bl6 Traylor Russ411, page 4 

-2. Mission of the Auxiliary lilltary Pollee. 

-- a. The mlsslon of a guard for04 of Auxilluy 

Ulitary Pollee Is --- - 

"(1) To provide internal axul axtern protection of the plant against sabotage, 

espionage, and na$aaral hasards. 

"(2) To serve with the Army in providing proteotlon to the plaiit snd its envlronr in 

4m4rg4Aoy situatloAs. 

"br AA emergenoy sltuatlan In vhloh the Auxiliary Jillltary Pollo4 may be oalled upon for nilitary 

~84rv104 msy arise from flood, oonilagratlon, or 

other dlsastsr~ internal disorders haaudous to 

property or production importurt to the pros4outlon of the wari enemy aotion by air raid: fifth 

oolum~ aotivlties3 paratroop attaak or lnvasion~ 

or it may arise from any other 0oAditloA or olroumstano4 lATOlViAg the plant or its 00smluAity making it A40488ary to place in operation 0~4 or more 

of the emergenoy phuu of the Ifas Department or of 

the Servioe Cosmwd. 

"0. A guard for06 or any member thereOf, 

vhether 011 or off duty, may be 888igAed to duty 

in an emergenay at pleoes other thaA the pr4ml848 

of the plant normally served, provided only that 

IA the OpiAiOB of the plnrrt guard offloer or other 

representative of the Army in oommand such asslgnment vi11 contribute to the proteotlon of the guard 

foroess OWA plant and its environs or to the prot4OtiOA Of its PWDdUOtiOA." 

On page 4, ve find the following language: 

Guard foroes vhioh have not been 

orgaJz;d ;s'&ulred (see par. 1 attaohed letter) vi11 be assembled at the ear.%iest praatloable 

date by the plant management at the request of the 

plant guard offioer. At this assembly the Arti014s of Uar as presorlbed by Artiole of Uar 110 

will be read and ex~leined to eaoh member of the 

guard foroe. . . . 
gkmorable Traylor Russell, page 5 

The oircular reads in part as follovs OA page 50 

“The Auxiliary Mllltary Pollo4, lPrmedlately 

after the Articles of War have been read and explained, vi11 be impressed vlth the faot that the 

Ooverment of the Unlted States 1s dlreotly interested in the eeourity and proteotlon of the plant 

and its produotlan 88 essentlsl to the suooessful 

prosecution of the var. . . . 

“5. The Oovernment of the UAlted States regards the protection of this plaAt and Its produotlon as 4ss4Atial IA the suoo4srful pros4outioA of 

the var. The Auxiliary Military Pollo4 are ordered 

to provide this neoessary proteotloA and to vard 

off tlaqer or threat of danger of soy kind and prom 

any souro4. If foroe must be used to aooompllsh 

this Pesult it vi11 be used only to extent reasonably AOCOlSSPJ’~” 

The follovlng appears onHge 7: 

'The Auxiliary Military Pollo4 are supplementing the Army of the United States S.A a vital task 

of proteoting var materials and. var produotlon 

faollltl4s. Attempts to intimidate them ol? to 

reduce or nullify their l ffloienay, or interfere 

vlth the performaAoe of their mission, may oonrtltute a violation of Federal as ~411 es state orlmi~al lava, When suoh inoldents are suspected, a~ 

inquiry vi11 be made and a detailed report vi11 be 

8eAt immediately through oha~~4ls to the offfiae of 

the Provost Marshal General as 8 basis for requsstIAg an iAv4stigatlon or prOS4OUtiOA." 

On page 9, ve find as follows: 

“Because the mlsslo~ of the Auxiliary Nilitary Polloe lnoludes s4rvio4 with the Army (see 

pax. 2&), the lava of var require that members wear 

distinctive insignia or marks oapable of reoognltiOA 8t a distanoe. By wearing mush lnslgnla or 

marka members serving vlth the Army will be reoognised as legitimate troops and not deemed irregulars 

or guerillas. . . .a 
Honorable Traylor Russ411, page 6 

Then, on pages 10 and 11 ve quote in partr 

"The Auxiliary Military Pollee must be armed 

vlth appropriate veepons furaLshed by the plant 

rmrnagement if such arming is recommended by the 

plaat guard officer, Any sidearm, rifle, or shotgun may be an appPOpriat% VeSpoA depending on the 

olroummteno4s. . . . 

"The Auxiliary Military Pollo4, as agents of 

the Federal Qovernment will not be subjeot to any 

state or muniolpal requirement which oonfllots 

vlth their wartime duties. A member of the Auxlllarg Military Polio4 required to be armed in performance of his duties will not be oompelled to 

obtain a 1104~84, permit, or bond to p088488 small 

firearms in order to comply vlth loos1 statutes or 

ordinances. State authorities have oonourred vhen 

this qU4stiOA ha8 been presented. The full OOoperation of state and loos1 authorities vi11 be 

obtained and loos1 requirements met unl4ss a satlsfactory understcmbisg is reaohed." 

Certain portions of the AgreemeAt between ths United 

States of America and plant guards are as follovsr 

II . the United States is approving ths emplqyme&'of certain guards es a oivllien auxiliary 

'to the mlllt~y police for the purpos4 of guarding 

and proteoting tar material, war pr4mis4s and v&r 

utllltles from injury or destruotloA by the enemy 

or otherwise, inoludl~g ths making of arrest, as 

psaob offloers for vloletlons of Pederel lava, as 

~411 as for vlolatioAs of orders and regulations 

lssusd by military authority. . a , 

“(3) and vi11 obey a~iy orders Issued 

in conneotl~n't~erevith by the President, as Commander in Chief of the Army and Hevy of the United 

States, and by his duly euthorlsed officers. 

" . . . . 

“(4) . I am subject to military law during the per;oi of my employment.” 
RonOr8ble Traylor Russ411, page 7 

As you stated in your letter, the members of the Auxiliary Mllitarg Police In Norris County are, under instruotlons 

of the oorporetlon offloers of this unit, 08rryLng pistols on 

their perrons while going to and from their vork; that they are 

further instructed to oarry the pistols unloaded in their vehicles in which they may be tr8Vellag and in the event they 

leave their vehioles for sny purpose, they are iAStrUOt6d to 

leave their guns In the automobiles. In traveling to and from 

vork, they must travel the most usual dlreotly traveled road. 

It is ths opinion of this d%p8PtZS%At that the numbers 

of the Aux.tll8ry Hllltary Polioe, aoting In eooordanoe with 

lnstruotlons above set out, are not violating any penal lav of 

the State of Texss vlth reference to oarrging a pistol. Burthermore, slnoe the instructions of the oorporatlon offloers of 

this particular unit do not pennit its guards to oarpy pistols 

at any and all times, we do not feel it neoessary to ansver 

your query es to whether or not members of the Auxiliary yilltay Polio4 are alloved to ofwry ooAoealed weapons at any and 

all times, regardless of vhether they be traveling to and from 

vork. 

As per your request, ve are returning vlth this oplnion Circular lo. 15 end the Oath of Offloe vhloh aooompanied 

your letter. 

Yours very truly 

ATTCRBwl QENlRAL OF ZEUS 

Robert 0. Kooh