THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

July 5, 1989 

Mr. Bryan M. Perot 

Executive Officer 

OpiniOn No. JM-1067 

Polygraph Examiners Board Re: Whether payment of a polyP. 0. BOX 4087 graph licensing fee may be reAustin, Texas 78773-0001 funded when the licensee dies 

(RQ-1711) 

Dear Mr. Perot: 

You ask whether the Polygraph Examiners Board has 

authority to refund a portion of the annual license fee to 

the estate of a licensee who died during the term of his 

license. We conclude that the board has no authority to 

make such a refund. 

The Polygraph Examiners Board is governed by the 

provisions of article 4413(29cc), V.T.C.S. Section 17 of 

article 4413(29cc) provides in part: 

(a) Each polygraph examiner's license 

shall be issued for the term of one year and 

shall, unless suspended or revoked, be 

renewed annually. 

(b) A person may renew his unexpired 

license by paying to the board before the 

expiration date of the license the required 

renewal fee. 

Section 17A provides: 

The board by rule may adopt a system under 

which licenses expire on various dates during 

the year. For the year in which the 

expiration date is changed, license fees 

payable on the date in effect at the time the 

rule is adopted shall be prorated on a 

monthly basis so that each licensee shall pay 

only that portion of the license fee which is 

allocable to the number of months during 

which the license is valid. On renewal of 

the license on the new expiration date, the 

total license renewal fee is payable. 

p. 5561 
Mr. Bryan M. Perot - Page 2 (JM-1067) 

This office has issued several opinions that considered 

whether an entity had authority to prorate an initial 

licensing fee when the initial licensing fee would be valid 

for less than a year. Three opinions concluded that 

language requiring the annual fee to accompany the 

;~$Ui.tion for an initial license indicated that an entity 

authority to prorate the initial fee. Attorney 

General Opinions JM-399 (1985): M-1107 (1972); M-580 (1970). 

In contrast, a 1975 opinion concluded that a statute that 

set an annual fee but did not require the "annual fee" to 

accompany an initial application permitted proration of the 

initial fee. Attorney General Opinion B-708 (1975). The 

statute in question in Attorney General Opinion Ii-708~ did, 

however, require that a license be issued "upon receipt of 

all license fees." Because of that language, Attorney 

General Opinion JM-399 (1985) called into question the 

continuing validity of Attorney General Opinion U-708. 

In any case we think that the prior opinions make clear 

that an agency must have either express or clearly implied 

authority to prorate license fees. We find no prior 

opinions that directly address the question of whether an 

agency may refund a portion of an annual license fee to the 

estate of a licensee who dies during the term of his 

license. We conclude, however, based on the opinions 

discussed above, that an agency must have either express or 

clearly implied authority to refund a portion of an annual 

license fee. Section 17A of article 4413(29cc) allows 

proration of initial license fees under specified 

circumstances. NO other provision of article 4413(29cc) 

permits proration. The provision governing renewal fees 

simply states that a person may renew his license "by paying 

to the board before the expiration date of the license the 

required renewal fee." V.T.C.S. art. 4413(29cc), 5 17(b). 

Therefore, because we find no provision that permits, either 

expressly or by implication, a refund in the circumstances 

you ask about, we conclude that the Board of Polygraph 

Examiners has no authority to refund a portion of an annual 

license fee to the estate of a licensee who dies during the 

term of his license.1 

1. We do not consider in this opinion whether the board 

has authority to refund the entire renewal fee before the 

commencement of the year covered by the renewal fee. 

p. 5562 
Mr. Bryan M. Perot - Page 3 (JM-1067) 

SUMMARY 

The Board of Polygraph Examiners has no 

authority to refund a portion of an annual 

license fee to the estate of a licensee who 

dies during the term of his license. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARY KELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

MU MCCREARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, opinion Committee 

Prepared by Sarah Woelk 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 5563