The Honorable Robert H. Green Opinion No. H- 926 

Chairman of the Board 

Texas State Board of Landscape Re: Constitutionality of 

Architects requirement that a landscape 

320 Sam Houston Building architect be a United 

Austin, Texas 78701 States citizen and Texas 

resident. 

Dear Mr. Green: 

You have asked our opinion whether the State Board of 

Landscape Architects may constitutionally enforce the 

citizenship and residence requirements for registration of 

landscape architects and landscape irrigators as stated in 

section S(a)(2) of article 249c, V.T.C.S. That section 

provides in pertinent part: 

Any person who is a resident of the 

State of Texas and a citizen of the United 

States over the age of 21 years, possessing 

good moral character, and having or holding 

a degree from a school whose study of landscape architecture is approved by the board, 

or shall have had not less than seven years 

actual experience in the office of a 

licensed landscape architect, may apply for 

examination and such application shall be 

accompanied by a fee of $50. 

This office has previously concluded that statutory 

requirements of United States citizenship may not constitutionally 

be applied to deny examination and licensing to noncitizen 

applicants by the State Board of Medical Examiners, Attorney 

General Opinions H-157 (1973), R-2247 (19501, O-866 (19391, 

by the State Board of Public Accountancy, Attorney General 

Opinion H-81 (1973). or by the Board of Vocational Nurse 

Examiners, Attorney General Opinion M-447 (1969). Any doubt 

P* 30?7 
The Honorable Robert H. Green - page 2 (H-926) 

as to the correctness of these decisions has been conclusively 

resolved by the United States Supreme Court in Examinin 

Board of En ineers 

Otero,T6 +;4 S.Ct. 

";g;yga~ &i;~,~13 

U.S. 717 (1973); Sugarman v. Dougall, 413 U.S. 634 (1973) 

and Graham v. Richardson, n3 U.S. 365 (1971). The Court 

therefound substantial or constitutionally permissible 

governmental interest in a requirement of United States 

citizenship for registration as a licensed engineer, architect 

or surveyor in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Under these 

authorities, the State Board of Landscape Architects may not 

constitutionally deny examination or registration as a 

landscape architect to any applicant because he is not a 

citizen of the United States. 

Section 5(a) (2) also requires that an applicant for 

examination as a landscape architect be a resident of Texas. 

We note, however, that section 6 of article 249c provides 

for the registration without examination of an applicant who 

is legally registered as a landscape architect or irrigator 

in another state where requirements for registration are at 

least substantially equivalent to the requirements of Texas, 

so long as the applicant's state of registration extends the 

same privilege of reciprocity to landscape architects and 

irrigators registered in Texas. We are advised that almost 

all states, including all adjoining states, have registration 

procedures and reciprocity policies which enable landscape 

architects licensed therein to practice their profession in 

Texas, and that no occasion has arisen in which a nonresident 

landscape architect has been denied registration under 

Texas' reciprocity policy. Inasmuch as the residence requirement 

of section 5(a) (2) apparently presents no obstacle to nonresident 

landscape architects who wish to be registered in this 

State, and could involve a balancing of factual considerations 

which are not before us, we believe an evaluation of the 

constitutionality of that residence requirement, under 

either the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment 

or the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, to be an inappropriately speculative and academic endeavor. 

We note that the citizenship and residence requirements 

of section 5(a) (2) apply only to the examination of landscape architects. No citizenship or residence requirement is 

imposed upon landscape irrigators under section 5(b) of article 

249c. To be eligible for registration as a landscape 

irrigator, an applicant must merely be "of good moral 

character," and have "by a uniform, reasonable examination," 

shown himself qualified to engage in the business of landscape 

irrigation. 

P. 3878 
. . 

I 

The Honorable Robert H. Green - page 3 (H-926) 

SUMMARY 

The Texas State Board of Landscape 

Architects may not constitutionally deny 

examination or registration as a landscape 

architect because the applicant is not a 

citizen of the United States. 

truly yours, 

Opinion Committee 

jwb 

P. 3079