Honorable F. E. Rightor 

Secretary, State Ibard of Registration 

for Professional Sugiaeerrr 

Auatin, Texas 

Doer Mr. Rightor: Opinion No. O-3313 

Rea Professional Engineers - lWsidenoQ 

requirements for registration. 

Your request for opinion has been reoeived and carefully considered 

by this depertient. We quote from your request as followss 

"Section 18 of Senate Roll 74, Aots Regular Session, 46th Legislature, reads 

,+-at 'At any time within one (1) y sar after this A.ot becomes effective, upon 

duo application therefor and the payment of the registration fee of Twentyfive ($25.00) Dollars for professional engineers, the 'Board shall issue a 

oertifioate of registration, without oral.or written examination, to any 

professional engineer who shall submit evidence under oath satisfactory to 

the Board that he is of good oharaoter, has been a resident of lhe State 

of Texas for at least one (1) year innnediately preoeding the date of his 

application, and was practioing professional engineering at the time this 

Aot became effective, and has had responsible oharge of work of a character 

satisfactory to the Board.1 

"The act beoame effective &y 28, 1937. 

"On April 5, 1938 application was received from an applicant for reglstration under Section 18 who set out in his, application that his residence 

address was Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was employed 'by a pipe liner 

company. 

"To his application was attaohed a 1937 poll tax reoeipt from the County of 

Uarrison, dated December 22, 193'7, which gave . a- *his residenoe Preoinot 1 

(and Ward 1) in that county and a residence in the oountg and the oi* of' 

five years, he having lived in Texas all his life, twenty-seven years. 

"This Board, on July 1, 1938, rejected the application of this appliaent, 

the reason being that the aeplicant did not have his residence in Texas as 

per the requirements of Section 19 of the Act governing registration. 

nNow oomes this applicant with a request for-reconsideration and in a letter requesting reconsideration writes paragraphas follows: 
c . 

Hon. F. E. Rightor, page 2 (O-3313) 

"'Although I was living in Shreveport on the date of my applioation, I maintained W legal residenoo as Marshall, Texas. There being 

a fine point Involved there I am not qualified to pass on the question, 

but I have heretofore considered that legal residence had preoedenoe over 

aotual residence. That is why I attached a photostatjo oopy of W Poll 

Tax Reoeipt oa the back of ngr applioation~ During ny two and a half 

yearn in Shreveport I maintained W Texas citiasnship by the payment of 

Poll Tan.' 

"The Board finds it is unable to pass on tie applicent*a request for reoonsidoration without an opinion from you. 

Would you kindly, therefore; advise us'if tie Board in reconsidering his 

application under Section 16 of the Act, may bring its finding on tie 

basis that his residenoe is in %rison County, Texas. In faot In order 

Matwo may have a clearer understanding of the law in the premises, it 

ia requested that you advise us a8 to whether or not a man'8 legal reaidenoe takes preoedenoe over his actual residence." 

Ths term "residents, like soitiaens and"domioile,* is not always 

oapable of preoise definition, butmay in different airoumstanoes be used 

In different senses. 

The following rule is set out in.19 Corpus Juris 407, Sec. 19, 

oonoerning the effect of absence on one's home or domicile: 

"If a person loaves his home or domicile for a temporary purpose with an 

intention to return, there is no change of domicile." 

This rule is further substantiated by the case of Sabrieao et Ux 

v. White, 30 Tsx. 585, in which the court made the following sta-temcnt: 

"The original domioile is not ohanged even by a long absence if there is 

any intention of returning.' 

Re quote from conference opinion No . 2977, dated January 10, 1936, 

Attorney Goneral Reports 1934-1936, p. 11, direoted to Dr. H. Y. Ennediot, 

as followsr 

What is the residence status, under theterms of the statute referred to 

(tuition fee statute) of students who are minor children of Amerioan tit 

iaens who live in h!exico or some other foreign country? May these students be classified as residents of the foreign country in which their 

parents are living, or should these students be classified as residents 

of the speoifio state in which the parents had legal residence at the time 

they moved to the foreign oountry? Does the length of time the parent 

has lived in the foreign oountry have sz@bsaring on the student's residence olassifioation? 

"The residence status under the terms of the statute referred to of 

students who are minor children of Amerioaa citieens who live in Mexico 
-- 

Hon. F. E. Rightor, page 3 (O-3313) 

or some other foreign oountry is a faot question detetined largely by 

the intention of the father of the children. The faot that they are 

living in ldexioo, in our opinion, would not prevent them from being 

classified as residents of Texas if *hen they moved to Mexioo their intention was to return and they did not abandon their intention after the 

move. The determination of this question is largely a matter of faot 

governed w the intention of the father.of the children. The length of 

time the parent has lived in the foreign country does not have any hearing on the student’6 reaidenoe qualifloatione.” 

Thus we eee %at a pereon’s legal residence is gweznbd toga 

large extent by hi8 intention. 

You do not atate In your letter whether the appllornt*a raeidenae 

in Louisiana was temporary or permanent, and whether the appliormt lntended to return to Harrison County, Texas. However, in view of the faots 

itated and the oontention of the applicant that hia legal reaidenoe la in 

Harrison County, Texas, a8 showxx,w your letter, we may ae8ume that his 

resldenoe in Louisiana was not permanent and +hat he intended to return 

to his home in Harrison County, Texas. 

It is our opinion, under the facta stated andasnumed, that applioant Is a bona fide resident of &rrison County, Teiae, and ie entitled 

to registration ae a professional engineer under Seotlon 18 of the Aot 

(S.B. 74, 46th Leg.), if other&se qualified. 

Very tily yours 

APPROVED APR 10, 1941 

/a/ Qrwer Sel~le r8 

FIRST ASSISM 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

ATTORBEY GENFWL OF TEXAS 

@f /8/V& Jo Fanning 

WJFcGOcegw 

PBn. J. Fanning 

Assistsat 

APFSOVED: OPINION COMMITTEE 

EXBWBCHAIRMILFI