Honorable F. E. Rightor Secretary,

State Ibard of Registration for Professional

Sugiaeerrr Auatin, Texas Doer Mr. Rightor: OpinionNo. O-3313 Rea Professional

Engineers

- lWsidenoQ requirements

for registration. Your requestfor opinion has been reoeived

and carefully

considered by this depertient. We quote from your requestas followss "Section18 of Senate Roll 74, Aots RegularSession, 46th Legislature,

reads ,+-at 'At any timewithin one (1) y sar after thisA.ot becomes effective, upon duo application

therefor

and the paymentof the registration fee of Twentyfive ($25.00)

Dollarsfor professional engineers,

the 'Board

shall issue a oertifioate

of registration,

without oral.or

written examination, to any professional

engineer

who shall submitevidence 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 beoameeffective &y 28, 1937. "On April 5, 1938 application was received

from an applicant

for reglstration under Section18 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 reoeiptfrom the Countyof Uarrison,

dated December22, 193'7, which gave a-

. * his residenoe

Preoinot1 (andWard 1) in that countyand a residence in the oountgand the oi* of' five years, he having lived in Texas all his life, twenty-seven years. "This Board, on July 1, 1938, rejectedthe 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 aotualresidence. That is why I attached a photostatjo

oopy of W Poll Tax Reoeipt oa the back of ngr applioation~ Duringny two and a half yearn in Shreveport I maintained

W Texas citiasnship by the payment of Poll Tan.' "The Boardfinds it is unable to pass on tie applicent*a requestfor reoonsidoration

withoutan opinionfrom you. Would you kindly, therefore; adviseus'if tie Board in reconsidering his application

under Section16 of the Act, may bring its findingon 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 adviseus a8 to whetheror not a man'8 legal reaidenoe takes preoedenoe over his actualresidence." Ths term "residents, like soitiaens

and"domioile,*

is not always oapableof preoise

definition,

butmay in different airoumstanoes

be used In different

senses. The following

rule is set out in.19 CorpusJuris 407, Sec. 19, oonoerning

the effectof absenceon one's home or domicile: "If a person loaveshis home or domicile for a temporary

purpose

with an intention

to return,there is no changeof domicile." This rule is further substantiated by the case of Sabrieaoet Ux v. White, 30 Tsx. 585, in which the courtmade the following sta-temcnt: "The original

domioileis not ohanged even by a long absence if there is any intention

of returning.' Re quote from conference opinion

No . 2977,dated January10, 1936, Attorney

GoneralReports 1934-1936, p. 11, direotedto 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 Amerioantit iaenswho live in h!exico or some other foreigncountry? May these students be classified

as residents

of the foreign countryin which their parentsare living,or should these students be classified

as residents of the speoifiostate in which the parents had legal residence at the time they moved to the foreignoountry? Does the lengthof time the parent has lived in the foreignoountry have sz@bsaring on the student'sresidence olassifioation? "The residence

statusunder the terms of the statutereferredto of students

who are minor children of Amerioaacitieens who live in Mexico--

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

or some other foreign oountryis 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 abandontheir intention after the move. The determination of this questionis largelya matter of faot governed

w the intention

of the father.of

the children. The lengthof time the parenthas lived in the foreign country does not have any hearing on the student’6 reaidenoe

qualifloatione.” Thus we eee %at a pereon’slegal residence is gweznbd toga large extentby hi8 intention. You do not atate In your letter whether the appllornt*a raeidenae in Louisiana

was temporary

or permanent, and whether the appliormtlntended 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 ae8umethat his resldenoe

in Louisiana

was not permanent

and +hat he intended to return to his home in HarrisonCounty, Texas. It is our opinion,

under the facta statedandasnumed, that applioant Is a bona fide resident of &rrison County, Teiae, and ie entitled to registration

ae a professional

engineer

under Seotlon18 of the Aot (S.B. 74, 46th Leg.), if other&se qualified. Very tily yours APPROVED

APR 10, 1941 /a/ Qrwer Sel~le

r8 FIRSTASSISM ATTORNEY

GENERAL 

### ATTORBEY GENFWL OF TEXAS @f /8/V& Jo Fanning

WJFcGOcegw PBn. J. Fanning Assistsat

APFSOVED:

OPINIONCOMMITTEE EXBWBCHAIRMILFI