4 b . B(IQYLR OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
sLLLLI(= AUSTIN
I r~o"*x* cc.rrKL
Xanomble E. t. Shelton countyAuditor Johns011 CoUntJ cleburm, Texae
Dear Sir:
Your letter of F as follovs: itioe aot as t of poll text suoh ofilolal leutlonal- IS the con-
ontainedin your letter oplnionnof this depnrt-
of lees thun ten thousandLnbabltants, t of a texpeger'8poll him lnwrltSngto pay the the lntornrstlonnecessary tax receipt,"provided . . . be signed by the . be deposited vlth the Tax Collectorand filed end preservedby him." In cltiea of more than ten thousandlnhebitents,Article2962, V.A.C.S., provlde~tkt a taxpayer who leaves the county of his realdenoe vltb the intentionnot to mbtum until after the firat dex of the follovl.ngFebruaw "aballbe entitledto vote, If possess- ing all other legal qualiflcrstionr,by payinghia poll tax or gononble B. L. 8helton,Page 2
obtaininghis certlfleeteof exsmptlonthroughan agent au- thoricedby him in vrltlng,vhIah shall state trulyhis In- tentionto departfrom the County,the expectedperiod of m absenae,and every fsat neoensaryto ennble the Tax Col- leatorto fill the blanks In his reoelpt." This vrlttenau- thority anwt be svorn to by the taxpayer, certifiedby an offloIs authorizedto administeroaths,end depositedawl )npt in the officeof the Tax Colledor. The rbove oltul Artlelesfollow &atIon 2 of Ar- tloleVI of our Constitution by permitting a huaband to pay the poll tsx of his vIfe, sad vioe vena. Article2960 V.A. cd. pmvldes that *no eandldatefor oftloe shallpay the poll tax for another"and thst no one shall pay the pail tax of anotherfor or on behalf of suah aamlIdete. The oomlud- ing portion of thfa Artlcrle paultrr a purabaa~r of properef vhleh In bound for the paymentof eny 011 tax to pay the tax 0r th fomer owner,hut forbm &e tax oollector to Isauea poll tax reoeipt0uthorIzIngany person to vote in returnSor suah payment. FInally,A,rtIoles 201, 203 and 204 of the Penal Code respeatlvelyprovide that: "Whoever knowinglybeoomes'sgentto obtain a poll tu receiptor aertiflaete0r oxeaptlon exoeptas providedby lav, or eny one vho gives money to enotherto lmluoehim to phia poll tax, shall be finednot exaeedlngFIre hundred dollars. "Any uandldatefor offloe or other pa-non who pays orprooures another to pay the poll tax of a cltlten,exoept as permittedby law, shall be confinedla the penitentisrynot less than two nor more than five years. %lhoeverloens or adviuwea aoaey to another knovIngit Is to be used for pIlyIngthe poll tax of ruah other person shall be fined not to 6x- teed five huudreddollers." When one penon rots RS agent for another in the peymentof the poll tsx of the latter,It Is possiblethat the aone vlth vhlch the psyamnt is ude be money (e) be- langing90 the taxpayerand turnedoveP to the agent for the &noneble H. L. Shelton,Page 3
purposeof paying the tax; (b) belong- to the agent and used by him In paying the tax vlthouten expressor lm lied agreementthat such sum be repeidby the taxpayer;or P0) belongingto the agent and used by him vith eitheran ex- press or iarplledagreauentthat suoh sum be repeldby the toxpaa- AlthoughArticles2961 and 2962 respectively pro- vide