Court Opinion

ID: 4136329
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2017-02-18 02:12:22.7378+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:35:06.177777
License: Public Domain

June 30, 1959

Honorable Joe Resweber                              OpinUan~No.. WW-650
County Attorney
Harris County                                           Re:   Authority of county
Houston, Texas                                                tax collector     as to
                                                              Issuance of poll tax
                                                              receipts   and exemp-
                                                              tion certificates     in
                                                              affidavit   form.
Dear Mr. Resweber:
              Your   letter   requesting   an opinion     of this   office   reads
as follows:
            "On this date, May 6, 1959; at the request of
      Mr. Carl S. Smith, Tax Assessor  and Collector  of
      Harris County, we rendered our Opinion No. R-59-1169
      to the following  queatlone:
             (1)   Is It possible for the Tax Assessor and
      Collector    of Harris County, Texas, to put the poll
      tax receipt and the poll tax exemption certificate
      In affidavit    form?
             (2)   May the Tax Asseaaor and Collector of
      Harris Couhty, Texas, require any other Information
      he feels Is necessary to protect himself and his
      office    and comply with the laws of the State of
      Texas?
             "Because of the vague provlelons   of some sec-
      tions of the Texas Election Code, aii well aa some
      apparent conflicts    in lta provisions and the absence
      of Interpretation    by the Court8 of many sections    of
      the Code, we feel that an opinion of the Office of
      the Attorney General should be obtained and there-
      fore request the opinion of your office     on these ques-
      tions.    We enclose herewith a copy of our Opinion No.
      R-59-1169 which contains a discussion     of the various
      Code provision8    and other matters considered In
                                                                        --

Hon. Joe Resweber,     page 2 (~~-650)

        arriving at our conclusioni3‘ior   tihatever value   It   may
        be to your office.”
            Your Opinion No; R-59-1169 sets out the applicable
statutes and traces their history Insofar as pertinent to the
questions under consideration.      These statutes   are Sections   43,
46, 48, 49, and 53 of the Texas Election Code. For convenience,
we shall refer to these sections by their unofficial        designation
in Vernon’e Texas Election Code, a8 followa:        Article  5.11 (Sec-
tion 43), Article    5.14 (Section 46), Article    5.16 (Section 48),
Article   5.17 (Section 49), and Article   5.21 (Section 53).      You
Interpret    these statutes as fc$lowa:
           (1)  A person paying his poll tax In peraon Is required’
to make an oral sworn statement to the tax collector  or hla deputy
of the Information necessary to fill  out the blanks In the receipt
form.

           (2)  A pereon paying his poll tax through an agent or
through the United States mall 1~ required to furnlah a written,
elgned statement containing the necessary information,  but the
information does not,have to be sworn to.
            (3) A pereon applying for an exemption certificate     is
required to swear to the Informatlon~neceasaPy   to fill  out, the
certif lcate f aim.
           ,(4) The tax collector’may    require a person applying
for a poll tax receipt    or an exemption certificate     to make an
affidavit  of the necessary lnformatj,on If the tax collector      has
reaapn to,belleve   that the appllcatit has falsely    stated the ln-
formation or If the tax collector     does not, personally   know the
applicant as being a resident of the precinct which the applicant
~clalms as hle residence.
             We agree with the foregoing     conclualotie,   but we are un-
able to agree with the ultimate      conclus$on reached in your opinion
that, the tax collector   may alter the statutory form of the receipt
or cetitlflcate   80 88 to incorporate    into the receipt or certificate
the affidavit,   which he may require under Article        5.21.  This con-
clusion Is stated In your opinion as follows:
               “There 18 no general authority under the Texas
        Election Code of 1951 for the Tax Collector     to alter
        the statutory   form of the ,poll tax receipt  or the ex-
        emption certificate   80 as,to make It into an affidavit
        signed by the taxpayer.     The Election Code, as @mended,
        apparently contemplates a poll tax receipt e?o?.eaQtedby
        the Tax Collector   or his deputy certl~170 S.W. 1042 (Tex.Civ.App.       1914),
held that similar provisions      of a former statute gave the tax
collector   the authority   to require an affidavit     of the taxpayer
If the collector    was in doubt as to the truth of the information
furnished.    However, the affidavit     is by way of satisfying    the
tax collector    of the truth of the statements or by way of fur-
nishing an additional     basis for submitting the matter to the
grand jury if he is not satisfied       as to their truth.    He has
no discretion    to refuse to issue a receipt      on the ground that
the taxpayer has made false statements.         After quoting the stat-
utes authorizing    payment of a poll tax through an agent and pro-
viding for delivery     of the receipt,    the court in Parker v. Busby
said:
            "From these provisions  it will be seen that
     the taxpayer, when he tenders through his agent
     duly authorized in writing to the tax collector      an
     amount sufficient    to pay the tax, Is then entitled
     to a receipt,    and has done all that the law re-
     quires of him in order to obtain it.     The collector
     does not seem to have authority to exercise     any
     discretion    in the matter, but Is bound to receive
     the amount tendered and issue a receipt    therefor,
     although if he is in doubt as to the right of the
 .    ’

Hon. Joe Resweber,    Page 7 (~~-650)

     payer to vote In the county it is his duty to make due
     examination of the payer or his agent in that regard,
     and to this end has the authority to exact of the
     payer or his agent an affidavit  showing the citizen-
     ship, etc.,  in the county where the tax is paid; this
     being done, he must Issue the receipt for the tax,
     and report the matter to the grand jury."
             It Is seen from the foregoing     quotation that Article
5.21 does not give the tax collector       any discretion    in the ls-
suance of the receipt.      We are of the opinion that Article        5.21
also does not give him any discretion        to vary the form of the
receipt    so as to embody the affidavit    therein.    The purpose of
the affidavit    is not to determine whether the receipt is to be
issued, or in what form, but to enable the tax collector           to
decide whether he should call the matter to the attention           of
the grand jury.      His authority to prescribe     the form and con-
tents of the receipt is limited by Article        5.14, and upon
compliance with statutory      requirements the applicant has the
right to demand issuance of a receipt substantially          in statutory
form.     Any additional  requirement for embodiment of a signed
affidavit    in the receipt must come from the Legislature.         While
issuance of the receipt     in affidavit   form, accepted by the tax-
payer, would probably not invalidate       the receipt,    the tax col-
lector would be exceeding his authority        in adopting that form.
             With respect to information      appearing on an exemption
certificate,    Articles    5.16 and 5.17 of the Election Code pro-
vide that "such exempt person shall on oath state" the required
information.     These statutes require that the certificate         be in
substantially    the form prescribed     in Article    5.16. The statutory
form is not in the form of an affidavit          by the applicant,   but of
a certificate    by the tax collector     certifying    that the applicant,
being duly sworn, declared the information           to be as stated therein.
Article    5.21 gives the tax collector     the same authority to require
written affidavits       in the issuance of exemption certificates      as
in the issuance of poll tax receipts;         but the affidavits    are for
the same purpose, and the tax collector's          lack of authority to
vary the certificate       form proceeds upon the same reasoning as
stated for poll tax receipts.
             In your opinion you reached the conclusion      that the
tax collector     could attach the affidavit   to the receipt     or
certificate.      We do not think the statute contemplates any use
of the affidavit      for purposes other than retention   in the tax
collector's     records or submission to a grand jury.     If the tax
collector    did attach the affidavit    to the receipt  or certifi-
cate, he could not thereby make it a necessary part of the
instrument,    and the holder could remove and discard the affi-
davit at will without invalidating      the receipt   or certificate.
Hon. Joe Resweber,     page 8 (~~-650)

             Direct answers to the two questions      submitted   are
given    in the summary to this opinion.
                                     SUMMARY
              The tax collector has no authority to put the
        poll tax receipt and the exemption certificate  into
        affidavit  form, to be signed by the applicant.
               The tax collector    may require affidavits   from
        applicants    for poll tax receipts    and exemption cer-
        tificates   under the circumstances      set out in Article
        5.21 of the Election Code. When he has done so, and
        has reported to the grand jury all cases in which he
        is not satisfied      as to the truth of the statements,
        he has fully protected      himself even though receipts
        and certificates      issued by him may .contain false
        information     furnished by applicants.
                                          Yours very truly,
                                          WILL WILSON
                                          Attorney General of Texas

                                          BY

APPROVED:
OPINIONCOMMITTEE
C. K. Richards,     Chairman
Charles D. Cabaniss
Tom I. McFarling
W. Ray Scruggs
REVIEWEDFOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY:
    W. V. Geppert