Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1950 )


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  •                             NE-Y        ENEZRAL
    December 8, 1950
    Hon. D. W. Miles, R.D., President
    Texas State Board of
    Haturopathic Examiners
    Houston, Texas                 opinion        No. V-1128.
    Ret Authority of the State
    Board of Naturopathic
    Examiners to collect   a
    license fee of $50.00
    from all applicants   who
    am licensed   other than
    Dear Sira                               by examination.
    Your request   for'an   opinion   is   substantially   as
    followsr
    ?e desire the opinion of your Office
    regarding the legality       of the State Board
    of Naturopathic Examiners1requiring        all
    persons liaenssd under the provisions        of
    Article     4590d, V.C.S.,   other than those
    licensed after passing an examination, to
    pa~l;r;egistration      or license fee of fifty
    .
    'At the first meeting of the Board,
    which was held in IVovember, 1949, it adopt-
    ed a resolution    requiring     all persons ll-
    tensed under the provisions         of Article
    45906, V.C.S. to pay a registration           or ll-
    tense fee of fifty     dollars,     except in in-
    stances where the license was granted after
    examination.     Such fees were to be need in
    defraying the expenses incurred In licens-
    ing qualified    applicants    and in aiding In
    the enforcement of the statutes          of Texas
    regulating    the practice    of naturopathy.
    The Board estimated that the probable ex-
    pense of lioenses,     printing,     stationery,
    per diem, travel,     regulation,     supervision
    and other connected expenssa would total
    about Fifty ($50.00)Dollars per licensee.
    After the above resolution        was adopted,
    Eon. D. W. Xiles,    B.D.,   page 2    (V-1128)
    the Board adopted and approved the appll-
    cation for license form under the above
    provisions.    The form adopted and used re-
    quired all such licensees     to pay the above
    fee.    The Board construed the first   sen-
    tence of Section 3, article     4590d V.C.S.
    and the next-to-last    sentence of Se&Ion
    1, article   45906 V.C.S. as authorizing     the
    above action.
    *All licensees   under the above provi-
    sion have remitted In the above amount as
    a registration    or license fee, and the au-
    thority    of the Board In requiring    said fee
    has not been challenged by any member of
    the profession.      However, the State audi-
    torts offioe has requested that we secure
    your opinion relative     to the legality   of
    the above. *
    Section 1 of Article       4590d, V.C.S.,    provides
    la part:
    *   . The Board may prescribe    ad&n-
    lstrativi  rules and regulations,   in harmony
    with the provisions  of this title   governing
    Its own prooeebings and the examlnatlons of
    appll~ants for the practloe    of naturopathy.
    . . .
    Section   3 of Article     &jgOd, V.C .S.,   provides
    in part:
    “The State Board of Raturopathic Xx-
    aminers may, In the disoretlon        of the Board
    In each instance,       upon payment by the appll-
    cants for re lstratlon       of a fee of Fifty
    Dollars ($507 grant lloense to practice          na-
    turopathy to any reputable naturopathic          phy-
    slolan who Is a graduate of a reputable
    naturopathic     college   or has qualified   on
    examination for the license        of naturopathic
    qualification     for a oommieslon as a natur-
    opathic physician in the Medical Corps of
    the United States Army or navy and to ll-
    centlates     of other States or Territories
    having requirements for naturopathic         regls-
    tratlon and practice       equal to those estab-
    Used by this Law. . . .I
    .’   .
    Hon. D. W. Miles,     I.D.,   page 3   (v-1128)
    Section   12 of Article    4590d, V~.C.S.,provides;
    “Any natuPopathlc physlclan who has
    been practlslng     naturopathy In this State
    for three (3) years next preceding the
    passage of this Act and when membershlp
    was not fraudulently       obtained,   shall be
    granted a license under the provisions          of
    this Act, provided however, that any na-
    turopathic    physician having resided In
    Texas ~three (3) years and having practiced
    naturopathy for one (1) year in Texas next
    preceding the passage of this Act will not
    be required to have a certificate         of pro-
    ficiency   from the Minimum Standards Board
    as a prerequisite      for obtaining such na-
    turopathic    1lcense:~naturopathic      physl-
    clans in practice      lq this State for more
    than one (1) year, but less than three (3)
    years, shall be examined in theory, phi-
    losophy, pathology,       practice,   symptomatol-
    ogy, and diagnosis,       peculiar   to naturopathy;
    all naturopathic     physlclans     who have been
    in practice    In this State for less than one
    (1) year shall be required to take examlna-
    tlons as provided in Seotlon 8 hereof.*
    It is well settled   as a rule of statutory       con-
    struction   In this State that it Is proper to look to all
    parts of a legislative    Act to ascertain      its proper con-
    struction   and meaning, that Is, to ascertain        the legls-
    latlve Intent.     It Is the legislative     intent that is the
    law.    In applying this rule courts will not look alone
    to one phrase, clause, or sentence of an Act, but to the
    entire Act, and this Includes the caption,          the body of
    the Act, and the emergency clause.        Trawalter v. Schae-
    fer    
    142 Tex. 521
    , 179 S.W.W 765 ( 44) P &am             V. Pat-
    %&on,     
    121 Tex. 615
    , 
    51 S.W.2d 680
         l&).o      Thi.  b ing
    -sections         3 and 12 of Article    4590d will be’coi-
    sldered together,    and when considered together it Is
    reasonable to conclude that the Legislature          Intended
    that a license fee of $50.00 be exacted of all persons
    licensed   under the provlslons    of Article     45qOd, except
    where such license was granted after an examination.
    Since the enactment of the provisions  under
    discussion,   the State Board of lVaturopatNc,Examiners
    has followed the practice   of requiring all persons ll-
    tensed under the provisions   of Article  4590d to pay a
    Hon. D. W. Miles,     R.D.,   page 4   (v-1128)
    license   fee of $50.00, except where such license was
    granted after examination.     In fact, a resolution  was
    adopted by the Board In lVovember of 1949 requiring    such
    licenae fee . As previously    observed, such a construc-
    tion is reasonable and sound.     Furthermore, the statute
    being somewhat ambiguous the departmental construction
    placed on the Act with respect to the requirement of
    license fees should be.followed
    San Antonio Union Jun%or Collene Mst. v
    241 206 S W. 26 99> (1947)
    s!knce    Ass In v: Holmes, 145 T
    9461.
    In view of the foregoing  It is our opinion
    that the Act in question (Art. 4590d, V.C.S .) kuthor-
    lzes the State Board of IVaturopathlc Examiners to col-
    lect a license fee of $50.00 from each applicant who
    is llosnsed   other than by examination.
    SUMMARY
    Artlole   45904, V.C.S., authorizes  the
    State Board of Iiaturopathia Examiners to
    collect    a license fee of $50.00 from all
    applicants     who are licensed other than by
    examlnatlon.
    APPROVED?                                Yours very truly,
    Ji C. Davis, Jr.                           PRICE DANIEL
    County Affairs  Mvlslon                  Attorney General
    Everett Hutchinson
    Executive Assistant
    w hn”c”y’
    ~Charles D. Mathews                       Burnell’ Waldrep
    First  Assistant                                 Assistant
    Bwazlw
    

Document Info

Docket Number: V-1128

Judges: Price Daniel

Filed Date: 7/2/1950

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/18/2017