Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

April 14, 1939
Ronor~hle TOXI 3rc,-
County Attorney
rotter county
fmrarillo. Texas
Dear Sk:
I
Oplnlon Ro. O-580
owned vehlolea in the .uotlrw of the:'
perroxylanae.0r their d&Au?, .’
: we ares in reaeipt of 'youi bitter or:G‘%,
lOSO, in ubloh ymrefer to the definition aS. ahati-
.teur oontalmd’la Artiale 0wVa, Sm..1 (g),.Revised
Clrll.Statute*, 1928, ae aaeMe& br Aotal937~4Sth
Legi<twe``p. vbe, 8h. 369, aid-reqlestan op%nlon ':
baaed 'on the r0u0dng paeation: . i.~'.
:';
?
doea the above deilini-
wSpec+if18ally,
tut 0f *Ohdrtte ina ``IHZMUI,
troublemen,meter readers,.mter teet-
em, aolleotor, loeal manager, an ongi-
neer, a mohanio, a departmenthead, .and
.' a power salesman, the duties of eaoh 41
aaid elassiiiaatfOB being as 8t Oat
in tha attaohed lettqr;*
The letter referred to kmarate8 the dutierr
oi the various ola*sltloatloBs of omplOpMs6 and reo1tea
iionorable Tom Seay, iqrll i4, 1939, ga6.e 2
that in the performance aI their respective jobs these
employees all drive corpny-owned vehicles. It la ad-
mitted th& the men who hole the v~fcus jbs are in
every instance employees of what is presumably a gas
utllltp system.
Artlole 6687*, Sect105 1 (a), or Vernon*8
Annotated Stntutes, above more fully identified, reads
as r0110wa:
Honorcble lo= Seay, kpril 13, 1979, Fase 3
irccorClng to the above definition, a "chaui-
feurw was an employee whose prlnclprzl duty was the
operation of a motor vehicle for his e57loyar or any,: _
perSOl; who opercted a motor vehicle a& used it ror.
purposes of hlre. $'
Limiting our dlscuesion to the first c: the
tso classifA.catlons set out, namely, "evary person
who is employed for the prlnolpal purp0m of oprat-
. it 18 ObTlow that the key
%wiifE:F$& t&o soopo of the dofihiflon.
18 th8 word *peinol~*. A.por608 rho oporatod
lnaidentallya 0~ dotor rehlale ran not
an emplqoe rithln the appUo@tlon of the anb6eotlon.
!Cholan@s@la oloarand l x p llo l’4 .
The p=poae 0r
the -alatare wan obviously~ to +xolUdo fro8 the
parTlaw or the 8tatuto the ~?maaber, or o@oYaoa
Jho oporatbd 04imw mtormBMdal88,;-~butwara
wpi~pd for .th0 prih~ipal p+qmm .si:.`` : .
another taclk and.only f!o;t.ths
ipoidontal-pUQOao QS.
spook a oar or. truok, or othU?pa of motor :
.
Qhan the lioomslIq:iawxcmt into orroot
~1~ 192S1'thod+finition $if ~ohulff8U+“OOYltd+
'thoroiwakd iot out abwo~plelsl``uould not-. ..
braoo employeesllko llnomn, tro~blaaan, ~,mtbri
readers,,-tar .tMters, a eolleotor,loaa&.+yagors,
ongl&rs,, ~ohaalo8., dopartmnt ,hmda, and a #ow-
ir sal&pan-uhqri'oporatlon'ofaompany-cmnodoara
was B&z tarr'prlaolpal
.Thedefinltlon lb a
doubt as to tho lntontionof the Logi8latar~ f0
oxolude a large ola&a of rohkolo.,
OpomtQr8 iron
1t.d'
oovorago.
The.~46tfi
kglalat&, howwor, ai lti
regular session l.sl957, rati- ohm&ad and
revlsod the aefinltlon or *ohamffowrm or%&e~ly
Honorable Tom Sesy, kpril 14, 1939, iage 4
given in Yexao iMverel License Law, same being ilrti-,
ole 6687*, supra. Eouaa i3lll 8io. 16, Genarel anO
Special Laws, 45th J.agialsture, Regular Session, oh.'.',
S69, p. 732, revising the Texea Drivers* License Law,
beoameeffective on At&y 19, 1937. Section 1-A 61
House El11 Ko. 16 reads as follow:
That section 1 (6) 0s soneto BL31,
Ro. 15, ah, 466, paoood 8t
-,_ called so68lon es tIMiUtB
0s th0 9kk.0r m..d
horobyauuWdto&&ymr~:
*Bootion (9) clmtffoar.-Anyporooi
wha opera a motor rohlolo for aqy
P=P-0, ti%lo.srpm$t$aoum
Mp10y.0, 8-t. or lndopen-
~gontoontsa-*tar, *eTi!z *paid in
Ml- or 0oramQlsi`` and orexy
person.who operapbs a mater tehiolo
ublle such roli$-&oto in ueo for hire
orcleaso.**
.ftle iamdlatalydl``~b~.thattlmk~-
~iature,``ln
abnding.lta def$altlonof~?&hmarfotm~,in
the rlrat part, dls$eaaesthiske# words “30x the
prUa.elpilparpc80 0s opu6ting a~*tor ~melo- and
aubstltatosthe.o~uallyoloar and ymmb&uouo b9t
rmoh broader 1-o: *who eporatoa'anator rohlolo
for any ~umoso. whole or mart tIm8 (mdqramjting
oura ..'.....
The Legislaturemaoixbo pr&mm&tb knorr
what it Is doing. In ooa urJ.lo&3latlve
‘onactmnt, the intent 0s tho log%olaturo‘aadthe
Oioar~0rt~i~omstb0f0-umta.
Whenthe Leglslaturo or' the state at ow. 88ssIon
renders a derlnItIon 9ndmdylng ko8trlotlro.l~-
ago and then et the vary next ab88ion redbfinas
the word ramming the reatriotlon and In'lemguage
%EOrt3ble Ton Seay, April 14, 1939, rage 5
of nnmlstakable meaning extends the scope of the
definition, the Intention ia olear as oryatal and
the language must be viewed as indioativa of that
lnt ent .
The conclusion that t&s Legislature
asant to extend the definition of -0hfmme to
raeeh the la+ gro~g,````~oesuho drore oom-
p8qy-ornsd rotor rahhlo~ iorbthw thantheprin~
0iptk1prqpoae 0r tbi?: w-at i8 u08
on the basil8 of both tlu hintoq oi +Jta‘I-Tb”dative
deWiltlon and itrr romling.
.
Furthonmre,uhan~thokgie&Wrade~
rtia a word and that dafi~Ztl.on ~i8 oleu end ax-
.plhit, the court8 rillsmtroeogala@ other .
dormtlon8.
59 Tear. Jiwi 202:
"Rh&e the Legislaturs balr not de-
iined a tom emplo~0Lla a statute.
it 113titbb the protins 0r a court
to defilw lt loaor&lag.tolib0tittMd
rules 0r oonstruatioa. Bat .*ea the
IaglslatuM ddiaesa word or group
*or wards,which it has power to do
aeb frsquentl~doau, the ~&flnitl~a
being oloar and unt@&ww, la bind-
iB& QpOn tha 00-8 a8 6B 8XJWS8iOSi
of the legislativ6 %nteat, regardlea
0r meaning or the word in omq*
laaoe or in other oomm~tlona. ¶%I*
rule la afrfrpad by a rowl``lon OS
thePsnalCo& (Art. 8T that fuorda
which have theirrrcoi& apOoial4
derlnedshall be un&aYmmd In that
sense, though It be contrary t0.thel.r
tmual meanlag.*w
Hurt. et al v. CooDer. et al 3.lO 8. Vi- (21 E!@.
iion. Toa: Seay, April 14, 1939, Page 6
Zuprexe Court of Texas
(1937)
G def inltion of the ward *store* was
Involved. "The court said:
"The statute (Cbaln Store !ikxSaw
acts 44th Lqlslatnro, X+&H, Calla&.
c;ssslon,HoPeo a5J.l60. l8; oh. 400)
having deriaed tho'uord,we are mrt
oonaernsQwith lt8 umml annlngL
lion. Tom Seay, kpril 14, 1939, Page 7
tbrt *the Le&slsturehssapplleC~
definition of Lha tcra -hioh we do mt
rind In tbs dictionary.' For the k~r-
poses of taxation in Texas tb legfs-
lattfve definition of *tract* will tala3
grecedenoe over Kebster's Unabridged,
tin International, or any other diotion-
my."
The La&alaturs has tIm aathorlfy to
rake its own doflnltlon. Ths hot that a la&s-
lath ddmti0fi ml&t clash dth the oriu.nary
or commonly undaratcad. msanlq or words would sot
rsNsl?ltnugatory. 'phrpolior or the le&lolatuPe
to color ``rbln ordsrto &a ~erpresz4lon
tt.lta
intent 1s reeogeizd by the aoarts.
It is~our oplaion that the dsfinftian'~
of chaufreur giren la Artisle 6687a. Seotim k (61,
vsrBonL1'sABBotateu 8tatutss, as aaiended, and above
quoted, ia appllcrabla to ell &mr80+1 who mat
tame spaoirlaations 0r the d~initiOB~ Fest,.
such lndividaUs met operata a motar-rehlale,
tha purpose Wing iwaterial, any reason bslng
uufricieBt. 8eoOnd. the opereitfan,may ??.eltbr
allot the tims or part of the t&us. 73&U, sqdh
psrsmm muet be supl.oyess, 'bsmant``, sgents-, or
inQepaadsnt SontraotaPS. pa uann+r or ,+mutt or
payment 18 lwaterbl.
Ap@yi!Ig th.la F- to tlm a&&*,
ths tros.xblwaed,tha mH%rreaUsra, fimtertastams,
tlm soUeator, losal aanaimm, en&mm, msahanl.68,
dspartmd beads, &nil power sataemga, the desor%p-
tJnn at whose duties simply WsntIfIes them as
employees driviagaompany -owned cars In ptirsaanoe
or their prinsry duties, we rind that they mset
all the ~ondftibns oi th3 detinttien and as a re-
sult rall wIthin the statutory definltion~qf
-0hmxfreurs.~
A series of Hew Pork decfsions bn``lviag
Hon. Tom Seay, ;;pril14. 1939, lage 8
the saze xcarterhivir@ a bearing on the questim at
hand.
-he first refer to the case of People v,
Fulton, 162 N-Y.=:. 125 (1916). In this case it
was held th.;tan employee of a gas company, using
a motor car in his business or tronble hunting, is
a *chauffeuP within the purview of a statute de-
rfBhg a "ohaufreur" as any one operating or driv-
ing a mtor yhlcle as an employee or rar him.
The court stated:
"The dofondant,balag anemployee,
1s sqasrslywLtMa tb prohibitionof
the atatvlte. To&ldothsrulsswoold
na.ury th0 plain isngnags or th8 lar,
aad, in my oplaian,the intent of the
LsglSlatnlM."
The court than calls attention to a om-
Nict on the sribjeot:
"My attentlm hau been called to
the aam of Peopla V. Dennis, wheein
tbs lekxmd county Jtla@ of SOhsneotady
aounty, upon similar raots, that tb
omplayssu8s act rsquirsdtoharea ~.
abaurrear~e liosnse.
with him in hi8 i.nt,:St~: Oy%
lsu, bsaauss it seamu to 16 that tha
law r&erred to perits ao exceptlone,
and I oaaaot read lato it that an em-
pl~yee saaomrate aaautserPbl.leulth-
Outobtainingaaha&~eur*a lisense.
I, therefore, aftirm tha cmviotlon of
the dereng8nLw
The caty Of People v. Dennis, 166 B.Y.S.
918 (1915) held that a telephone repairer, using
an auton#blla iqrniehed him by MS employer, for
the sole purpose of oonveylng himseli end necessary
Son. Tom Seay, Aprlll4, 1059, Page 9
materials from place to place, was not a cheuf-
ieur wlthln the purview of the definition discus-
rri;n in People v. hilton, supra. The aourt de-
clared:
*The only use he made of the nntor
car was merely iacldental to his re&l.hr
employmelt;."
As pointad out in PaoQla Y. Anthony,
al H.Y.S., 591,tha aontmwr8~iathalkuYerk
Coonty caa-te.wu aettld bran ammlmmt of the
derlatiop llhhh changed it fwm . . .
lny p o nr o or p ena ting
or
o r fo r h tr e....”
to .....
auy-psraonwha Iaemployed
fo r 2 j&ilpal ptuvou of operatlmg
a rotor wh lo la ...l-( u nden4 o r ~g ~o ``
The hlfbtory ot the~hf York deflnltion
of -0hwr0tw mabntaatiates oar o~inioa that therm
18 a olear and d+fiprk UMat -tAoa be%umea
the Befinitlonso? a ``ha~ffe~P gkre~ in artio-
le 64870, a8 pastiedby tb 44th 3&6lattWe, apd
g;aw~atae krticle, as am&d, by t&m UthLag-
.
To exclude from the purvi~ at the lat-
tef statutory defiaftlon eaployeo# rho operate
oonpany-omed vehiolerr ios any ptrrrpew whatever,
whole or part tlpls. would be to nullify tha plain
language or the aat and circumvent the intoat of
Hon. Ton SeBy, April 14, 1939, Tage 10
the Le&tlt.iture.
iiewish to point out that Seation 3 of
Artlola 6687a, ~6 amended, spaclriee certain es-
emptlons, but they do not reach the character of
ocoupatlons, under scrutiny.
Attention is called to..oplalaa
no. O-03
of this departmant boldingthat a oouaty arrri+
sloaer wh%le drlrlag en autolsbile beti& %o.
the aaunty ud on county buslneqe is not a ehauf-
rertrrithfntb08~0rtb (rti4ti~aw.n-
riau. This situat.Los 18 d%atln@shablei fkumtiba
.asseat hrrd in that the deolaioa turns QIPth
taot tlmt a sounty ouoaissionerla bbld not *aa
employee"ufthin tb terms of tlm 8tatutory doi&
tit&n, Opta%* Ho. O-470 l.8to the effeat that
per%mns employed by A; k X. College,whose daties
'iasludooperating oollem swaed traaks, tsllrlthd
in tbs definitionand should obtain 4haui'T4ar*s
llaenses.
WI are in acaord with tlm rindlngs in-
eaohtithe skne OpblhlS, batwe QaMot 4ORQW ia
the nasodng af the oplaica rendered by tJn De-
pertasnt oa July &7, L92V4, liiaofer as tlm reaaaa-
inc,at that opinion awttbe 4anclasloasrea4hed
aonflht with this oplaioa, w sre ompelled-to
owrmle it.
It is our opinion that llassmen,trouble-
men, aeter readers, aster testers, a aolleetor,
a loop1 aaaa@r, an ea&aeer, mahaala, bepark-
lasntbsad,ad ponersalesmaa,rho sreemployess
oi a gas otllity aompeny operating eoqmny-wned
lpDtoryehiales la the aourse of ths paformaaee or
their dutlea, are w4hauffe`` rlthin tlwMopa oi
the definitionaontained in Article eWVa, Seat&on
'1 (g), Veraon* Annotated C1rl.lStatutes,a8
aaended, andthatthay are r+qulred under the Jar
to obtcln atiuffsur*e lioemes.
Yo-a-8 very trzrly