Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1953 )

September 2, 1953
Honorable Oibb Gilchrist
Ch88aellor
Texar A. t M. College System
College Station, Texa8
Oplaion Ro. s-gfj
Rer Stotur o? a veteran, ln-
ducted as a resident o?
another f5tate, aa a resl-
dent of Texas for educa-
tional purposes.
Dear DP. Ollchrirt:
Your requaet for PB opinion of this oiilce comcera-
lag the right of veterane, who wepe Inducted into the armod
forces as residents OS states other thaa Texas, to enroll at
Texas A. & #. College a6 rerlde8ts 04 Texae, read8 as follows:
"1 * Can a veteran who enter8 the service
tram l8other state amd ae a re8idO8t of th&t
state 88tirfy the reriderce requirements for
eduaa$ioael pUrpOSe8 in Texas by Mving served
01)active duty la Texae for a period of 12
month8 OP PLOCO8Ub8Oqlleatto hi8 tweaty-first
birthd8yT
O2. If the answer to the above question
18 Negative, would the f8ct (a) that he has
bro t his family iato Texas and has lived
oif’ he post for 12 molpthsor (b) that he has
"&h
hla family with him, has acquired real prop-
erty and pays taxes ID the state have any ef-
fect?"
Section 1, subsection 2, Article 2654c, Vernon’s
Civil Statutes, after detailing tuition rate8 for non-resident
8tudOPt8 registering la State COllOgOS, provide8 ia part as
followrs
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,
Hon. Qlbb QilChId8t, p8ge 2 (S-95)
"(a) A nonresident student 18 hereby de-
fined to be a student o? lo88 than twenty-one
(21) years OS age, living away from his family
aad whose family resides In another State, or
WhO8e;family has not resided in Texas for the
twelve'(12) months lnuuedlotelypreceding the
datt of reglstratlon; or a student of tweaty-
'one (21) years of age or over who resides out
OS WI8 Strte or who a8 met bee8 a reatdert
of the Strte'twelve4 12) maths subrequert to
hl8 twert -first birthlo~ or ior the tvOlte
(121 da bmedlately precedlag the lhte o?
re8 btmtior.
"(b) m term 're8ldencc' 88 ueed In thl8
Act 8emm 'UoJal;e'; . . ."
Tn ieoor,& H.T. Ry. Co. v. Thoqym, 106 Tw. 460,
167,s.~. 801 n.914) th supreme court def aed domlclle in
the following lang&ge:'
"Residence mean8 living In a particular
locality, but domlclle metan living in that
locality with the latent to make It a fired
and permanent home. Residence simply requires
bodily ppe8ence, as an inhabitant ln a given
p18ce, while dom~clle requires bodily presence
Is th8t place and also oaIeleJ lntentlon to make
it one'8 dodclle.“
Znteatloa ie a8 esreWl81 eoneider8tloala deternln-
damlclle, 818 thus the solution tb e&Ch
depend upon 811 the facts ad clrcum8tolrces
tend to support OP negote PO intention to
In the absence of a clear Intert to rbandon hi8 domi-
cile in the state from whence he came and to establish a new
domicile in the state In which he serves, a person In the mlll-
tary service does not acquire a domlclle in the latter etate.
In Gallagher v. Gallagher, 214 S.W. 516 (Tex.CIv.App. lglg),
the-&& stated:
nOrdlnarlly, it Is a presumption of law
that where a person actually lives Is his doml-
clle, such presumption o? course being rebutt-
able; but no such presumption could arise in
the case of a soldier in active service, who
has no choice of domicile, but must ordlwarlly
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Eon. Glbb Gilchrlrt, page 3 (S-95)
cling to hi8 domlclle o? origin. Ordfn8rlly,
8~ act of removal to a cert*la loc*tlon, cou-
pled with the lmtont to make a permanent reel-
dolce there, might be sufflcien% to fix 8
domicile, but %bat is bec8uarethe removal 18
volumtarfly made, which could no% OCCUP In the
case of a 801dfer In active eervlce. It Pol-
lows that the removal of the latter to a plrce
and his rerfdence there POP Thor8 would not
offer any probrtive evldemce to corroborate
evldemce 88 to 88 lntentlom to make the p18ce
his home, D Q 0"
Thla pO8itiOD ffada fur&or eup ort lnrWilson h
Wilson; 189 S.W.2d 212 (Tex.Clv.App. 1945P P
"A review of the~lrw pert8inlng to the
rerideace of 8 soldier who 18 sent to Texas
from another state under mllltary order8
properly beglalewf%h the CPBQ OS Gallagher
v. Gallagher, Tex.Clv.App., 214 S.W. 516,
518. It lm there held that the word8 Yn-
habitant,' 'cl%leesa'and 're$ldent' mean
eub8%8n%i81ly %he e8me thing. In order to
be an InhabItam% one mu8t rcqulre a domicile
or holae, sad 1% must h8ve the 8%8tUpof per-
mmeacy OQ it. There muart~0% only be$an ln-
testion t0 08tabli8h a pOnaplnew%domlefle or
home, but the lntele%lonmurt be accompawled
by come ,oct dome 1~ the lxrcutloa of %he ln-
tern&, A aoldler CPB abaw&on hi8 domlclli of
origin amd select awot~be~, et,la order to
show a new~domlclla dupfag & e %e~m of enllst-
memt, there mumt be %he ,cEorres%aladmost un-
equfwocal proof* y e 0*
We eoroluae from %he *bovehu%horf%le8 that mere
rerldeace in Texae by a mmber of the armed forces while on
rctlve mllitaP'Jdu%y wll%hlwIts boundapfor, regord1088 of
the lewg%h of rrach8%aT, would 80%~ rtaadfng 8Ponc evidence
awg lateat ow the part of ~ueB reryfceman to eBtabil8h hi8
dgmlclle In Toroe" Of cowme addltlo881 P"ac%smlgh% 8up-
port a&d es%ablleh %he bow8 fide Intern%con%amppla%edby our
court decisions D Am %o which f8etor8 OF positive rc%s mfght,
comldered aumula%lvely, evldemce &be pequlslte ln$ev&, we
c8w prescribe no r%aadaPd; the foc%s lw each e8oe will mecee-
sltate reparate evollwtiomO
Hon. Blbb Gllohrirt, page 4 (S-95)
Answering your flrrt questl8a we hold tb8t military
aaslgnment wtbhia the State of Texor For oey period of time
does not In the abar8ae of additional evldewce operate to
Pemove tie domloi.18dY 8a out-of-state veteran io this st8te
for educational purposes.
We advise rou lm re ly to your second quertlon that
both cIrcum#Ii&n8e8(a) aatl (b? comtalned th8Peia erg orb&fled
to con8ldePr~i0r 3.nPe8olvlag doaiclllary questio88,but that
neithOP 18 C&K3$u8iW Of a decision. A deci8io8 mU8t Pest On
an,evaluatiom of all attemdlwg clrcumrtaroeela each particular
ca8e.
Mere reslcleacela Texas by a member of the
armed foroe8 a8 a consequesoe of nl3.lta~ a68lgn-
ment doe8 not, stardiag alone, operate to estab-
lish hi8 residence in Texar for educational pur-
poses. Th8t he ha8 brought hi8 family to Texas
and ha8 lived off the pert So.? li?moW.h8, or that
he h88 hi8 ~oml~j with hi&, ha8~aoquikal rwlty
and i8 paying tbXe8 it3the 8iiCt8+%'afact8 of
evldeatlarg v8luO In detePrlaleg domlcllQ.
APPROVED: Yours verJl truly,
Dean J. C8pp JCHlpBE3 SH@~&EA$
011 & 088 Dlvlslon Attoraey General
Wllllr E. Qrerham
Reviewer
,y --hw+Etia*/
Bureell W81drep Wert St8Pnes
Executive Arriataat Asrlstant
Joha Be8 Slwpperd
AtttHnOy Oble~81