Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1951 )

“33`` fiTTOWNEY ,GENERA.L
I OFTEXAS ‘.
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
October 4, 1951
Hon. Cecil E. Burney, President
State Bar of Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas Opinion No, V-1299
Re: Exemption from ad valo-
rem taxes of proposed
permanent headquarters
Dear Sir: of the State Bar of Texas.
We quote the following excerpt from your request of
September 24, 1951:
“The State Bar of Texas is in the process of
acquiring a site for the ercctien of permanent head-
quarters for the, organization in Austin. It is neces-
sary that we obtain from you an opinion concerning
the liability of the State Bar for ad valorem taxes on
this property.”
Section 2 of Article 320a-1, V.C.S., the State Bar Act,
reads as follows:
“Sec. 2;. There is hereby created the State Bar,
which is hereby constituted an administrative agency
.., of the Judicial Department of the State, with power to
contract with relation to its own affairs and which
may sue and be sued and have such other powers as
are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of
this Act. *
In Attorney General’s Opinion O-2784 (1~940), this ‘of-
fice ,held that the State Bar was exempt from Federal Employment
Taxes with respect to services performed by persons employed
and paid by it under the State Bar Act and the rules of the Supreme
Court issued under such Act. We quote the following excerpt from
Opinion O-2784:
“In our opinion, the State Bar of Texas is an in-
strumentality 6f the State of Texas and is wholly owned
by the State, within the provisions of the Internal Rev-
enue Code uoted above. [ 26 U.S.C.A., Sets. 1426(b)(7)
and 1607(c) 4 7), excepting from taxes “service performed
in the employ of a State, or any political subdivision
Hon. Cecil E. Burney, Page 2 (V-1299)
thereof, or any instrumentality of any one or more of
the foregoing which is wholly owned by one or more
States or political subdivisions; . . ,“I The regulation
and discipline of lawyers and the formation and admin-
istration of an integrated bar are properly within the
functions of the ~iudicial branch of the,novernment of
the State. Compare In re Inte ration Gf State Bar ,of
Oklahoma, 185 Okla.
tion of Nebraska Stat:~&9``%%i``,
m N W 265; In re Edwards, 45 Idaho 676, 266 P.
665; State Bar of California v. Superior Court, 207
Gal.:>23 278 P. 432-i In re Gibson;.35 ,N.M; 550, 4
P.2d 643:
“The Stat& Bar of Texas is de,signed s~olely~for
the purpose of carrying out theses functions., The fees
which~are paid by the lawyers under the requirements
of the statutes, and the rules,:of the Supreme ~Couit are
used under the direction of ,the Supreme Court for. the
purpose of carrying out the provisions of the State Bar
Act and for no .othe,r purpose. ~vti private persqn has
any’interest whatever in the State Bar or its funds.”
Attorney General.‘s, Opinion V-480 (1948). in holding
that employees of the State Bar of Texas were eligible to be mem-
bers of the Texas Employees Retirement System, again recognized
the State Bar as an agency of the JudicialDepartment of the State.
Article XI, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of
‘Texas reads, in’part, as follows:
“The property of counties, cities and towns,
owned and held only for pub1i.c purposes, such as pub-
lic buildings and the sites therefor. [~sic] Fire en-
gines and the furniture thereof, and all property used.
or intended for extinguishing fires, public grounds
and all ,other property devoted exclusively to the use
and benefit of the public shall be exempt from for,ced
sale and from taxation , . I . ”
The above quoted constitutional provision is self-oper-
ative, A. & M. Consol. Independent School Dist. v. City of Bryan,
143~Tex. 348, 184 S.W.Zd 914 (1945).
The State Bar of Texas, as an agency of the Judicial De-
partment of our ‘State government, is a governmental agency. Its
functions being governmental in nature, its purposes are, perforce,
public purposes; and its property is therefore “public property de-
voted exclusively to public use and is exempt from taxation under
Hon. Cecil E. Burney, Page 3 (V-1299)
Art. XI, Sed. 9, of the Constitution; . . .*. Lower Colorado River,
Authority v. Chemical Bank & Trust Go., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S.W.
2d 48 (1945). You are accordingly advised that the proposed per-
manent headquarters would be exempt from taxation.
SUMMARY
The State Bar of Texas is a governmental agency
of the State, and property acquired by it as a site for
a permanent headquarters becomes public property de-
vote’d exclusively to public use and is exempt from
taxation under Article XI, Section 9, of the Constitution
of Texas. Lower Colorado River Authority v. Chem-
ical Bank & Trust C O., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S . W . 2d 48
n9451 .
Yours very truly,
PRICE DANIEL
Attorney General
APPROVED:
-‘l&s.Mari&taMcG egor Creel
W. V. Geppert ’ Assistant
Taxation Division
Charles D. Mathews
First Assistant
Price Daniel
Attorney General
MMC/mwb