Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1951 )

Bon. nudley Davis Opinion lo. V-1157
District Attorney
Center, Texas Ret Automatic suspension
or the dPlWP ‘8 ll-
cerise when a sentence
Sor driving while in-
Dear Mr. Iktvle: toxlcat@d 18 suspended.
Your request fop an opinion Pelates to the au-
tomatic suspension of a drivePqs license of one convioted
of the offense of driving vhile IntoxlCated whose sen-
tence has .been suspended.
Section 25 of Article 6667b, V&.8., pPovldes
In part:
*(a) Uhenerep any pepson is convicted
of any offense SOP which this Act ekes auto-
matic the suspension of the opePatoP?s, com-
m&Pclal operatoP $6d OP cbauffeurve license of
such person, the court in which swh aonvic-
tion Is had shall Pequlre the surrender to It
of all 0pePators *a commercial operators 99 and
chauffeuPsv llcenses then held by the person
so convicted and the clerk OS said court shall
thereupon forward the sasie together with a Pe-
cod of such oOnViCtion t0 the DepaPtWnt,
within ten (10) days from the date of oonvic-
Mon.
‘(c) FOP the purpose of this Act, the
tePm ‘convlct$on8 shall mean a final convlc-
tion. Aleo, for the purpose of thfr Act, a
forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited
to secure a defendant’s appeaaanoe in CouPt,
which forfeiture has not beon vacated, shall
be equlvalent to a conviction.
‘Provided, however, that In case of con-
viction for any of the offenses enumerated
Hon. budlep Davis, page 2 (V-11,57)
in psragpaph (a) of Section 24’ of this Act,
and the mAteACe 0r the coupt hvl4 hem
suspended as provided In the Statutes, such
suspended sentence s&Z1 not mltlgatr against
the4 suspanslon of the operator%, omuerclal
operatorsa, or chaufreur*s license of the
pm-non convicted.' (Footnote 1 added.)
Prior to the enactment of Article 6687b, tNs
oiflae consistently held that a suspended sentence did
not aoastltutr a flnal conviction undeP Article 668?a,
V.C.S., and tbpefore a dplver's license oould not be
suspended under such clpcumstances 0 Att’p Gen. Ops.
o-1395 (lg3!$ O-1523 (1939) 1 Aptfcle 66831 expressly
repealed Article 6687a and in so doing added a special
provision that a suspended sentence shall not titlgate
against the suspension of the operator’s llaense of the
person convicted. When a statute makes a general provi-
slon apparently for all oases and a special provision
far a part%cular case or class, the former fields and
the latter orevafls Insofar as the lxlrtfcular case or
class is concerned. 2 Sutherland, Statutory Constxwo-
tfon (3rd ed. 1943) $41; Townserid Y. Temei.l., 118 Tex.
463, 16 S.W*26 1963 (1.9291; Sam B:>sse$ Lumber Co. v,
City of Houston, 1,45 Tex.. 492 13 _1g-9 [l.94 )
canales v. Lay, lr, l&7 Tex, ‘I.&T %r)*i;,Y,2d 451 1448).
Section 25 of Article 6687b provides that the
court shall peaulre the sumunder to it of all operators’~
and,cbauffews llcensea then held by the person convict-
ed and shall forward the same to the Department of Pub110
Safety. It Is evident, therefore, that the revoking of
the license Is mandatorg on the Department of Pub110 Saie-
tr umm recelot OS the Pecord of conviction and is not
r&u&a on any judgment bf the court ordering its sus-
pensloa. ffilbept v. State, 152 Tex. Grim. 200, 212 S.W.
26 182 (1mJ. Even though the cowt suspends execution
oi thej - *nt OP sentence it imposes on- one convloteb,
T
the revoca Ion of the license still takes effect. The
court oanuot suspend that result of WAViOtiOn, baaUs@
It Is no part of the oourt”s judgment; It 1s a n8ult
1. Section 24 of Article 6687b requires, amaag other
things, the automatic suspension of licenae upon rinai
conviction for the offense of delving a motor vehicle
vhile under the influence of intoxicating llquop.
HOA. Dudley Davis, page 3 O-1157)
expressly imposed by law.
We agree with your conclusion, therefore, that
the, driver’8 license of one convicted of driving while
under the InflwnOe of intoxicating liquor Is autaati-
tally suspended despite the fact that his sentence has
been suspended.
Seotlons 24 and 25 of Article 6687b
require the automatic suspension of a
driver”8 license upon a conviction for
driving while under the Influence of ln-
toxloatingliquor even though the sen-
tence be swpendea.
A PPROI%Ds Yours very truly,
J. C. Davis, JP,, PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs MVlslon Attorney General
Jesse P. Luton, Jr.
Reviewing Assistant
161AL? -'---L
CL-pL.q
BY
Charles D. Mathews Burneli Yaldrep
Fixt Assistant Assistant
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