Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF q-R-G
AUSTIN
Honorab-r Uneet @ainn
County Attorner, Pl Par0 County
iI1 Panti, Texar
Your letter of De06 uestiag the opinion
of thlr department on’the themia reads, in
0 or the re-
u al60 please advise ou whothor or
tlfioster lamed by Dootorr outelds
Teraa are aoooptable. Pmthermore,
where medioel oertitioatw are signed by amy Dootor'~,
who are at posta ln the Stat. of Texas, but act re-
gistered phgsloianm in the Stat0 of %xae, am they
acceptable to the County Clerk? This is very lm-
portant, since there are thousand@ of aoldlsrs ap-
plying for marriage llaeases and mtiy of them brine
iaedioal certifioatos iseued by their army physiolans.
“i$S a praoticsl matter, wo ballere thet es*-
ff tlfloatea laauad by am Doatora residing within
the-Stats should bs aooaptabla, but a mcra aSriouS
QueStion la preaantod when the OartlflaSte IS la-
mad by a Dootor sow time prior t0 the SppllcS-
tion for S llaoneo, IS aonw other Stats or even
some other couatq.
“Thaw*,uaat~lon of Sartlildstaa iSSUsd la SOmS
other oouatry ariaea~by virtue o? persona SeSkiW
to obtala oertlfioatea for porforlrmO8 of Proxy
Iprrrlagaa. Of oouraa, the Clerk 18 aat interested
l la the puaatlon of proxy lParrlage8 but oaly la por-
Sorming his duty la laaulng lloanaSa. Tha oath ra-
qalred to ba takoa awaora that’thara la no lagal
objeotloa to tha pertorimmoa oi the merrlaga. Of
ocmraa, IS the proxy marriage la lllegl, the oath
oould aot bo algaad and the nmrrlaga lloenaa-should
not ba laauad. If la ,our owa opinion that proxy
amrlagaa aro not ra1f.d la thla Stats. Ii the At-
torney General deems it propar 0n6 is818 it 18
oloaely anotigh related to tha duty or the Clerk
in the iaauaaoe Oi lloOnaaa, I would aQpraOiata his
OQlalOa oa this queatloa so that our Clerk may be
aided aooordfagly.*
&tlolo 46040, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Gtatutee, roads as
rollo*ar
*Beion the County Olerk shall laaua any
Plarrlaga lloanaa the bun ShSll odoca a oSrtltl-
Oats i&mu S reputablS:licSnaad Flyalolan to whew
that ha la iroo tror aU roao~aal dlaaasaa.a
It nil1 be noted that the ton$olnfg ltatu~f~praaorlbaa no
tim6 that tho oortlrioato rrom a ro*PJt'cibloiieaaaad phyaiolin
shall remain valid for thS purpoas ,& ~issufn& e Amiags llosase,.
%MrSUy S~akfn8~ WhSa a statute,prSaOrlbS8~0~)tlm within whloh
SS aot muet bo dono, than bha sot should ba dona within S maon-
able time.
What is a reaaoaabla time wfthia whloh an sot must be done
ordlnar$ly iwan so muoh tia@ as la naoaaaary, under.the oi.roum-
StanOeS, and whet the dutiaa raqulra IS tha partloular SSSS. (See
Words and Phraeea, Per& Ed., Vol. 6, page'376). &Sted mother
I
way, reaaonsbla tLno la auoh pro.qtltuda as the sltu.:rtion of the
pnrtlaa and the oiroumtanaaa of the ease will allow. It never
olBsna an lndulgenao in unneoeaasry delay or In delay ocoaaloned
by vain and frultleaa effort to do tho aot required. (See
Fronoh v, Lewis, 218 Pa. 141, 11 L. R. A. 948, N. S.)
In ~SWC~ to your first question, you are advised thtlt it
is out opinion that the oertlflosta from a reputable and licensed
phyelolsn remains vslld for the purp6so of issuing a marriage
lloanaa under Artlclo 46040, aupra, rot a reaaonnble letqth of
time after the phyalolan has iseued auoh oertlfloate~
The phyalolaa making the 04rtlflaatemust, under the terms
of tho atntuta, be ‘reputable” and “licensed.” In the abaenaa
0s apeolal leglalatlve authority, Texas does not reoo(pllaa the
l.ioanalng and reglatering of phyalolana under the law of another
Stats. The only phyalolana permitted to praotlce medlolna in
this 3tate without lirat obtaining s llaenso aad reglaterlng un-
der the laws of thie State are those phyaloisna apeolfioally
exempt from suoh registration as provided by Artiole 4504, Ver-
non’s Annotated Civil Stotuteo. Therefore, the physloien re-
ferrod to in Article 46040, aupra, oould only man a physloian
who la licensed in ‘and who prsotloaa medloine in the Strite or
Texas, or ono who la apeoifloally exempt from suoh license and
registration under Artlclo 4504, lupre.
It la our oplnloa that oartlfloatea issued by .phyalolrlna
who two not lloenaad and praotlolng within tho State oi Texas
aro not aooeptablo under UtlOle 46040. In other words, ba-
fore the oertffloate la seaeptablo to the Coun$g Clerk, auoh
phyalolan must be lloenaed in an4 oaa who practloea madlolna in
the Stata of Texaa,~ or on0 who is lpoolfloally lxaapt from auoh
lioanaa and raglatratloa under iatlolo 4504. In tier of the
fore~oln6, it la our oplnlon that Army doctors who ero at a
post in tha Stats of Texas, but aot registered phyalofana la
the Stats of Texas, are authorfxod to laaua oartlfl~atoa under
wrtlola 46040.
In view of what &a boon heretoforesaid, we damm it ua-
aeooaaary to express anp~ opinion regarding
proxy aarrlages.
khea the County Clark La oogalzant that the oertfflcate haa baaa
iaeuod by a reptabla lloeaaad phfaiolan who la raglatered and
praotlolng madlolno in this Ststo, or by en &my doctor who lg
,t . post in thlr 3tuto, hl8 inquiry is ended. Nowhero doaa
I Leglrlaturs authorize, O? roqulro, the Clerk to go beyond
,,br crrtifloato itself. AOO~rdln&lT, ii the omtifiaata be
:irrued by a rrputable llOennr@d phy8lolan who ia regietrred
'ad lioenaed to practioe nedioina in this Stat., or by an
km dootor who ie situated on l g o a t in thlcl Stata, and if
#it oertifler that the applioant ior 8uoh lloen6e 18 *free from
iall remreal diaraaer* and if the other rtatutory raquira1IPrntr
b0 IEd, it is the duty Or the Clerk to forthwfth i,,a,Je the
j uoonD@.
Toure very truly
ATMFWX GENERALOF TEXAS
Ardell William
Assistant
j,FFF.@VEL;DEC
23, 1943