Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

394 OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN I Honorable Traylor Russell Dl#trlot Attorney lat.Pleasant,Texas Dear sir: cent dots, which re of Title 15 of the on Finmoe Corpora- or create aorpora- ase and leare landr,.pwohaae, nd plants, and purohase faollltier;maahlmry, mater- the smnfacture of strategic “The corporations80 organicedape knovn am defame plant corporationa. Such a oorporatfon vao organized for the purpose of oonrtractingon lands aoquuiredlocated in the South part of Morris County, e plant for the purpore of mnelterlng IFon. The oorporationis now, and haa been for BOW CUm, engaged in the oonrtruotion of thlrr plant. “By virtue of exeoutive order Ho. 8972 undai' date of Ikoember 12, 1942, the Secretary of Uar 395 Honorable Traylor Russell, page 2 and the Searetary of Ilsvymere authorised *to es- tablish and maintain mllltary guards and patrols and to take other appropriatemeesures to proteot from injury and destruotloncertain strateglo premises materials and utilities,all of vhloh are set out In CUP. 15 issued b the Usr Dspart- ment under date of Naroh 17, 19t3. This olroular further states, "*Aooord%ngly,the 8e6rets.q of War dlreot- ed the Pilitary organisatlonof plant guard foroes as Auxiliary IUlitary Pollee.' "Xt is further provided in the oiroular men- tioned above that these atembers of the Auxiliary Pollee shall take an oath of offloe, a oopy of vhich is enolosed herevlth and the olroular furth- er provides that these Auxiliary Wllltary Polio4 shall be subject to oall at all t&se8 for lllilitary use IA aAy 4m4rg4Aoy. "The rwr4n84 Plant OorporatlonIn Morris County has employed a number of these Auxiliary Pollee to guard its premises and materials. The majority of these msn are local SIOA,living in the vlolnity of 25 lallesof the plaoe of thelr work, Boeh 1s armed vith a pistol which must be provided by eaoh ~indivldual.Under lnstruotiow of the corporationoffloers of this unit, these men have been oarrylng these pistols with them from their place of residenoe to their vork. They do not carry these pistols on their person vhile goips to and from their work but are required to oerry the@ not loaded In their vehlole in which they may be traveling and Iu the event they leave this ve- hicle for any purpose, they are Instruoted to leave the gun in the automobile. They are father In- structed that In travellag to and from their vork to their placreof residence that they must travel the most usual dlreotly traveled road. Recently, ths Sheriff of Morris County arrested one of these Auxlllary Nllitary Poll04 and filed oharges against him under Art. 483, Chapter 4, Title 9, P.C. of Texas. This man so arrested aad charged vas at the Use of his arrest traveling from his place of residence to his plaoe of work. 396 goAorabl4 Traylor Russell, page 3 "Based UpOA the foregoing faots, I ask of Yom department an oplnlon in regard to the fol- loving t “1. Are the msmbers of the Auxiliary Mlll- tery Polioe authorisedto oarry OOAO4816d v4apons at any and all times, regardless of whether they be traveling to and from their place of resldenoe t0 their pl804 Of vork? "2. If the above question is answered in the Aegatlve; then are the members of the A~x$llary Mllltary Police permitted to carry et all tQnes oonoealed veapons vith them from their plaoe of residenoe to their vork? "f 4~01084 herevlth a oopy of circular 15 vhioh has been delivered to me and kindly ask that you return this olroular along vith the oath of off104 vlth your O~iAiOA. I. . . ." We have oarefullyread Clroular Ro. 13, issued by the War Headquarters, Army Service Boroe, Washing- Department, ton, D. C., dated as of March 17, 1943, pertaining to A~xlll- ary Willtary Pollo4, together with the Agreement bstveen the United States of Amerloa and the plant guard. Ye are setting forth oertain portions of said Clr- cular Ho. 15, which ve feel are pertinent and have an important bearing OA the lasu4s 1Avolved. On page 1, the purpose of the Auxiliary Military Police is stated as follova: "1. . . . The purpose is to lnorease the authority, efffolenoy,aad responsibilityof guard forces at plants important to the proseoutlon of the var, and t&ugh military tralnlng to provide euxfll8ry forces throughoutthe United States to SUpplemeAtthe Army IA vartims 4m4rg4noy sltuatlons." The mission of the AauxiliaryMlitary Polio4 is pro- vided on page 2 and from vhloh the following is taken: I., . 39’7 Ronor8bl6 Traylor Russ411, page 4 -2. Mission of the Auxiliary lilltary Pollee. -- a. The mlsslon of a guard for04 of Auxilluy Ulitary Pollee Is --- - "(1) To provide internal axul axtern pro- tection of the plant against sabotage, espionage,and na$aaralhasards. "(2) To serve with the Army in providing pro- teotlon to the plaiitsnd its envlronr in 4m4rg4Aoy situatloAs. "br AA emergenoy sltuatlan In vhloh the Auxil- iary JillltaryPollo4 may be oalled upon for nilitary ~84rv104msy arise from flood, oonilagratlon,or other dlsastsr~ internal disorders haaudous to property or production importurt to the pros4ou- tlon of the wari enemy aotion by air raid: fifth oolum~ aotivlties3paratroop attaak or lnvasion~ or it may arise from any other 0oAditloA or olr- oumstano4 lATOlViAg the plant or its 00smluAitymak- ing it A40488ary to place in operation 0~4 or more of the emergenoy phuu of the IfasDepartment or of the Servioe Cosmwd. "0. A guard for06 or any member thereOf, vhether 011or off duty, may be 888igAed to duty in an emergenay at pleoes other thaA the pr4ml848 of the plant normally served, provided only that IA the OpiAiOB of the plnrrtguard offloer or other representativeof the Army in oommand such asslgn- ment vi11 contributeto the proteotlon of the guard foroess OWA plant and its environs or to the pro- t4OtiOA Of its PWDdUOtiOA." On page 4, ve find the following language: Guard foroes vhioh have not been orgaJz;d ;s'&ulred (see par. 1 attaohed let- ter) vi11 be assembled at the ear.%iestpraatloable date by the plant management at the request of the plant guard offioer. At this assembly the Arti- 014s of Uar as presorlbedby Artiole of Uar 110 will be read and ex~leined to eaoh memberof the guard foroe. . . . gkmorable Traylor Russell, page 5 The oircular reads in part as follovs OA page 50 “The Auxiliary Mllltary Pollo4, lPrmedlately after the Articles of War have been read and ex- plained, vi11 be impressed vlth the faot that the Ooverment of the Unlted States 1s dlreotly inter- ested in the eeourity and proteotlon of the plant and its produotlan88 essentlsl to the suooessful prosecutionof the var. . . . “5. The Oovernment of the UAlted States re- gards the protection of this plaAt and Its produo- tlon as 4ss4Atial IA the suoo4srfulpros4outioAof the var. The Auxiliary Military Pollo4 are ordered to provide this neoessary proteotloA and to vard off tlaqer or threat of danger of soy kind and prom any souro4. If foroe must be used to aooompllsh this Pesult it vi11 be used only to extent reason- ably AOCOlSSPJ’~” The follovlngappears onHge 7: 'The Auxiliary Military Pollo4 are supplement- ing the Army of the United States S.Aa vital task of proteotingvar materials and.var produotlon faollltl4s. Attempts to intimidate them ol? to reduce or nullify their lffloienay, or interfere vlth the performaAoeof their mission, may oonrtl- tute a violationof Federal as ~411 es state orlm- i~al lava, When suoh inoldents are suspected,a~ inquiry vi11 be made and a detailed report vi11 be 8eAt immediatelythrough oha``4ls to the offfiaeof the Provost Marshal General as 8 basis for requsst- IAg an iAv4stigatlonor prOS4OUtiOA." On page 9, ve find as follows: “Because the mlsslo~ of the Auxiliary Nili- tary Polloe lnoludes s4rvio4 with the Army (see pax. 2&), the lava of var require that members wear distinctiveinsignia or marks oapable of reoognl- tiOA 8t a distanoe. By wearing mush lnslgnla or marka members serving vlth the Army will be reoog- nised as legitimatetroops and not deemed irregulars or guerillas. . . .a Honorable Traylor Russ411, page 6 Then, on pages 10 and 11 ve quote in partr "The Auxiliary Military Pollee must be armed vlth appropriateveepons furaLshed by the plant rmrnagementif such arming is recommendedby the plaat guard officer, Any sidearm, rifle, or shot- gun may be an appPOpriat%VeSpoA depending on the olroummteno4s. . . . "The Auxiliary Military Pollo4, as agents of the Federal Qovernmentwill not be subjeot to any state or muniolpal requirementwhich oonfllots vlth their wartime duties. A member of the Auxll- larg Military Polio4 required to be armed in per- formance of his duties will not be oompelledto obtain a 1104~84, permit, or bond to p088488 small firearms in order to comply vlth loos1 statutes or ordinances. State authoritieshave oonourredvhen this qU4stiOA ha8 been presented. The full OO- operation of state and loos1 authoritiesvi11 be obtained and loos1 requirementsmet unl4ss a satls- factory understcmbisgis reaohed." Certain portions of the AgreemeAt between ths United States of America and plant guards are as follovsr II . the United States is approving ths em- plqyme&'of certain guards es a oivllien auxiliary 'tothe mlllt~y police for the purpos4 of guarding and proteotingtar material, war pr4mis4s and v&r utllltlesfrom injury or destruotloAby the enemy or otherwise, inoludl~g ths making of arrest, as psaob offloers for vloletlons of Pederel lava, as ~411 as for vlolatioAs of orders and regulations lssusd by military authority. . a , “(3) and vi11 obey a~iyorders Issued in conneotl~n't~erevith by the President,as Com- mander in Chief of the Army and Hevy of the United States, and by his duly euthorlsed officers. ". . . . “(4) . I am subject to military law dur- ing the per;oi of my employment.” RonOr8ble Traylor Russ411, page 7 As you stated in your letter, the members of the Auxil- iary Mllitarg Police In Norris County are, under instruotlons of the oorporetlon offloers of this unit, 08rryLng pistols on their perrons while going to and from their vork; that they are further instructed to oarry the pistols unloaded in their ve- hicles in which they may be tr8Vellag and in the event they leave their vehioles for sny purpose, they are iAStrUOt6d to leave their guns In the automobiles. In traveling to and from vork, they must travel the most usual dlreotly traveled road. It is ths opinion of this d%p8PtZS%At that the numbers of the Aux.tll8ryHllltary Polioe, aoting In eooordanoe with lnstruotlons above set out, are not violating any penal lav of the State of Texss vlth reference to oarrging a pistol. Burther- more, slnoe the instructions of the oorporatlon offloers of this particular unit do not pennit its guards to oarpy pistols at any and all times, we do not feel it neoessary to ansver your query es to whether or not members of the Auxiliary yill- tay Polio4 are alloved to ofwry ooAoealed weapons at any and all times, regardless of vhether they be traveling to and from vork. As per your request, ve are returning vlth this opln- ion Circular lo. 15 end the Oath of Offloe vhloh aooompanied your letter. Yours very truly ATTCRBwl QENlRAL OF ZEUS Robert 0. Kooh