Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

. , ..
Ronorable F.d Gunn
Criminal District Attorney
Kilam County
Cameron, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0-4F15
Re: Legality of issuance of tax
receipts on Sunday, and related
matters.
Your letter of January 1, 1943, requesting the opinion
of this department reads as follows:
"You will note the questions in writing from
the Tax Collector of Milan County, and my answer
in writing, giving my opinion on same.
“Please give me your opinion on the questions
for the benefit of the Tax Collector."
The letter of the Tax Assessor-Collector presenting the
questions on which you desire our opinion reads in part as
follows :
"The law gives Tax-payers up to, and including
January 3lst of the following year for which taxes
are assessed, to pay their State, County, and Voting
Poll Tax Receipts, without penalty.
"January 31st, 1943 falls on Sunday. In this
case, in your opinion, will,it be legal to issue Tax
receipts and voting Poll Tax receipts on Sunday,
January 31st, or will it be legal to issue 1942 Tax
receipts without penalty and 1942 Voting Poll Tax
receipts on Feb. lst, 1943?
If. . . 9,
. . .
Under our statutes, taxes paid on or before January 31st
of the next succeeding year, for which they were assessed are not
delinquent. In other words property taxes do not become delin-
quent until after the 31st day of January following the year in
5onorabI.e Ed Gunn, Page 2 0 -4315
::?Lch they are due. (Houston Oil Company of Texas v. Eoward,
255 s .w. 340 .)
Chapter 2, Title 7 of Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code con-
ta.ins the statutes commonly referred to as the Sunday laws.
Under these statutes certain labor done on Sunday is a. criminal
offense. After carefully considering these statutes it is our
opinion that they do not prohibit an officer from performing his
,official duties on Sunday.
We quote from Texas Jurisprudence, Volume 39, page 877
as follows :
“At common law, Sunday is dies non jurid icus
(a non juridical day); and it was stated in an
early case that no judicial function can lawfully
be exercised on Sunday. The statute ,declares that
no civil suit shall be commenced nor process
issued or served on Sunday except in cases of in-
junction, attachment, garnishment, sequestration,
or distress proceedings. The act formerly con-
tsined the same prohibition with respect to legal
holidays.
”. . . . . . . .
“Neither the Constitution nor’ the civil statutes
lay any restrictions upon the Governor nor upon any
‘of the heads of the state departments with respect to
Sundays or legal holidays; all public officers may
keep their offices open on Sundays and holida,ys, and
perform all ministerial duties; but it 1s their pri-
vilege to refuse to function on those days, if they
elect.”
We quote from the case of Stephens v., Porter, 69 S.W. 423,
as follows :
11
. . . There is no law in Texas prohibiting the
commissioner of the general land office from holding
his office open on Sunday or any legal holiday, or
from performing official acts on those days. Neither
our constitution nor our civil statutes lay any such
restrictions upon the governor nor upon any of the
heads of the state departments, probably because Ft
might sometimes be necessa,ry for them to perform their
official functions on those days. Cur criminal
statute (Pen. Code 1895, art. 196) provides that any
person who shall ‘labor on Sunday’ shall be fined,
O-4915
,c.+,c ‘Labor ’ Is defined as follows: 'To exert
G.sEular strength; to exert one's strength with
;oainful effort, particularly in servile occupations,
to work; to toil,' Webst. Int. Dlct. 821. The
term as used In the criminal statutes does not
apply t0 an Officer 8ng8,ged in the performance of
his official duties. The common law did not ;z?ohibit
officers from doing ministerial acts on Sunday nor
on holi.days. It declared that Sundae was dies non
jurldicus, not a judicial or court day, but our
statute (Rev. St. 1895, art. 1180) has modifl& the
common law by simply declaring that 'no clvll suit
shall be comeaced., nor stf111 any civil i>rocess be
issued or served on Sunday, or any legal holiday,
except ln cases of injunction, attachment or seques-
tration'. This exce:?tlon operates as moS:if'ication
of that law, according to a wellknown rule uf' con-
struction. Under this statute It has been held
that a sale under execution and sheriff's deed
made on a legal holiday was valld~. Crabtree v.
Whlteselle, 65 Tex. 111. See, also, Railway Co. v.
Rardlng, 63 Tex. 162, where it was held ;>ro:Jer and
valid for a district court totry a cause on a legal
holiday. In Insurance Co. V. Shrader, 89 Tex. 35,
32 S.W. 872, 33 S.W. 112, 30 L.R.A. 492, 59 Am.
St. Rep. 25, it was held by our supreme court that
an application for writ of error received by the
clerk of this court on Sunday, and so lndorsed,
but not filed until Monday, must be considered as
filed on Sunday and valid. The reasoning of our
supreme court in the three cases cited leaves no
doubt in our minds that the application of lorter
to purchase section 58 in this case was not void
by reason of its being received and filed in the
general land office on Sunday, but was as valid ln
all respects as if received and filed on any other
clay In the week."
Under the Texas statutes every person subject to pay a
poll tax must pay said poll tax before the 1st day of February
next ;,recedlng the election In which they desire to vote. Art ic li?
2963, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes places a mandatory duty
unon the Tax Assessor-Collector to stamp on the face of any ‘solI.
to:: receipt Issued after Janua~ry 31st of any year the ?,i?rde '%ldsr
I!;2t Sntitled To Vote". Certainly this provision would be violated
w!,er12 the Tax Assessor-Collector Issued a poll tax receipt after
.TG:XGGY~31st without the notation thereon as prescribed by said
statute.
Honorable Ed Gunn, Page 4 o-4815
In view of the foregoing you are respectfully advised
that it is the opinion of this department that a poll tax
receipt bearing the date of January 31, 1943, would entitle
the holder thereof to vote, if not otherwise disqualified,
even though it was issued on Sunday. You are further advis&
that a poll tax receipt issued on Monday, February 1, 1943,
must be stamped by the Tax Assessor-Collector "Holder Not
Entitled To Vote", and that the holder thereof is not entitled
to vote.
With reference to property tax receipts you are advised
that the Tax Assessor-Collector can legally collect property tax
on or before January 31st, 1943, and issue his receipt therefor
without penalty. In other words property taxes are not delin-
quent until after January 31, 1943, that is property taxes for
the preceding year. On February 1, 1943, property taxes that are
unpaid become delinquent and the Assessor-Collector of taxes is
not authorized to collect said taxes and issue a receipt there-
for without the penalties, etc., as prescribed by statute.
Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry,
we are
Yours very truly
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
By s/ Ardell Williams
Ardell Williams
Assistant
AW:mp:wc
APPROVEDJAN. 9, 1.943
s/ Gerald C. Mann
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
Approved Opinion Committee By s/GWB Chairman