Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

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OFFICE OFTHEAT?'ORNEY~GENERALOFTEXA$~
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.
_'.. AUSTIN
,: .
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4-o.MUWN
~noauT-
. ..RonorebleWill IA``J RIchardson
Asslstont Seoretarp: or state
Austin, Texan.
I’
.
se lcake avail-
er ArElO1.e 5949
of the Rev ended dealing
ntin,g notaries 'at this ..
ersona .to wrlta tom
ntnent.c. Xs then noti-
not feal that It would be tog the best
interest of the public lf we did. give out eueh ti
list ~8 It wuld be aontuainp; to s great many pop-.
sons who would amme that any person so named was
already e aotary public.
gonorable Vi’ill l%nn Riohardaon, Page 2
The eOrpOratlOn steten speoifiically that
the only reason they wish this informtim 10 in
order that it rap write to those pereons. slid try
to obteln the business of furnishing 6 notary bond.
VCe 60 not feel that that I.8 sufticlefit reason for
giving out thlo lnfomatlon or allowlnt: the aur-
poretion aaeess to our reaorda to compile such e
. llat.
'. @We would sppreolate an opinion from your Co-
partnent as to ðer our reeords should be open
to the bonding eoslgmiy before ths notary quelffi- .
oation has been kompleted.w
Article 5949, Vernonva Annotated Civil Stetutes,
reads:
"The Foaretary ot State of the Etete of Texes
shell appoint a ooryenient number of notarios pub-
lie for egoh cour.ty. Uotaries publlo zey be ep-
pointed at any ~tlm, but the terns of .ell notaries
pub110 shall end on June 1st of eaoh odd numbered
To be elle;ible.for appolntroent a8 notary
g%o 6 pereon.shell be at least t\;-enty-one(21)
years of age and a resident of the county for whloh
he 1s ap op;ea. ‘(+I emelided Acts 1939, 66th Leg.,.
PO 498, ii . ”
..
Nothing la found iu. Title 99 of whloh the above
Article la a pert tilch ne&r;s,a list of notaries pabllo ap-
polnteea a pub110 record. ``iiragrsph$i of drtiale 4331, Ver-
non’s Annotated Civil Ftetutcs, makes it the duty of the
Cemetery of Sate to “keep in a separate suitable book a
aomplete reglater of all the oifioers eppolnted or elected~
in this Ftete, and oomisslon then when not otherwise pro-
vided by law.” A notary public has been held to be e publlo.
officer. 20 Rawle c. L. 226. Eenoe we believe it to be the
duty of the Fearetary.of State to prepare and keep a l.ist
of all notaries publlo. One I.8 not a notary publia nor a.
public oftioer, ho’riever,until he heo, pursuant to his ap-
pointazent, taken his oath, ereouted bond ezd been granted
his c~lasion end the Seoretery of State viould -not be re-
quired to prepare his list until the oomplotlon of the pm-~
088s of quallfioation.
I
Ronorable Nil K&n Richardson, Rage 3
i
.
After the oompletion of the tiotary’s quelirioation '.
the Seoretary of State is required by Artiale 5950, Vernon’s
Annotated Civil LPtatutes, to prepare and "furnish eaoh.oounty
clerk e printed list of all notaries publio so appointed and
qualified; th-t said olcrk shall preaoxve soid list for publio .-
inspection and post a copy thercof on the oou.rthouss doorw.
There ia no statute giving any person tha r&ht to
reqoire you to furnish them a list OP the sppointaes nor none
girin& members of the.publio the right of inspeotlon. A oare-
ful ccnsideratlon of the authorities, hoqevcr, would lead us .'
to the conclusion that the publio would have a right ot aom-
man law to require a list to be .fL-nlshed or to Mike reason-
able inspeotion of such rooordo., Such line of oases could not
here govern, however, bccouse you stat8 thet you havenot yet
received your foe in many ~8900 and have ‘not issued oomtissions;
that your reoorda nro not so arron@d as to anablcyou to fur-
nish a list ol those who have been appointed but.not yet quali-
fied. Such state of tar%?, being %su~, you could not be oom- '.
pelled to furnish souething not yet available. ~,
‘It. is our opinion that you ode not bo required to "
rurnlsh'the information requastcd by applicant,nor to permit
their cpm~s to exsnine and prepare lists'froa yolrinoompletcd
files if, In tha exercise of your discretion, you should oon-
elude that suoh would interfere with the orderly exc~oution
or your dutios.
Sour6 yery truly
Ai3?ORlCt? GI?lB?& OF TliXAS
BY d
‘&
. Lloyd - Amstrong
Assl etant
LA:l?lp