Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

E NEW GENE
XAS
Honorable Glen Aaron, Jr. Opinion No. M-771
County Attorney
Tom Green County Courthouse Re: Whether one who is granted
San Angelo, Texas 76901 an occupational driver’s
license under Article 6687b
is entitled also to receive
the return of his automobile
registration receipts and
Dear Mr. Aaron: license plates.
You have recently requested an opinion of this office which
reads as follows:
“Is an individual who is granted an occupational
driver’s license under Section 23A, Article 6687b,
Vernon’s Civil Statutes, as amended, entitled also
to receive the return of his automobile registration
receipt and license plates ? ”
Section 23A, Article 6687b, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, reads as follows:
“(a) Any person whose license has been suspended
for causes other than physical or mental disability
or impairment may file with the judge of the district
court having jurisdiction within the county of his
residence, a verified petition setting forth in de-
tail an essential need for operating a motor vehi-
cle in the performance of his occupation or trade.
The hearing on the petition may be ex parte in
nature. The judge hearing the petition shall enter
an order either finding that no essential need exists
for the operating of a motor vehicle in the performance
of the occupation or trade of the petitioner or enter
an order finding an essential need for operating
a motor vehicle in the performance of the occupation
or trade of the petitioner. In the event the judge enters
-3758-
Honorable Glen Aaron, Jr., page 2 (M-771)
the order finding an essential need as set out herein,
he shall also, as part of such finding, determine the
actual need of the petitioner in operating a motor
vehicle in his occupation or trade and shall restrict
the use of the motor vehicle to the petitioner’s actual
occupation or trade and the right to drive to and from
the place of employment of the .petitioner, and shall
require the petitioner to give proof of a valid policy
of automobile liability insurance in accordance with
the provisions of the Texas Safety Responsibility
Law, Article 6701h, Vernon’s Annotated Texas Sta-
tutes . Such restrictions shall be definite as to
hours of the day, days of the week, type of occu-
pation and areas or routes of travel to be permit-
ted, except that in any event the petitioner shall not
be allowed to operate a motor vehicle more than
ten (10) hours in any twenty-four (24) consecutive
hours. Unless further extended at the disc+,etion,
of the District court, orders entered by such court
shall extend for a period of twelve (12) months or
less from the date of the original suspension. A
certified copy of the petition and the court order
setting out the judge’s finding and the restrictions
shall be forwarded to the Department.
“(b) Upon receipt of the court order set out
in (a) above and after compliance with the provi-
sions of the Texas Safety Responsibility Law,
Article 6701h, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, the
Department shall issue an occupational license,
showing on its face the restrictions set out in the
order of the court.
“(c) Any person who violated the restrictions
on his occupational license shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall
be punished in the same manner as one convicted
of driving a motor vehicle while license is sus-
pended, and such occupational license shall be
automatically cancelled. ”
-3759-
Honorable Glen Aaron, Jr., page 3 (M-771)
We find no decision of an appellate court construing this
Article relative to the fact situation under consideration. This
Section 23A provides for the granting of an occupational driver’s
license only where essential need is shown to drive a motor vehicle
in the actual performance of a person’s trade or business. No
clear language in the Section speaks with reference to the restora-
tion of the license plates and the registration receipts of the indivi-
dual to whom the occupational driver’s license is granted.
We are aware of the case of Ex Pare Saltel; 452 S.W.2d
711 (Tex. Civ. App. 1970, error ref. ). While statements therein
are to the effect that a court may, under certain conditions, author-
ize one to whom an occupational license was granted to drive to
and from the place of his employment, the court did not actually
pass upon either the granting or denial of that right, or the right
to receive back for his use the license plates and the registration
receipts covering his motor vehicle which had been taken from
him incident to forfeiture of his driving privilege.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the administrative
agency charged with the enforcement of the vehicle licensing laws,
has consistently and uniformly construed Section 23A as not author-
izing automatically the return of licence plates and registration
papers upon the granting of an occupational driver’s license. While
neither the Attorney General nor the courts are bound to follow a
departmental construction of an ambiguous statute, both the Attorney
General and the courts will ordinarily uphold such a construction
where it is reasonable. 53 Tex. Jur. 2d 259, Statutes, Sec. 177,
and cases cited therein.
It is, therefore, our opinion that one who is granted an
occupational driver’s license under Section 23A, Article 6687b, is
not entitled automatically thereby to receive his automobile regi,s-
stration receipts and license plates.
-3760-
Honorable Glen Aaron, page 4 (M-771)
SUMMARY
One who is granted an occupational driver’s license
under Section 23A, Article 6687, Vernon’s Civil Statutes,
is not entitled, automatically, to receive the return of
his automobile registration receipts and license plates.
/,
You& very truly,
/ <
G
if& MARTIN
General of Texas
Prepared by Lenny F. Zwiener
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMIT TEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman
W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman
Roger Tyler
Charles Parrett
Dick Chote
Melvin Corley
MEADE F. GRIFFIN
Staff Legal Assistant
ALFRED WALKER
Executive Assistant
NOLA WHITE
First Assistant Attorney General
-3761-