Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Honorable Earry Nor, Chaiman
State Soard of Control Texas
Auetln,
Dear Sir:
with t&o bon
civil Statutes,: 1925, derin- d to the State Tuberculosis with tuberbulosis who citizena of this State end of vrhioh he or she co.xea at the of: their azplication with the hsrelnaftcr provide&, shall snid institutions. A citizen is defined to ba 6113 person who 13 resided therein with the bona tide intention of being a citizen thereof for e period of txslve months next preceding the date of suoh aypllcotion.n
Xe undarstaad thet in the nd.z.inistratlon of the ict a .queetlon h&n Seen raised a~ to whether nn alien rssic?ent Wt born or caturaiized ia the United States, may be ad.aitted *2 hoonorable Barry Knox, ifage i?
to the fnetitution.
The term ~~ofti?ml", like "rdsidence* lind "domicile* 18 not alkays casgblrr or precise definition, but my dir- ftrent circumstances be used in different sensea. The fol- losin Snalysis ia found in 14 C. J. ii., 2. 1127: *It La not R term of exact naaning; than one, and has
is cap ble of xora zmnings baen variously defined. In its primary sense it si@af~ies oae,who ia vzsted with the freedom and priVile@?S Of A City, a f?X?t?Ma Of A city, fro3 a foreii;oert or one not as distingpiahed antitlod to its frmchises; an inhabitant of a city, A tov2nsman. In 61 impax samis, the t .orm denote8 om nho, as A zznbar Of A Wition or Of a body poiftic of A sovereign state, 0~s alle- giance to, and may claim raciarocal protection f rOEI, f t S ~,~QXZL%?Jlt ; Ernd it ia 8oxEtimQas ae- tine& 68 onfm wh3 is do.niciled in a country, and who is a citizen, although neither native nor naturalized, 1.n such A senst, that ha takea his legi1 status from such conntry. .* .w * -In A32arican Law ‘citizen’ ,is PATiOus
defined a8 one who haa a right'to iote for re~reseatntion in congress and other ,publia olficore, and who is qualified to fill oflices within ths gift 02~ the people; one OS the sov- ereign gsople; a constituent mamber of the sov- ereignty, s~nonymue with ths people; A xmbsr of tha oivil state, entitled to all its ?rivileF;es; born within the United Sates, or tree inhabitnnt naturalized under the Lsrs of conl;rcan; in a one who has the ri&ts and priv- sense, polltlcal ileges of a citizen of A state or of the United Gtatos.
*The particular meaninS of the rord *cit.lxen~ depandsnt on the context In Ahich is Sraquantly it ia iound, and the rrord eiust 01~zyys be takea in the sense which best harmonizes with the subject mtter in which it is used. Une my ba considered a aitizen for 00za yurpooos and not a clt,izon for Other 2urpoaes, as, for instance, ior commercial nnd not for political pur;:osoe. WX~O.%S) There is some confusion in le& nomenclature, in resgcct of the tor;;?s loitizsn*, * inbabitantV , *3 fbnorable’ Harry Knox, Page 3
a0a *msihnt.* 'Citizen' ia not neceasarilg synonymus ore a~,coavertiblc tern,, with *In- habltont’ Gr"rH3idont', an& ill 50x8 Caael3 the ai5tiuCtiOu iS fKZ;3Gd.CZt. 'Citizen is, usea S~Gtlj?XJZiSly with however ( soPetlrnes such term without eny inglioatton of political or civil grivilegsa. It nay indicate e ger- gDnent reaiaCnt, or ona who renalne r0r a timI, or fro3 ttiae to tim.” has $ivcn a parti-
The Legislrtture io this iastanoe euler deiinition to the tern *citizean in the statute. Airs &efrneQ in krticlo 3240 it depends upon aCtu%l rcsideaoe v;ithin the state for a period of twelve goutho next preceding th0 aatn of aapliontioa coupled with the bona fide ictetition of “baing 9 citizsnb of the state. . It ~A11 be noted that Article 3240 does not provide for a bona fid3 intention to becom a oitizan, but of beins a oftizan. Ordinarily atze ‘aLtfzu5~hip cont~~plntes menshlg in the mt5a Ztstes, by birth or haturalkation, on’l of the state by dmicile or resideace. Evidently the Legialaturc dlrf not have aliens in mind G~sn enacting this Hxitute, but ~35 macerued with estab- liahing a rosi&mce requiremst which would probably be xor’o or less pamanent In it3 character. ft is apparent that the purgo%e of i;ha liaitatlon is to erafet;uard G@OS t .s!i&mition iato the state in order to necure tha benefits provided, aad to deny adtittsnce tr, transient persons who ZBY be within the state only teqmarily.
Two inplications away be drawn fro= the lene-aage usea. It nay be reasombly contended that eiriCQ Citixne Of’ tha iJnlted States obtain etate citizenshi> by residence slth- ic th0 state, the definition pr6-33~;~0363 t%‘iited lit%t05 Citi- re~hig and only attmgts glaos a restriction u?on the per- iod of actual renidcaoe within the statu of cltizess of the baited States nho coz into ycruf3 froi3 other st:~tco or r0dgn countries. On the other bend, it my be ur;;ed with 3~~31 foroe that the L&slnture did not have in r;icd aliens and Old not intend to exclu%e aliens who are do;sioflad here, or of the state, but set a rcini.vU% *ho are per;anent j.nttbitnnts Fsriod cf resiCsnce within the state nccm~anie~ by the bGnZ this m3entn~ tha’bem “clti- ride intention to remtn. Givm Zen” would not ba used in the sense of iqlyiut$ poLitiOa1 cllagiaace, or aitizetshi? its stricter sense, but us 1kLting the faoiiities of the LanatoriU t0 pePZEmeat ia- hbitents of tha state.
ConsiQcrinS the subject mtt0r tind pIZ:)cJS3 Of th3 *4 monorable Ifarrp Knox, ?age 4
rbicb nay be tranmitted fro li one person to another and its control and prevention haa been 8 source of much research ona effort for a nunbsr Of years. ?'hilo the patient suffer- iug 1x03 tuberculosis rcceivea fl paculi~ benefit at the bands of the state throu&~ tha m3dl.u~~ of the L;anatorlun, the ostablishmnt of EliCh an institution [13] also a publio health neasurc designed to banefit the public generally by eradication of the disease and the prevention of its trsns- liesion to 'others. ';:e think the .wr6 reaaonable construc- tion is that the Legislature in defining the mrd *citizen* did not intend to oohfiae it to its political or narrower ,~ax~izkg, but eas atteqtlng set up a standard of ectual xcsidenoe and iqtsntion so a8 to exclude those ?eroona who would probably not be pomanent inhzzbltknta of ths state. ft is also noted t&t Article 4242, Eevised Civil Xatutos, 1025, which grovfdos for the a>~licatJon, requires that rdow age, nativity, and residence of :,atient for two years next preceding th2 date of the a??lication, but mice8 30 inquiry concerning present citizenship, naturalization or otbsr intorxuition of this nature.
.It i3 our opinion that P parson afflicted with tuberaulosia, not born in Texas, who has resided in Texoa for more than three years, with the bona fide inteution of .beicg a oitfzn thereof, zay be udzitted to the State Tubercu- i;m&s Sanatoriaa under ArtitQo 3240, i&vised Civil Statutes,
.
In anewer to yo*ur secohd question, i,t is hour opinion fhat a bone fide intention to ostsbliah a domioilo in Texas an6 becozo an inhabitant thereof, constitutes the intention Cohtezplatsd within iha 3E:aaing of hrticlc 3240, T&vised Civil Statute&, 1925.
Pcurs very tmlg ATl’OX?hY OZX’EiXL 03’ TZXtiS