Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSYIN
Eon. WI K. YraQlaln
CriminaL Dlsbriat Attorney
Nllliamaon county
Gaorgetown, Texas
Dear Sir:
Oglnion No. O-2022 n aessaty ror a person ed Federal liaanea'to th the Ccuumlssloner of ba approved by him or $lOOOg and in this is 5.t naaaesary for him e Gommlssioner the $5.00 giatered as a PubI. Dot-
receipt of your Letter of opinion of this department alPan's Civil Annotated Statutea, efining aOttOd elassera, All 6 State, who #hall hareaf'ter T the publla, or who shall or aause to be issued, a re- oeipt ar tiaket for Q&ton, and plaaa on said tialrrat ,tha grade of said aotton, whl&h said tiokat la intendad Sor tha usa of the publfa In being and selling said aotton, shall be known as Publio Ootton Olassera and bafora *2 Aon, W. I(. MoClain, Page 2
entering upon suah duties, shall ocmply with the provision 8 of this Aot. After oomplying with said provisions, such Claasers ahall be known aa Regiatered Public Cotton Glasaera.
Claaaers as herein referred to shall inolude every peraon, or persons vrhc shall grade or staple ootton.
"Sea. 2. Qualifioations, All Fublio Cot- ton Olaaaera shall ~Surtiish evidence OS their good moral oharaoter, and, aa evidanoe of their qualifioations as Cotton Olasaera, they shall be required to obtain from tne Secretary of Agriodtur8 of the United States, a lioense to grade or staple aotton and to oertify the grade and staple thereof in aooordanoe with the orfioial Gotton standards of the United States Cotton Standards Aot, and Pile with the Commissioner of Agrioulture of this State, hare- after oalled the *Commissioner* a duplioato thereof.
wSea, 3. Bond. Before any auoh licensee shall issue a certifloats of olasSiSioation in this State, except as provided in United States Cotton Standards Aot, he shall tile a bond with the Commissioner to be approved by him, in the sum of One Thousand ($l,OOO.OO) Dollars, whioh bond shall be ao oonditioned as to bind its nmk- er and his sureties to guarantee as approximately oorreot, hia work in olasaing and stapling ootton. It shall alao bind the maker and hia sureties to promptly indemnify any person who may sustajn Sinanoialloaa by reason OS any false olass or staple he may make or by reason OS any untrue or mialaading oertifloate issued by him or under his authority, with intent to defraud. Suoh bonds shall be payable to the state of Texas Sor the use and benefit OS any person or persons who may be dainanged by the breaoh its oonditions, but it shall not be neoessary to join the State in any suit on any suoh bond, the venue OS auoh ault on any suoh bond shall be that of the general venue by suit or otherwise, the Commissioner nmy, by *3 Hon. W, K. Page 3 IhoClaln,
written notioe to the maker, require suoh im- pairments to be made good. IS any suoh impair- ment is not made good, to the satisfactionof the Commissioner, within a reasonable time after notioe,whiohtilte shall in no event, exceed thirty (30) days, auoh bond shall be- oome null and void.
wSeoI 4. Raoh Public Cotton Classer in this State shall keep a oomplete rsoord of oot- ton classed and for whom olaaaed, in a ,i:ell bound book, and shall issue a oertifioate to each person showing the olasa and other grade of the ootton classed by him. He shall also keep on hand, a set of the Unised States Stand- ards or grades and staples and his books, reoords and standards shall be open to inspeo- tion of the public at all reasonable hours.
T3eo. 5. Berm 0s reoelpts ana reooras. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to presorlbe all forms of reoeipts, oertifioates and reoords of vihatever desoription neoessary, but all suoh reoeipts, oertiiioates and forms shall be drawn in oomplainoe with t&is Aot.
He shall presoribe suoh rules and regulations as he shall deem proper, not in oonfliot with any provisions hereof. The Oommiaaioner shall have power and authorlty and it shall be his duty to enforce the provisions of this Aot,
"sea, 6. Feea. Before any Pub110 Cotton Classer is registered under this law, he shall gilg;r to the Commissioner a-fee of Five ($5.00)
said See shall be paia annually elong with td renewal of his said bond,. suoh See to be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the general revenue.
"S80. 7. Risht. All Registered Public Cotton Olassers shall have the right, at any .
time within this State, to engsge in the busi- ness of Publio Cotton Classers and ehall be au- thorized to olass and staple ootton generally, and to oharge for their aervioesI A oertiSioate *4 Hon. W. K. MaDlain, Page 4
of alaeaifiaation of aotton issued by any per- son or persons under authority of this Act, shall be aaaepted in all the aourts of this State, as prinm faoie evldenae of the facts stated therein.
"Sec. 8, Rights to olass own cotton. This Aot shall not affect the right of anyone to olass his own aotton or of any ootton buyer or other person to class cotton purchased by him for himself, or purchased for another, but applies to all other persons who engage in the business of olaesing cotton for the public or of Issuing reoeipts and tickets therefor with the grade thereon, for the use of the public, a3 herein above provided,
Y5eo. 11. Collections and appropriat5ons. All moneys so collected shall be paid over by the Commissioner 60 the State Troasurer and shall be placed in the General Fun6 of the ' State aw
The penalty provided for the faibure to oomply with Article 5679a, supra, is found lnthe Penal Code as Artiale 1027a whiah reabs, in part, as fo&lows:
Wereaftei? no person shall be permitted to engage in the business a8 Publio Catton Classer, classing and stapling ootton for the publio or issuing reoeipts and tiokets there- for, wjth.the grade thereon, for the use of the publio, a8 herein above provided, without oom- plying with the provisions of this Aot. Any one violating any of the provisions of. this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a mledemaanor and upon oonviation, shall be punished'by a fine in any sum not less than Twenty-Five ($25.00) Do;p;;, and not more than Two Hundred ($200.00)
.
" I, . . . Sections 51a, 5ib, 53 and 60 of the Cotton Standard Aot, oh. 2, title 7, U.S.C.A., read a8 follows: *5 Hon. ‘iJ. K. Raglain, Page 5
"8, 51a. KX?E:X!jION OF CLMSPIC~~TIiN FACILITIES TO COTTON GROKERS
The Secretary of Agrioulture 18 requested to extend to cotton growero fooilities for the classification of ootton authorized in this ohapter, with such supervision of lioensed alansifiers as ho shall deem neaesaary under authority of chapter 14 of Title 2.0,"
Further to carry out the purposes of this ohapter the Secretary Agriculture is author- ized to issue to any qualified pere!on, upon presen- tation 0r satisfactory evidence of oompetency, a license to sample cotton. Any suoh license may be suspended or revoked by the Seoretary of Agri- culture v?henever he is satisfied that such lioensee is inoompetent or hae knowingly or carelessly sampled cotton iproperly, or has violated any pro- vision of said ohapter or the regulations thereunder so far as the same may relate to him, or has used his license, or allowed it to be used, for any improper purpo 90, The Searetary of Agrioulture may prescribe by regulation the oonditions under whioh licenses majr be issued hereunder, and may require any licennod sampler to give ‘bond for the faithful performenoe of his dukies akld for the protection of p,ersons af- fected thereby and i::.y presaribe the oonditions under which ootton shall be sampled by licensed samplers for the purpose of olasslfic~iticn by offioers of the Department of Agrioultufe, or by liaensed aotton alas- sifiers.n
n8 53. LICENSING CLASSIFIXR~; REVOCATICJN ARD SW- PKK319N OF, LZXRSE
The Searetary of Agriculture may, upon presen- tation of satisfaotory evidence of competency, issue to any person a lioenee to grade or otherwise claasi- fy cotton and to oertifioate the grade or other olass thereof in aocordamoe with the offioial ootton standards of the United States. any such lioense may be sus,pended or revoked by the Setiretary of Agrioulture whenever he is satisfied, after reasonable opportunity afforded to the licensee for a hearing, that suah liC0nS6e is in- competent orhas knowingly or oareleesly olae8ified ootton improperly, or has violated any provision of this ohapter or the regulations thereunder 30%~ as the same may relate to him, or has used his liaense or al- lowed it to be used for any improper purpose. Pending *6 Hon. Vi. II. McClati, Page 6
investigation the Secretary of Agriaulture, whenever he deems neaessary, may suspend a lioense tompornrily wlthcut a hearinS."
*,8 60. PENALTILS FOR VIOLATICiN
(a) Any person who shall knowingly violate any rovisix of seotionn 52 or 59 of this ehapts;, or P b) any person licensed uner this ahapter who, for the purposes of or in acnneation with any transaation or shipment in aommeroe, shall knovringly olassify cotion improperly, or shall knowingly falsify or force any oertifioate of classifioztion, or shall aooept money or other consideration, either directly OS Indireo~Lly, for any neglect or improper performanac of duty as such licensee, or (c) any person who shall k~owi:zSly influence improperly or attempt to influence improperly any person licensed under this chapter inths performx~oe of his dutlea as suoh liosnseo relating to any transaatlon or shipment in commeraa, or ((I) :Iny person who shall foroibly assault, resiSt, iP?pQ,de, or interfere with or influence improperly or attempt to influsnoe improperly any person employed under this chapter inthe performanus of his duties, shall, upon conviotion thereof, be deemed guilty o? a misdemeanor and shall be fined not exoeed- ing $1 000, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both, in the disaretiQn of the oourt."
The penalty set out in 8 60, supra, applies to vio- lation under the Federal Cotton Standard Aot and has no appli- aation to offenses o'ommitted under the State Aat regulating publio ootton classers. Likewise, the penalty provided for the failure to o.mply with Artiole 5679a, supra, does not ap- ply to offenses aommitted under the Federal CoLton Standards Aot, but applies only to offenses oommittad under the State Act.
Section 2 of Article 5679a, supra, speoifioally provides:
*All Public Cotton Classers shall furnish evidenoe their good moral character, and, as evidenae of their qualific;ltiuna as Cotton Classors, thoy shall be required to obtain from the Secretsry of Agriaulture of the United StatQs, a liosnse to grade or staple ootton and to oertify the grade and staple thereof in aooordanoe with the official cot- ton standards of the United~States Cotton Standards Act, . . .,"
Hon. W. K. MoClain, Page 7
therefore, your first questivn is respectfully answered in the affirmative.
aeotion [3] of ArLPIUfCle 5G79a, supra, SpeCifiOSlly providesa
"Before any suoh lioensee shall issue a cer- tificate of claaoifia~tion in this State, except as provided in United States Cotton Standards Act, he shall fils a bond xiih the Commissioner to be ap- prov;:d 8y him, inthe sum One Thousand ($l,OOO.OO) Dollars, . . . n
Seotisn G of the above mentioned Aat specifiaally provides, that:
"Defore any Publio Cotton Claa33r is ro@s- tored under this Law, he nhail pay over to the Commissizner a fee of Five (@.OC) Dollars, said fee shall be paid annually alone with the renewal of his said bend, suoh fee to be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the general revenue."
In view of the foregoing statutes you are respeat- fully advised that it is the opinion of thls department that your seoond question should be answered in the affirmative and is so answered,
Trusting that we have adequately answered your in- quiries, we remain
Youra very truly ATTORhTEY GENERAL OF TEXAS By (S) Ardell Williams Ardell Williams Assistant APPROVED MAR 9, 1940
(S) Gerald C. Mann APEROVED ATTORXEY G&NMAL OF Ti!XAS Opinion Committee By BiiIB Chairman