Case Information

*1 opinion No. v-598 Hon. Qene Maauin District Attorney McLennan County

Re: The authority of the Waco, Texas county clerk to charge

a fee for birth certl- ficates furnished the Waco State Rome.

Dear Sir:

Your request for an opinion is as follows: "Can the County Registrar of births charge the Waco State Home, which is a

State Institution, for birth certlficates which they must obtain on the children

who are committed to this home, an8 don- sequentlg war&s of the State of Texas?"

Youstate that it is the county clerk of MC- Lennan County who is furnishing the Waco State Rome cer- tifiea copies of birth certificates.

It was held in the case of Tobin v. Skaggs, 107 S,W.(2d) 677, that:

"The office of county clerk was not created, nor Is it maintained, for the

private gain Of perSOnS Occupyirig it from time to time. nor for the nuruose of rais-

ing revenues; except as fees iuas be col-

lected as an incident to its ooeration for public DtWDOSSS. (Emphasis added)

Rule 51a of Article 4477, V. C. S., authorizes the county clerk to Issue certified copies of birth cer- tificates and collect a fee of fifty cents for such ser- vice. We quote the following from Rule 51a:

,I . . . Certified copies of said b~irth or death certificate shall be issued by

either the County Clerk or the State Regis- trar and fee for said certified copy shall

. .

Hon. Gene Maddln, page 2 (V-598)

be fifty cents (504). . .'

Since there Is' no provision in the rule above quoted which would exempt the Waco State Home from the payment of the fee due the county clerk, the question for our determination is whether a county office may collect a statutory fee. from a state agency. In this connection we quote the following from Attorney Gen- eral's Opinion No. 0-783:

"It will be noticed that the langu- age of these statutes concerning who shall pay these charges is very plain and manda- tory, and that it is all inclusive. Art- icle 58 provides that 'all applicants

shall pay13 and ArticleT provides thit' l 'before x cotton seed breeder or cotton seed grower is registered . . . he or it shall agree in writing to pay.'

"We are, not unmindful of the rule and the departmental construction in many cases to the effect that ordinarily one

state department cannotcharge another

state department a See because to do so

would amount to the state taking money

out of one pocket and putting it into

another; but in this particular case un- der consideration we think the statute

shows that it was intended by the legis- lature that passed it that every one, in- cluding state departments and agencies, should pay for this work of cotton field inspection when they request it and it

is done for their benefit.

'Our answer to your inquiry is that the Department of Agriculture should col- lect the application and inspection fees and charges for services performed,under the Field Seed Certification law (Artl-

cles 56 to 67, inc., R. C. S.) SOP other fnclud- State departments and agencies, ing Texas Technological College.

It way held in Opinion Ho. i-589, dated May 26, 1948, that 'the State Registrar Is required to col- lect a fee of fifty cents for all csirtified copies of *3 Hon. Gene Maddin, page 3 (V-598)

birth and death certificates from all persons or agen- ties requesting same,except those persons or agencies specifically exempt from the payment of such fee unde3; the provisions of Rule 54a, of Article 4477, V. C. S.

A copy of that opinion la enclosed.

In view of the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that the county clerk is required to collect a fee dflfty cents for each certified copy of a birth certificate furnished the Waco State Rome.

The county clerk is required to col- lect a fee of fifty cents for each certl- Sied copy of a birth certificate furnished the Waco State Home. R.51a,Art.4477,V.C.S.

Yours very truly, ATTORREY GENERAL OF TEXAS JR:mw