Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF q-R-G AUSTIN

Honorab-r Uneet @ainn Attorner, Pl Par0 County

County iI1 Panti, Texar Your letter of De06 uestiag the opinion of thlr department on’the themia reads,

0 or the re- u al60 please advise ou whothor or tlfioster lamed by Dootorr outelds Teraa are aoooptable. Pmthermore, are signed by amy Dootor'~, where medioel oertitioatw who are at posta ln the Stat. of Texas, but act re- gistered phgsloianm Stat0 of %xae, am they acceptable to the County Clerk? This is very lm- portant, since there are thousand@ of aoldlsrs ap- plying for marriage llaeases mtiy of them brine iaedioal certifioatos iseued by their army physiolans. *2 “i$S a praoticsl matter, wo ballere thet es*- Doatora residing within tlfloatea laauad by am ff the-Stats should bs aooaptabla, but a mcra aSriouS

QueStion la preaantod when the OartlflaSte IS la-

mad by a Dootor sow time prior t0 the SppllcS-

tion for S llaoneo, IS aonw other Stats or even

some other couatq. iSSUsd la SOmS

“Thaw *,uaat~lon of Sartlildstaa other oouatry ariaea~by virtue o? persona SeSkiW

to obtala oertlfioatea for porforlrmO8 of Proxy

Iprrrlagaa. Of oouraa, 18 aat interested

l la the puaatlon of proxy lParrlage8 but oaly la por-

Sorming his duty la laaulng lloanaSa. Tha oath ra-

qalred to ba takoa awaora that’thara la no lagal

objeotloa to tha pertorimmoa oi the merrlaga. Of IS the proxy marriage

ocmraa, lllegl, the oath

oould aot bo algaad and the nmrrlaga lloenaa-should

not ba laauad. If la ,our owa opinion that proxy

amrlagaa aro not ra1f.d la thla Stats. Ii the At-

torney General deems it propar 0n6 is818 it 18

oloaely anotigh related to tha duty or the Clerk iaauaaoe Oi lloOnaaa, I would aQpraOiata his

in the OQlalOa oa this queatloa so that our Clerk may be

aided aooordfagly.*

&tlolo 46040, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Gtatutee, roads as rollo*ar

*Beion the County Olerk shall laaua any Plarrlaga lloanaa the bun ShSll odoca a oSrtltl-

Oats i&mu S reputablS:licSnaad lyalolan to whew F that ha la iroo tror aU roao~aal dlaaasaa.a ton$olnfg tatu~f~praaorlbaa no It nil1 be noted tim6 that tho oortlrioato rrom a ro*PJt'ciblo iieaaaad phyaiolin thS purpoas ,& ~issufn& e Amiags shall remain valid llosase,.

%MrSUy S~akfn8~ WhSa a statute, prSaOrlbS8 ~0~) tlm within whloh SS aot muet bo dono, than bha sot should ba dona within S maon- able time.

What is a reaaoaabla time wfthia whloh an sot must be done ordlnar$ly iwan so muoh tia@ as la naoaaaary, under. the oi.roum- StanOeS, whet the dutiaa raqulra IS tha partloular SSSS. (See Words and Phraeea, Per& Ed., Vol. 6, page' 376). &Sted mother

I *3 way, reaaonsbla tLno la auoh pro.qtltuda as the sltu.:rtion of the and the oiroumtanaaa of the ease will allow. It never pnrtlaa olBsna an lndulgenao

in unneoeaasry delay or In delay ocoaaloned by vain and frultleaa effort to do tho aot required. (See Fronoh v, Lewis, 218 Pa. 141, 11 L. R. A. 948, N. S.)

In ~SWC~ to your first question, you are advised thtlt it is out opinion that the oertlflosta from a reputable and licensed phyelolsn remains vslld the purp6so of issuing a marriage 46040, aupra, rot a reaaonnble letqth of lloanaa under Artlclo time after the phyalolan has iseued auoh oertlfloate~

The phyalolaa making the 04rtlflaate must, under the terms be ‘reputable” of tho atntuta, and “licensed.” In the abaenaa Texas does not reoo(pllaa the 0s apeolal leglalatlve authority, of phyalolana under the law of another l.ioanalng and reglatering Stats. The only phyalolana permitted to praotlce medlolna in this 3tate without der the lirat obtaining s llaenso aad reglaterlng un- laws of thie State are those phyaloisna apeolfioally exempt from suoh registration as provided by Artiole 4504, Ver- non’s Annotated Civil Stotuteo. Therefore, the physloien re- 46040, aupra, oould only man a physloian ferrod to in Article who la licensed in ‘and who prsotloaa medloine in the Strite or Texas, or ono who la apeoifloally exempt from suoh license and registration under Artlclo 4504, l upre.

It la our oplnloa oartlfloatea issued by .phyalolrlna and praotlolng within tho State oi Texas who two not lloenaad aro not aooeptablo under UtlOle 46040. In other words, ba- fore the oertffloate la seaeptablo to the Coun$g Clerk, auoh phyalolan must be lloenaed in an4 oaa who practloea madlolna the Stata of Texaa,~ or on0 who is l poolfloally xaapt from auoh lioanaa raglatratloa under iatlolo 4504. In tier of the fore~oln6, la our oplnlon that Army doctors who ero at a in tha Stats of Texas, but aot registered phyalofana the Stats of Texas, are authorfxod laaua oartlfl~atoa under wrtlola 46040.

In view of what &a boon heretofore said, we damm it ua- aeooaaary to express anp~ opinion proxy aarrlages. regarding

khea the County Clark La oogalzant the oertfflcate haa baaa iaeuod by a reptabla lloeaaad phfaiolan who la raglatered and praotlolng madlolno in this Ststo, or by en &my doctor who lg

,t . in thlr 3tuto, hl8 inquiry is ended. Nowhero doaa

I Leglrlaturs authorize, O? roqulro, go beyond AOO~rdln&lT, ii ,,br crrtifloato itself. the omtifiaata be :irrued by a rrputable llOennr@d phy8lolan who ia regietrred

'ad lioenaed to practioe nedioina in this Stat., or by an km dootor who ie situated on l goat thlcl Stata, and if #it oertifler applioant ior 8uoh lloen6e 18 *free from iall remreal diaraaer* if the other rtatutory raquira1IPrntr

b0 IEd, is the duty Or the Clerk to forthwfth i,,a,Je the j uoonD@.

Toure very truly ATMFWX GENERAL OF TEXAS Ardell William Assistant j,FFF.@VEL;DEC 23, 1943