This will acknowledge receipt of your recent request for our opinion as stated above.

It appears that following the passage of Section 9 of House Bill 336, Acts of the Party-seeond Legislature, Chapter 282, page 507 (Article 827a, Section 9, Vernon's Annotated Criminal Statutes), this department rendered an opinion on December 31, 1932, written by Assistant Attorney General T. S. Christopher, holding that the words "approved, Texas Highway Department" must be stamped upon the glass, rather than upon any other part of the reflector.

The applicable part of the statute cited reads as

"ENrlectors herein referred to must be approved by the Department as to specifications before they can be lawfully used on a vehicle, and it shall be unlawful and constitute a misdemeanor to use a reflector on a motor vehicle unless it has been approved by the Department, and such approval by the Department shall be firmly affixed to such reflector." (Emphasis ours.)

You state that since the opinion of Mr. Christopher was written, the use of button type reflectors has become prevalent and that it would be impossible to place the ap-

*2 Honorable Homer Gerrison, page 2 proval on the glass of this kind of reflector. Under these circunstances you ask whether it would be permissible for the approval of reflectors to be atamped on the metal flange of the reflector instead of the glass.

Since assignment of your opinion request, we have had occasion to examine descriptive literature of the various types of reflectors and to inspect several of them. Some manufacturers of button reflectors have encased the glass in frames so substantially made it appears impossible that the glass part be removed, except by breaking the glass or destroying the frame. If the reflectors otherwise meet the tests of the Texas Highway Department, we see no good reason why the foregoing provision of the statute would prevent the approval being atamped on the metal flange, rather than on the glass itself. The intent of the Legislature was doubtless to prevent the sale and use of inferior and inadequate reflectors. The protection and safety of the traveling public was the paramount consideration. If the glass be firmly attached to the metal flange or other device, we respectfully advise you that the matter of the place where the words of approval are to be atamped rests within the sound discretion of the department responsible for their approval, but the words indicating such approval must be "firmly affixed" to some part of the reflector.

To the extent stated, Mr. Christopher's opinion is respectfully overruled.

Yours very truly ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Benjamin Woodall /s/ By Benjamin Woodall Assistant

APPROVED NOV 1, 1940 Gerald C. Kann /s/ ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

APPROVED OPISION COMMITTEE

By\% BWB Chairman