TX JM-278 December 28, 1984

Did the five years of investigative experience required for a Texas polygraph examiner license have to come immediately before the application?

Short answer: Yes. The five consecutive years had to be the five years nearest the filing date, without a significant gap between the experience and the license application.

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This page answers the general question as of 1984. Ezel answers yours: what it means for your facts, under current Texas law, with citations.

Disclaimer: This is an official Texas Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority in Texas courts but are not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. The opinion dates from 1984; verify current occupational-licensing requirements before relying on it.

About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official AG opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

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Texas AG Opinion JM-278: Polygraph Examiner Experience

Plain-English summary

The Polygraph Examiners Board asked what “immediately preceding” meant in the experience alternative for a polygraph examiner's license. Section 8(a)(2) allowed an applicant to qualify without a bachelor's degree by having five consecutive years of active investigative experience immediately preceding the application. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

JM-278 concluded that the applicant's five years of experience had to occur just before the application was filed. A significant interval between the experience and the filing date did not satisfy the provision. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

The opinion applied the ordinary meaning of the statutory words. It relied on a dictionary definition of “immediately” as “without interval of time” and on cases requiring unambiguous statutory language to receive its plain and ordinary meaning. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

The Attorney General contrasted the Polygraph Examiners Act with the Real Estate License Act. The latter expressly allowed two years of experience to fall anywhere within the 36 months preceding an application, showing that the legislature knew how to create a grace period when it intended one. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1984. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

What did “immediately preceding” require?

The phrase required the five years nearest the filing of the application, with no significant gap between the qualifying experience and the application date. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Could older investigative experience qualify after a break from that work?

Not under JM-278's reading if the break created a significant interval before the application. The experience had to occur just before filing. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Was the experience route an alternative to a college degree?

Yes. Section 8(a)(2) allowed either a qualifying bachelor's degree or five consecutive years of active investigative experience immediately preceding the application. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Why did the Real Estate License Act matter?

That law expressly placed two years of experience within a broader 36-month window. JM-278 used the contrast to conclude that the Polygraph Examiners Act's shorter wording did not contain an unstated grace period. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Background and statutory framework

Section 8(a)(2) of article 4413 (29cc), V.T.C.S., set the education or experience qualifications for a polygraph examiner's license. Its experience route required “five consecutive years of active investigative experience immediately preceding” the application. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

JM-278 cited three statutory-construction decisions for the principle that the legislature was presumed to use each word intentionally and that unambiguous language received its plain meaning. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

The opinion quoted V.T.C.S. art. 6573a, section 7(h)(2), as an example of a different licensing law that expressly allowed experience during a 36-month period immediately preceding the application. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Citations and references

Section 8(a)(2) of article 4413 (29cc), V.T.C.S., the Polygraph Examiners Act
V.T.C.S. art. 6573a, §7(h)(2), the Real Estate License Act
Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535 (Tex. 1981)
Taylor v. Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Commission of City of Lubbock, 616 S.W.2d 187 (Tex. 1981)

Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Source

Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0278
Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1984/jm0278.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain. The linked PDF is authoritative.

The Attorney General of Texas

December 28, 1984

Ms. Candy Moore
Executive Officer
Polygraph Examiners Board
5805 North Lamar
P. O. Box 4087
Austin, Texas 78773

Opinion No. JM-278

Re: Meaning of “immediately preceding” for the purposes of section 8(a)(2) of article 4413 (29cc), V.T.C.S., the Polygraph Examiners Act

Dear Ms. Moore:

You request an opinion of this office as to the meaning of the words “immediately preceding” as used in section 8(a)(2) of article 4413 (29cc), V.T.C.S., the Polygraph Examiners Act. That section of the act prescribes the qualifications necessary for a polygraph examiner's license, stating that

Sec. 8(a) A person is qualified to receive a license as an examiner

(2) who . . . holds a baccalaureate degree from a college or university accredited by an organization that the board designates and that the board determines has accreditation standards to ensure a high level of scholarship for students, or in lieu thereof has five consecutive years of active investigative experience immediately preceding his application. . . . (Emphasis added).

We conclude that compliance with the optional experience requirement of section 8(a)(2) requires that an applicant's five consecutive years of experience occur just before his application; there may not be a significant interval of time before the filing of the application.

Such an interpretation is consistent with the canons of statutory construction. The courts have held that the legislature is presumed to have used each word intentionally, and, if the meaning of the language is not ambiguous, words should be given their plain and ordinary meaning. Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535 (Tex. 1981); Taylor v. Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Commission of City of Lubbock, 616 S.W.2d 187 (Tex. 1981); Conn, Sherrod & Co., Inc. v. Tri-Electric Supply Co., Inc., 535 S.W.2d 31 (Tex. Civ. App. - Tyler 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.). Since Black's Law Dictionary 675 (5th ed. 1979), defines “immediately” as “without interval of time,” section 8(a)(2) clearly refers to the five years directly proximate to the filing of the application.

If the legislature had wanted to permit a delay between the experience and the application, it would have indicated this fact, as it explicitly did in the Real Estate License Act. In that statute the legislature purposefully inserted a grace period, requiring an applicant to furnish proof

that he is a licensed real estate broker in another state, [and] that he has had not less than two years' active experience . . . during the 36-month period immediately preceding the filing of the application. . . .

V.T.C.S. art. 6573a, §7(h)(2) (Emphasis added).

The words “immediately preceding,” as used in section 8(a)(2) of article 4413 (29cc), V.T.C.S., the Polygraph Examiners Act, requiring as an alternative to a baccalaureate degree five years of active investigative experience “immediately preceding” the application, mean the five years nearest to the filing of the application.

SUMMARY

Very truly yours,

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

TOM GREEN
First Assistant Attorney General

DAVID R. RICHARDS
Executive Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

Rick Gilpin, Chairman
Colin Carl
Susan Garrison
Tony Guillory
Jim Moellinger
Jennifer Riggs

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