Montana Attorney General Opinion 16-106

Opinion No. 106. Licenses-Ticket Agents-Bus Agents -Air Transport Agents. HELD: Ticket agents for bus lines and air transport companies selling transportation within the State of Montana are not required to have ticket agents' licenses. Hon. Sam W. Mitcheil Secretary of State The Capitol May 18, 1935. This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of April 19, which is as follows: "It will be appreciated if you will advise this office whether, under the provisions of Section 6565, ticket agents' licenses are required of and should be issued to bus lines and air transport companies selling trans- portation within the State of Mon- tana." Section 6565 R. C. M. 1921 makes it the duty of the owners of any rail- road or steamboat for the transporta- tion of passengers, to provide their ticket agents with certificates show- ing their authority to sell tickets. The agents are then required to exhibit such certificate to the Secretary of State and obtain from him a license, paying a fee of $1.00 therefor. Section 6568 R. C. M. 1921 makes it the duty of agents to publicly display their cer- tificates and licenses, and Sections 6566 and 6567 R. C. M. 1921 make it unlawful and prescribe punishment for selling tickets without having ob- tained the aforesaid certificate and license. It will be noted that no reference of any sort is made in any of the above sections to bus lines and air transport companies, but that they are all spe- cifically limited to railroads or steam- boats used for transporting passen- gers. In order then to construe these sections to apply to the companies concerning which you inquire, it would be necessary to interpolate the words "bus lines and air. transport com- panies" in all of the above sections. To so construe these statutes would be tantamount to legislation, making acts criminal that have not been pro- hibited by the legislature. This the courts will not do. (Shubat v. Glacier County, 93 Mont. 160, 18 Pac. (2) 614; State v. Lutey Brothers, 55 Mont. 545, 179 Pac. 457; State v. Tuffs, 54 108 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Mont. 20, 165 Pac. 1107; McLaughlin v. Bardsen, 50 Mont. 177, 145 Pac. 954; Story v. Dixson, 64 Mont. 206, 208 Pac. 592). Accordingly, the question sl.lbmitted by you is answered in the negative.