Oregon Advisory Opinions June 28, 1944: OAG 44-98 (June 28, 1944)

OAG 44-98.

Mesdames: I have your letter of June 27, 1944, in which you ask whether you are authorized to permit a candidate for the state board examination to take the examination before she is 21 years of age, and to withhold the certificate of registration until she has reached the age of 21.

In my opinion you are not authorized to do so.

Section 54-622, O. C. L. A., provides in part as follows:

"* * * All applicants for registration shall furnish satisfactory evidence that he or she is twenty-one (21) years of age, of good moral character, and has been graduated from a school of nursing connected with a general hospital approved by the board, where a systematic course of at least three (3) years' instruction is given."

These requirements relate to "applicants for registration", and it would appear to me that this phrase defines persons who are candidates for the examination---that is, that one must show compliance with the statutory requirements before taking the examination.

Your second question is whether you may send certificates of registration by registered mail "collect on delivery."

Nothing in the statutes either forbids or authorizes the use of registered mail for this purpose.

Section 54-625, O. C. L. A., provides as follows:

"All applicants for certificates of registration under this act shall pay a registration fee of ten dollars ($10) to the board, and upon successfully passing the examinations required by the board, shall be entitled to receive the certificate of registration provided for in this act, provided the applicant fulfill the other specified requirements."

This $10 fee (and I think the same reasoning would apply to the $1 fee charged for renewal certificates under sections 54-631, O. C. L. A.), is exacted primarily for the purpose of covering the incidental expenses of examination and registration, including postage, and the statute contemplates that the applicant shall be entitled to his or her certificate upon fulfilling the requirements of section 54-622, O. C. L. A., passing the examination and paying the $10 fee, without more. My conclusion is that you may either pay the registered postage fee yourself, or, if the applicant voluntarily requests that you register the letter on his behalf, collect the fee from the applicant, but that you may not demand that it be registered for your protection and charge the applicant this further sum.