June 4, 1970 

Honorable Kenneth Bain, Jr. 

County Attorney 

Floyd County 

Floydada, Texas 

Opinion NO. M- 645 

Dear Sir: 

Re: At an election held in the 

Lbckney Independent School 

Distriat in Floyd County, 

Texas, for the election of 

the County School Trustee 

at large and for the 

County School Trustee for 

the precinct in which the 

Lockney Independent School 

Distri~ct is located, who 

pays for the expense of 

purchasing the election 

supplies and the fees of 

the election judge and 

clerks for holding the 

election? 

your letter of recent date requests our opinion 

on the above question. 

The applicable statutes are to be found in 

the Texas Education code, enacted by the 61st Legislature. 

Regular Session, 1969, and in the Election Code of the 

State of Texas, enacted by the 52nd Legislature, Regular 

Session, 1951. 

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. . ._ 

Honorable Kenneth Bafn, Jr., page 2 (M-645) 

Article 17,03(b) the Education Code reads as 

follows: 

"Election officers appointed to hold 

the election for district trustees in each 

school district shall hold the regular 

election for county school trustees or 

county board members." 

This statute clearly provides that the officials 

charged with holding the school district election shall 

also hold the election for county trustees, and we think 

the statute necessarily implies that the officials are 

to be eampenoated solely by the district. 

With respect to the expenses incurred for supplies, 

we refer you to Attorney General"6 opinion No. O-943 (1939). 

That opinion was based upon an interpretation of articles 

of the Civil Statutes that have been in substance incorporated into the Texas Education Code, and held that the 

election supplies used in the election of county school 

trustees should be paid for out of the available maintenance funds belonging to the school district in which 

the election is held. We think this holding is still 

applicable to your inquiry concerning the expanse incurred 

for supplies. 

The election under discussion is clearly a school 

election. There is explicit authority to the effect that 

the supplies are to be paid for by the school district 

rather than by the county in Article 7,12 of the Election 

Code, which reads in part as follows8 

"~11 expanses incurred in furnishing the 

supplies, ballots, and booths in any general 

or special election shall be paid for by the 

county, except costs in municipal and school 

electiona." 

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Honorable Kenneth Bain, Jr., page 3 (M-645) 

------- SUMMARY 

Blection officers appointed to hold the 

election for district school trustees 

in each school district shall hold the 

regular election for county school 

trustees or county school board members. 

Such election officials shall be compensated solely by the school district. 

and the district shall pay out of its 

available maintenance fund for the 

election supplies used in conducting 

the election for county school trustees 

or county school board members. 

C. M ARTIN 

Prepared by James S. Swearingen 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION CCUWITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Glenn Brown 

William J. Craig 

Malcolm Smith 

Fisher Tyler 

MEADB F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WRITE 

First Assistant 

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