THE ~7llTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

Hon. Ray Lackey 

County Auditor 

Yoakum County 

Plains, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. o-7215 

Removal of County Seat. 

Authority'of County Auditor 

to serve as trustee of Rural 

High School District 

Your request of recent date for an opinion from this 

department on the above subject matter is as follows: 

"I would like an opinion from you on the following: 

"May the County Seat of a County be moved by a two 

thirds vote from the present position when it is located 

within a five mile radius of the center of the county 

and has been located here for a period of 35 years. 

%ag the County Auditor serve as trustee of a Rural 

High School District which is operating as an Independent District & having their own tax collector and assessor and containing more than one hund,red square miles of 

territory and electing their trustees at large over the 

district." 

The answer to your first question is found in the 

provisions of Articles 1595, 1596, 1599 and 1600, V.A.C.S. 

Article 1595, supra, read~s, in part, as follows: 

"No county seat situated within five miles of the 

geographical center of any county shall be removed except by a note of two-thirds ;f all the electors in said 

county voting on the subject. 

Article 1596, supra, is as follows: 

"When it becomes desirable to remove the county 

seat of any county, the county judge of said county, upon 

the written application of not less than one hundred freeholders and qualified voters, who are resident citizens of 
Hon. Ray Lackey, page 2 O-7215 

said county shall make a written order upon the minutes 

of said commissioners court for the holding of an election at various voting precincts in said county on a 

day therein named, which shall not be less than thirty 

nor more than sixty days from date of order, for the 

purpose of submitting the question to the electors of 

said county. When a county seat has been established 

for more than ten years, it shall reouire two hundred 

freeholders and aualified voters to make said aoolication. In counties having less than three hundred and 

fifty legal voters, to be determined by the number of 

votes cast at the last preceding general election such 

application may be made by one hundred resident freeholders and qualified voters of said county. When a 

county seat has been established for more than forty 

years, if shall require a majority of the resident freeholders and qualified voters of said~ county to make the 

application, said majority to be ascertained by the 

county judge from the assessment rolls thereof. In 

counties having not more than 150 qualified voters, such 

application shall be held sufficient when it shall have 

been signed by a majority of the resident freeholders 

and qualified voters of said county, said majority to 

be ascertained by the county judge, from the assessment 

rolls thereof. In the event of the fallure, refusal or 

inability of the county judge to perform any duty imposed upon him by this article such duty may be pzrformed by any two county commissioners of the county. 

(Underscoring ours) 

Article 1599, supra, provides: 

"The county judge or commissioners shall order said 

election in each voting precinct in said county, which 

shall be conducted as near as may be, as elections for 

county officers. The officers holding the elections 

shall make return thereof to the authority ordering said 

election within ten days after the same was held, who 

shall then proceed to open said returns and count the 

same, and declare the result, which shall be entered upon 

the records of said commissioners court, and shall also 

state the name of the place from which, and the name of 

the place to which, the same is removed. A certified 

copy of such entry shall theTeupon be recorded in the 

proper deeds of such county. 

Article 1600, supra, reads as follows: 

"When such entry has been made. the count-i seat,if 

the election be held to move the county seat from a Point 
- . 

Hon. Ray Lackey, page 3 O-7215 

within five miles of the neoarauhical center, to a woint 

more or less than five miles from the geograwhical centar, or from a point more than five miles from the 

geographical center, to any other point more than five 

miles from such center, shall be removed to the olace 

receiving the votes of two-thirds of ally the electors 

voting on the subject; and such place shall thereafter 

be the counts seat of such county. If the election be 

held to move"the county seat from a point more than five 

miles from the geographical center to a point within 

five miles of such center, then the county seat shall beg 

moved to the place receiving a majority of,all the electors in the county voting at such election, and such 

place shall thereafter be the county seat of such county." 

(Underscoring ours) 

In view of the above quoted provisions it is the opinion 

of this department that the county seat may be moved from a 

point within five miles of the gsographic center of the county 

to a point more or less than five miles from the geographic 

center of the county by a two-thirds vote of all the electors 

voting on the subject provided the provisions of the foregoing 

Articles have been complied with. We are sending for your consideration a copy of our Opinion No. O-1681 dealing with a 

similar situation. 

In answer to our request for additional information 

concerning your second question, we received the following from 

Hon. G. P. Beane, County Judge and Ex-Officio County School 

Superintendent: 

"In answer to your inquiry of April 25th relative 

to Plains Rural High School District, I wish to state 

that this School District is a rural High School District formed by grouping a number of rural common 

school districts. 

"The status of this district is hard to determine 

since it pertakes of both the nature of an Independent 

School District and a Common School District. In some 

respects it is governed as an Independent School District 

and in others, it is governed by the laws relating to 

Common School Districts." 

We, therefore, assume that the Plains Rural High 

School was established under the provisions of Article 2922a. 

Article 2922b states that all rural high school districts as 

provided for by Article 2922a shall be classed as common 

school districts. 
. . - 

Hon. Ray Lackey, page 4 O-7215 

Therefore, your second question is answered in the 

negative by our Opinion No. O-7191, a copy of which we are 

herewith enclosing. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/J. C.Davl.s, Jr. 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

Assistant 

By s/John Reeves 

John Reeves 

JR:djm:wc 

APPROVED MAY 8, 7~946 

s/Carlos C. Ashley 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman