OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

6mAl.m c. Mmm *-RI .- 

Eon. Yhoarow Curtis 

county Attorney 

rrio, Cou.nty Fmraall, Term 

4th. 

upon 

Sir 1 C----J\ 

nby ruoate his 

letter of August 

of t)ais dapartsmnt 

essntatlre Sor the 76th 

0 t?f&lilty, lllOV8B hi.8 

ah IS also in.the 7bth 

ereby vaaate b5.s offiae? 

f the Constitution upon 

sotion 2, whit& reads es followar 

nate ShEi oonsist of thirty-one 

all never ba inoraassh above this 

UB8 or Rs~reee,nlaCfvsls ahall QOll- 

&y-three menibcra util the first apportlogmnt after the adoptlen of this Constitution, when or at any appostlonmant thereafter, 

the nuatber of Rapreeentativsa zany be inoreeo8d by 

the Lagislature, upon%he ratio of oat aloT0 than 

one Repmsentattve for every fifteen theueand 

lnhabitante; provided, the nmbar of Repream2tW 

tives shall never exaead..one hundred and fifty." 
Hon. Woodrow Cuxtls, Page 92. 

Article ?i, Seotion 7, which reads ea rollowa: 

*?fO pernon shall be a ReprtWentatiV8, WIleee he be a .aitixen 0r the UnIted States,-and, 

at the tIm8 or hfe election, a qualfrlrd eleator 

Oi this State, and shall hat8 been a resident of 

this State two years next preaeding his eleotion, 

the last year thereof a resident of the distriat 

for whlah he shall be ohosen, and aball have 

attained the age of twenty-one year@.* 

Article 3, Seotion 23, whioh reads as Sollowar 

*It any Senator or Representative reaove 

his reSId8XlO8 irOn the dlstrlat or county for 

whioh he was cleated, his Office &all thereby 

beacme vaoant, and the vaoanoy shall be filled 

as provl'ided In eeatlon 13 of this erticle.w 

Article 3, Se,otion 25, which reads aa follorsr 

-The State eball be dfvlded into Senatorfal 

Dietriots of aontiguoue~territory aocordlng to 

the number oS qualified electors, as nearly as 

may be, and each dlstriot shall be entitled to 

eleat one Senators and no rIngle county shall 

be entitled to more than on8 Senator.W 

Art-tiole 3, Seation 26, whioh reads as follows: 

.*The members ot the BOWS of ~epresenktivea 

shall be appOfiIon8d apong the Several eOMtt46, 

aacordlng to the nuxaber of population In eaah, 

es nearly es my be, on a ratio obtsined by dlviding the population of the State, aa aeoertain8d by the most reO8nt United States cenaua, by 

the number of smmbera of which the F?ouse is magosedt provided, that whenever R 8iqg1e oOWlty 

has sufflaient population to be entitled to a 

Repreeentatlre, suoh aounty shall be formed I?- 

to a separate Representative District, end when 

two or more aountiee are required to~make up 

the ratio OS representation, rrueh ,eoimties shall 

b8 aontiguoue to eaah other, and when my one 

aounty haa more than suffialent populetion tO 

be entitled to on8 or"mora.Repreeentativee, mob 

Repre'aentatIVe or R8pre6entf3tIV8s shall be PPportioned ,to auah~ oounty, and for any ~lrPlue 

of population lt may be joined in a Repreeentative Distiiot with any other~coatiguous eOUOtY 

or oountlea.* 
Ron. Foodrow Curtis, pa&e #S. 

It will be observed from a 

i.r 

ading of all of the above 

ConetitutIonal provisions upon t 1s subject, that it WB~ 

contmplated by the brezners of the Constltutlon that, ln 

certain Inetancea, a Senator or a Representative might be 

elected ror e slogle oounty, ii a pertloular county met 

the population r4quiraenta; Or, that a Senator or a Representetlve might, on the other hand, be eleoted from the 

dIstrI.ct compoead of aeveral oountiea. 

RxamlnlnS Article 3, Section 25, In the light of this 

understandiug oi.the other provisions of ArtIcl4 3 of t.h4 

ConstItut.,lon, we are impelled to the conclusion that if 

a State Representative bs elected from a dlatrlct amposed 

Of several counties lt was Intcmded by th8 frameme of the 

Constitution that hia offioe be vaaated only b,y.a removal 

of,hla residence frm the district, and not by nera>y r4- 

ffiovlug hle resldenos from county to county within the 

dletrict. 

Xn the ae6a aher a district Is composed of ae+eral 

counties, the Repreaentatlvs Is elected for the district, and 

not for the partloular county. On the other hand, where 

the alogle county la entitled to,a Repreeentative, of oourse, 

the Rapreeentatite Ia elected for the county. If It had 

been intended by the rramers ob the Conatftutlo~ that mere 

removal rrom one county within the district to another 

county within the district ahwld vacate.the offlee or 

State Representative, alearly there would have been no 

necessity ror inserting the term vdIatrtctn In Art1014 3, 

Section 23. If that had been the Intent of the'rrainers of 

the Conetltutloh, we believe they would here stated merely 

that: 

"If any Senator or Repr4eentatlvs r(Mov4 

hia residence iron the county tar which he 

was eleoted, his offlo~ ahall thersby becorne 

vacant, and the vacancy shell be filled a8 

provIded.ln seatlon 13 of this article." 

'~4 therefore advlee that In our opinion, If'Ur. Smith 

removes his residenae frm FrIo County, which 1s within tha 

76th Dlotrict for whloh he w&s elected, to Atascofm CcuntY; 

wblch 18 aleo wIthIn the 96th Repreeentatlve District for 

which he 016s elected, he wilt not thereby vacate hla omoe. 
IIon. Eoodrow Curtis, ?age $4. 

24 wirh to express our appreciation for the helprul 

disc::csion of th,ie :%tter contained in your r4qU44t. 

Yours very truly 

R'?Z:pbp 

~ppRoVEThu6 19, 1939 

-.a7-u-J 

ATTORNEY GEblERAL OF TEXAS