September 24, 1963

.,7 ,,,,,. %*y\ ,i,C> wa.‘LQHonorable Jules Damianl,Jr. CriminalDistrictAttorney Galveston County Galveston,Texas OpinionNo. C- 147

Dear Sir: Re : Expiration date of currentterm of the Judge of the Court of DomesticRelations for Galveston county l You have requested an opinion of this officeas to the expirationdate of the current term of the Judge of the Court of DomesticRelations for Galveston County. S clfically, you ask whether the term expires on December 31, 196 ee December 31, 1966. , or on

The Court of Domestic Relations for GalvestonCounty Has createdby Chapter 64, Acts of the 57th Ieglslature, Third Zalled Session (cod:fledas Article 2338-16 In Vernon'sCivil Statutes),which took effect on September 1, 1962. Section7 of the originalact provided In part as follows:

"Sec. 7. The term of office of the Judge of said Court of DomesticRelations shall be for a periodof four (4) years, the first full term to commenceon January 1, 1965. Immediatelyupon the effectivedate of thisAct, the Governor of the State of Texas shall appointa suitableperson as Judge of said Court,who shallhold officeuntil the next general electionand until his successorshall be duly elected and qualified. Thereafter,said Judge shall be elected as providedby the Constitution and l,"",s;$f the statefor the electionof District Judges.
Under theseprovisions,the judge elected at the general electioti

In 1962would have received a term expiringon December 31, 1964, Andy an election for a full term of four years would be held In 1964. However, we are of the opinion that theseprovisionsof the statute are contrary to ArticleXVI, Section 65 of the Constitutionof Texas and must giveway to -712- j

.Hon. JulesDamlanl, Jr., page 2 (C-147 )

the constitutional provisions. The Court of Domestic Relations for Galveston County IS a court of county-wide jurisdiction. Section 30 of Article of the Constitutionfixes the length of the full term of offIce TJ for the judgeof the court at four years, In the following language:"Sec. 30. The Judges of all Courts of county-wide jurisdiction

heretoforeor hereafter createdby the Legislature

of this State * * * shallbe elected for a term of four years, and shall serve until their successorshave qualified." If this were the only provision In the Constitutionrelating to the term of this particularoffice, the judge elected at the generalelection In 1962 would have received a full term of four years beginning on the date fixed by Article 17 of the RevisedCivil Statutes for commencementoft the term, 1. e., on Sanua (1963, 1 1963. In Eades v. Drake 160 Tex. 381 332 S.W.Z?d 553 ihe Supreme Court held thai, under'% p&isions of the Constitutionfixing the term of office. for district judges at four years, the judge elected at the first general election after creationof a new district courts receiveda four-year term, althoughthe statute creating the court provided that 'theflrst'electlon shouldbe for a term of two years. .Howe+er, we are of the opinion that the holding In Eades v. Dra& Is not controlling

as to the office of judge of a court of domestic relations,

but rather that the length and expirationof the initial term Is governedby Article XVI, Sectlon 65 of the ConstI$utIon.

Under ArtlcieXVI, Section 65 of the Constitution, .provIdIng

for transition from two-year to four-yearterms for 'county and, precinct officers, certain officers received fouryear termsat the general election in 1954 and others received two-yearterms. The sectionprovides that following the expiratlonof these terms, all the officers sre to be elected for full four-yearterms. In Attorney General's OpinionNo. W-1292 (1962), It was held that under this section of the Constitution,

which gave tax assessors-collectors a two-year term In 1954, the electlon.ofan assessor and collector of taxes for a four-year term occurs at the generalelections of 1956, 1960, 1964, etc., and that If the separate office of assessorand collector of: taxes was created In a county under 10,000populationby a special election held In May of 1962, the personelected to the office at the general election of 1962 would not be elected for 8 full four-yearterm but would -713-Hon. Jules Damlanl, Jr., page 3 (C- 147 )

be elected only for a term expiring on December 31, 1964.

Among those officers receiving four-yearterms at the 1954 general electionwere judges of county domestic relations courts. Thus, these officers are to be elected for four-year terms in 1958, 1962, 1966, and every four years thereafter. The provision In Section 7 of Article 2338-16 for commencementof the first full term on January 1, 1965, was thereforeunconstitutional. The invalidityIn this section at the time of the 1962 general electiondid not Invalidate other provisions of the act, and the judge was elected for a term of four years as provided In the ConstlAt Its regular session In 1963, the Legislature amended Section 7 of Article 2338-16 to read as follows (Acts 58th Leg., R.S. 1963, ch. 454, p. 1168):

"Sec. 7. The term of office of the judge of said Court of Domestic Relations shall be for a period of four (4) years. Said judge shallbe elected as providedby the Constitutionand laws of the state for the election of judges of Courts of Domestic Relations. * l *I' zhe caption of the amendatory act states that the act Is amending the term of office of the judge of said court to correspondwith the Constitution of the State of Texas." It thus appears that the purpose of the amendmentof Section 7 was to remove the Invalid provision making the first full term commence on January 1, 1965. The statute as amended Is now In harmonywith the Constitution, and the present judge Is holding office under an election to a four-yearterm which will expire on December 31, 1966.

SUMMARY
At the general election of 1962, the Judge of the Court of Domestic Relations for Galveston County was elected to a four-year term which will expire -714-Hon. Jules Damlanl,Jr., page 4 (C-147 )

on December 31, 1966. Article XVI, Section 65 of the Constitutionof Texas fixes the dates for elections for full terms of judges of county domestic relationscourts as the years 1954, 1958, 1962, and every four years thereafter,and a provision In the original act creating the Court of Domestic Relations for GalvestonCounty which fixed January 1, 1965, as the date for commencement of the first full term was Invalid.
Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General of Texas

Assistant
MKW:sJ

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman Ben Harrison Edward Moffett

.. Polk Shelton Scott Garrison
APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEYGE,NERAL BY: Stanton Stone

-715-