OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable John Stapleton 

County Attorney 

nora county 

Ploptada, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Opinion Ilo. oRe1 Aoor8lJity 

Wr are pleased t Iotter of Deoembor 

30, 1BSS. we pta0t0 rr0pl p 

an eleotlon 

mltruotbon 

or Pub110 Instruotlon anb appointed Clarsnoe 

Quif*e County Suparfntandsnt.w 
mat pm or hai 8688, ~OCI~OLL'O imti0tOt06 cltii 

Statuto8, llM5, whioh ia portlnent to the faotr uhlah you preoent prorides: 

". . . and, if a majority of the gualiflbd 

property tnx-paying voter6 tot- at said olootion ohall rota for the atmtlon 09 the offioo 

of county &uparint*ndont in 8a1e ootmty, tho commle0ioneTo* Court, at It0 WXt Ngalar term 

after the held* Of oaf6 l leotloa~ shall oraato 

the orrio of County Superinturdont, ana aom a 

Cowty Suporinten6aritwho shall qualify under 

t&o Chapter and hold mmh ofi%ee ant11 the 

Iurt ocmerel Bleetloa. . . .g (t3n~erooCFhg 

oarnJ 

A0 iu: rio w haW bUn able to a6oartain, them IO 

w&wa~ oan oonotrulng tha aborr gwted port1011 of nrtiolo 

. In iilW66~~t~ the oaool of other joriodiotiono, relrtit* to the @raw "hea 6eImral eloation", we hat6 fo\pld aon* 

with root8 uu~Lo@oa8 to thooe wuoh mu have praoonkb. mea 

can0 r&or w ogpolatwato mida ror the unexpired term of 

rariouo 0rri808 end ar* not relative to tha ag ointmnua ma&o 

to ffllnowly ore&ad ofJio@o. After uonslaar~ L thee* 0an0, 

w find that the oourta are la ooafllot aa to the smning 05 

Waxs uuwral eleotion*. wuwrouo jtuio6lotlo~o oonolado t&a* 

thio @ran relatms to the ‘%efmral sloetlonR whloh io aoxt in 

point or tfiw. Otbrr $arioillotlono adopt tba rule that *next 

guur al ll eetiorofsr8 ne to the ner t g8aaral l loot%en at whloh 

a l tao0awor to the off&m uould Ime beon elrotod had therm 

bral no raealloy. The *ordine or the Conotitution er tha Statuteo or the partloalar jarlo~latloa appears to ba tha controlllng factor in each lnstanoe. 

Th666 6tutcbDPUlt6 are rsriflrb by the many eaoao whioh 

we hwe ooaol6ered (txxm~~)row to mantlon here) aad by the 

noto in SO L.B.A. (19.s.J 369, ahloh otatao in parts 

*The aourto are In e+&liot a6 to the auanla@ 

of the phrarw *next uowral el~aotian' or similar 

axprsosion, wed in the 0Eafntae provltUng for 

tb fius,qg oi vaoawl86 la publAo oiflooo. Ia 

the abaenoe 6i 8peO%fiO ooSWtitUfioep1 or atahtory oonotruation, mine Qcurto take the view that 

ouoh phra8so awn thr elaotion &am lB point Of 

tlxw, whfl6 others &old that suoh phraos6 refer 

to the mxt ~leation at whlah a oubeeooor to the 

..: 
Honorable John Stapleton, Pago 3 

offloe would have been eleotad had there beon no 

Tnoanoy. 

". . . 

"de was stated above, the term *next general 

elaatlon' has been held to mean the general eleotion next in point of SW, although, had there 

been no vacancy, no eleotlon to the offloe rould 

hare been held until 8ome aubsequont year. 

(Citing caeee) 

". . . 

"On the other hand, It he6 been held that 

the phrase *next general eleotlon* refers to the 

general eleotlon at whloh the oiiloe would have 

been tilled had there been no raeanoy. 

oPoea; . . .* 

toit4 

In view oi these oondltioao end olrauwtwaa~, we 

mot resort to a oonotruotion OS our onn otatateo to detarmlne 

the meaning of the phrase "next general elaotionW, and not 

blindly adopt the rule or another jnrlodlatlon whose partioular 

oonetltatlon or etatutes ara worded dlfiterontly from our own. 

In eonstruing otatate8, a0 a general rule, words In 

6omuon nne, when oontaind in a etatute, will bo read aooording to their natnral, ordinary and populer m&a&g. Also en 

aat should be given a fair, rational, reasonable and oenaible 

oonotruotlon, oonaldering ltn langnago and oubtbjoat matter. 

These rules are so well established a&d familiar that no authority lo aeoeesary. 

*It is", aleo~ *the general pollay ot the law to till 

raoanoiea In an electMe oifla8 at an eleotlon a0 Soon as praoticable after the vaaanoy OOOUITO. hat6 ~‘8. ~ohroader, 99 lfeb. 

959, ll3 B.W. 192". ~,stat.e ex rel. Roerlok TO. Board of Com*ra. 

of Lyman County, et al, S.D. 1914, 14s 91.11. 348; See aleo 46 

Corpue Jurie, Sao. 121, p. 994, and oases olted. (3nderscoriW 

ours) 

Thj.8 rule is followed in Taxaa ae Is ehom by the ease 

OS Dobkina VB. Beaae , CIT. App. 3929, 19 S.W. (26) 81, whera the 

oourt, on p. 83, sald: 

"'As was said by Judge Moore in Wright w?. Adam@, 

45 TBX~ 134, It is believed, moreoter, to be a 
Eonorable Johu Stapleton, Page 4 

sop06 rule of oonetruotlon, which holds, when the 

duration or tar6 ot an orrice which Is rillea 

popular eleotion la a queatlon or doubt or upby 

oartainty, that the interpretation Is to be tollowed whloh limits it to the shortest tixie, and 

rOtum3 to the people at the earllaet period the 

parer and authority to refill it. . . .** 

Article 2930, Veruon~8 Annotated Civil Statutes of 

1925, provides In part: 

"A general eleotlon shall be held on the 

fir& Tuesday after the first Monday iu Wove6- 

bar, A. D. 1926, and every two yeara thereafter, 

at suoh plaoes as eay be prescribed by Law, after 

notloe as presorlbed by Law. . . .v 

BY virtue ~0s the last quoted portion or Article 2930 

and the rules of conatruotlon above @et out, It lo the opinion 

of this depaxtxmnt that it will be neoeesary to hold a6 eleotiou 

falsity Superintendent of Public Inotruotlou for Floyd County 

. Suoh ie the ooncluolon reached by giving the quoted 

portion 0r Artlole 2688, supra, Its natural, ordluarp, reaoonable and senalble ocmotruotion, and by ratuming to th6 people 

at the earliest period the power sad authority to rail11 the 

deat Iv4 offloe. 

The rora *naxtw , in oon5on parlauoe, mane a6eare6tv 

au& la so derlnod in Webster*8 Wew International Dictionary. 

The general eleotion to be held In 194C. in oompllanoe with 

Article 2930, eupra, Is the general l leotlon wnaarestw to the 

tima 0r appointment or y0ux present County superintendent ol 

Pub110 Xnstruotlon. 

The oonotrudtlon we have plaoed on that portlon of 

ArtiOle 2088, oupra, which is pertinent to the facts whioh you 

have presented, la supported by an opiuion rendered by this 

department, Ho. O-1664. The stat&a under cou6ideratlOu in 

that opinion was Art1016 2355, Veruon*o Revleed Civil Statute@, 

1925, and its terminology ia vary almilar to that portion of 

A+iole 2888 whlah we are Oousldering. We quota Article 2355: 

*The Couxt shall have powOr to fili vacauczles 

In the office of: County Judge, Connty Clerk, 

sherirf, county AttornOy, county heamuer, County Surveyor, Couuty Ride Iuapeotor, Aaaaaaor of 

Taxee, Collsotor of Taxes, Justices of the Paaae, 
Honorable John Stapleton, Page 3 

Constables, and County Superintendent of Publio 

Instruotion. Suoh racanoiea shall be filled by 

e majority rote of the members of said Court, 

present tend voting. and the person chosen shall 

hold office until the next general eleation. 

AS amended iLets 19 40th I, 

248, ch. 90, 6 1." 

1 t C.S., p. 

(Onderet%g &me) 

The feet.8 presented in Opinion Ho. O-1664 were stated 

as follows: 

"*In my special ease, my hueband's term would 

have expired January 1, 1943, since this is e 

rotu year ofiiee and he had served not quite one 

year 0r his term. I am told that I oan hold it 

until the next general eleotion, but it seems to 

me this should be interpreted as aeaning anti1 

the next general eleotion for this office, which 

would ooeur in 1942. Whioh interpretatioa is 

correet?*~ 

On the basis of these faots, the op5nlon 8tated: 

wPrior to 19S1, the offiee of aounty eehool 

superintendent was ror a term or two years. Sin88 

1931, ths offiae of eoanty sohool superintendent 

has been ror a term of fom years. The other 

eofmty offiaes emmrated in Article 2333 are for 

terms or two years. There are numerous aistriat 

and state offieea ror longer terms than two yems. 

and irreapeotire of the length of the unexpited 

term of the appointee's predecessor, the appointee 

may only hold office until the next general eleotion. There has been no judicial constrnetion of 

Article 2333, aforesaid, a8 to the offioe of eolmty 

8Ohwl superintendent. However, the language ir 

olear aad is not subject to a contrary eonstruetioa 

than that the appointee must be up'ror eleetion, 

and that the offioe is open to election at the 

next general ebetiOB, and that the term of the 

appointee till expire 0B Jarmary 1st r0nowing 

the aext general election. That ill, where an 

elective orriae is raeant asd is filled by appointment of the Oo~ernor or ComaissioBers* Court, swh 

appointits power is only a matter or expedienoy in 

that the will and power of the ,people will prevail 

to -me the incumbent at the next geaeral d8OtiOn." 
Bonoreble John Stapleton, Peg8 6 

IB an8wer to your seoand question, you ere respeetfully adrlwd that, in our opiaion, the peraon elected to the 

offiee of County Superintendent of Public Instruotion at the 

next general eleotion will be eleeted for a term of four years. 

howhere, have we been able to find any provision fn 

the Statute8 or Constitution Of this State requiring the gounty Superintendents of the various oouBtle8 to be sleeted at 

the 8aiS8 general eleotion; nor have we found any prorlrrion 

that would require the oounty superintendent to be elected et 

aBy speoifio general eleotion, end then at the end of regular 

iatenalsl thereafter. 

Attention is direoted to that portion of Art1018 

2686, supra, whioh provides: 

"The Commissioners~ Court of every couuty 

having three thousand (3,000) eoholastio populetion or -1-8 es shown by ths preo8ding seholastie oeneue, shall et 2 general Eleotion provide 

for the election of a County Superintendent to 

sene.ror a term 0r rour (4) J%@U8, . . .* 

(UBd8r8OOring 0Ul-S) 

Thie prori8ioa olearly indloates that county superintendents are not required to be elected at any epeaifie general 

el8otion, but, 08 the other hand, 8ueh offioers may be el88ted 

at any general eleotion presoribed by hrtiole 2920, eupre provided, or course, all other neaessary requirements are me i . 

In view of this provision, and oonolusion, end by 

virtue of the faot that the present county superintendent Of 

Floyd County was not appointed to fill an uuexplrod term of a 

previous offleer, there 18 nothiBg whioh would limit the per808 

eleoted at the next general eleotion to a term of less than 

r0l0r pears. 

fitiole 26SSa, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, 

1925, provides: 

*J.B all oountiea in which the eopnty euperintendent of sohoole is ahosen by popular 8leetiOn 

the term 0r orrioe shall be roar y8ars.* 

Sj.hee the County Superintendent of Public In8trQotiOn 

c 
Honorable Johu Stapleton, Page 9 

is to be elected at the next general eleotion, and since suoh 

orricer will not be dleoted to fill en unexpired term of the 

previoue superintendent, it is our ~pinlon that such duly 

eleoted officer will be entitled to a four year term as provided for in mtlcle 2688a, supra. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENER&L OF TFXAS 

%alter R. Kooh 

Assistant 

Hs:jm