NE GENERAL 

EXAS 

Hon. Leonard King 

County Attorney 

Childreas-Coun*y 

Childretie, Texar 

Opinion NO. V-1448 

Re: Authority o? the colrissioners I oourt to order 

an election to determlne 

if an ad valorem tax 

should be levied for 

farm-to-market and lateral roads, to be held~ 

in conjunction with the 

party primary election 

in July, using the came 

.eleotion judges and 

Dear Sir: clerks. 

Reference le made to your request for 

the opinion of thlr offloe oonaernlng the authority of the 06rmnilrslonere1 court to order an election to determine if an gd vhlorem tax should be 

levied for farm-to-mark+t and lateral roads, to be 

held in q,onjunctlon with the party p~lmary election in July, wing the same election &d&err and 

clerka. 

cle 7048a, 

The pertineqt part oi;Seotion 7 of ArtiV.C.S., relative to calling and holding 

an eleotlon for the purpore of levying a tax for 

farwto-market end lateral road purposes provides: 

“Be$ore any oounty shall levy, amsea 

and oolleot the tax provided for herein the 

qubrtion rhall by the Oommlrrioners Oourt 

of the oounty be rubmltted to a vote of 

the quallfled property taxpaying voters 

of sugh county at an eleotlon oalled for 

that puppore, either on raid Oommlssloners 

Court’s own motlo 

ten pecoent 

erty taxph 

(lO$ 

r 

P 

, or upon petition of 

of the qualified propng vo or8 of rald oounty as 

shown by t e returm of the last general 

election. Said election ohall be ordered 

at a regular resrlon of said Uomml~~lonera 

7Tourt and such oraer #hall speolfy the 
- 

Hon. Leonard King, page 2 (V-1448) 

thirty cents. 

Dollars ($ 

.., 

rate of tax to be voted on, not to exceed 

30#) on each One Hundred 

;lOO valuation of taxable prop- 

. 

erty within such-~county, shall state-the 

date when said election shall be held 

and shall appoint officers to hold said 

election In accordance.with the election 

laws of thlti State.” (Emphasis added 

throughout, 1 

held 

look 

Since this Is a special election and Is 

In accordance with the eleo$lon lows, we must 

to the Texas Election,Code (H.B. 6, Acts 52nd 

Leg. ,:‘R 3. 19513 ch: 492, 0.. 1097) I.t@ ,aetern@ne 

which provlsioiiia of the election laws are appllcable to this type of elect.lon. 

in part,:.,: 

. Section 15 of the Election Code provides 

. 

. 

“The Commissioners Court at the Februkry term shall appoint from among the citizens 

of each voting precinct In which there are 

less than one hundred (100) voters who have 

paid their poll tax or recel$ed their certificates of exemption, two (2j reputable quals-’ 

fled voters as judges of the’electlon, selected from different @olltical parties, if praotloaDle, yho shall continue to act until 

are appointed. . . . One. 

shall, in all oases belong 

e party that at the 1aBt general eleotlon’oast the largest vote for dovernor 

throughout the State shall be designated 

as the presiding jud e at electlone; he 

shall appoint two (2 7 competent and reput- 

“For every reolnct net in whloh, there ” 

a&q ane hundred P 100)~citlzens citizens or more who 

have @aid their poll tax or received their 

certificates of exemption, ,the Commlssioners Court shall appoint four (4) judges of 

eledtlon, who shall be chosen when practicable from opposing political parties, 

Section 16 of the Election Cod& provides 

in part: 
. - 

Hon. Leonard King, page 3 (~-1448) 

one of whom shall be designated as presiding judge. . . . The presiding judge shall 

appoint four (4) competent and reputable 

clerks, and as many other clerks as may 

be authorized by the Commissioners Court, 

who have paid their poll tax, or have secured their exemptions,.and of different 

olltlcal parties, when practicable; . . . 

rovided, that in a11 elections herd under 

the provisions of this title, otherthan 

general elections’, local option elections 

and primary elections, the officer@ t0 be 

ppi-t-dby a one e 

hold said elections shall be a presiding 

judge, and assistant judge and two (21 

1 k whose compensation shall 

&*i ($5) per day, and TWO Dol?zrziTg2) 

extra to the presiding judge for makim 

return of the election.” 

Section 22 of the Election Code provides: “The pay of judges and clerks of general 

and special elections shall be determined by 

the Commissioners Court of the county where 

such services are rendered, and In primary 

elections by the County Executive Committee 

of the party conducting such primary election but same shall not exceed Ten Dollars 

($10~ a day for each judge or clerk, nor exceed One Dollar ($1) per hour each for any 

‘~tirne in excess of a day’s work as herein defined. The judge who delivers the returns 

of election Immediately after the votes 

have been counted shall be paid Two Dollars 

($2) for that service; provided, also, he 

shall make returns of all election supplies 

not used when he makes returns of the election. Ten (10) working hours shall be considered a day within the meaning of this 

Article. The compensation of judges and 

clerks of general and special elections 

shall be paid,by the County Treasurer of 

the county where such services dare randered 

upon order of the Commissioners.” 

Section 77 of the Election Code provides: 

. . 

“All expenses incurred in furnishing 
Hon. Leonard King, page 4 (v-1448) 

the supplies, ballots, and booths In any 

general or special election shall be p&d 

for by the county, except costs in munlcii: pal and school elections. All accounts for 

supplies furnished and services’rendered 

shall first be approved by the Cbmmleeioners 

Court.before they are paid by the oounty.” 

The pertinent provisions of the I$leotlon 

.Code rkrtl~ve to ‘the ‘“primary electlon”l, rre’aq follows: 

Sec. 179 - “The teem ‘prlmarjr election, I: 

as used in this chapter, means an election 

held by the members of an organized political 

party for the purpose of nominating the Oandldates op such party to be voted for at a 

general or speo~lal election, or to nominate 

L the county executive officers of a party.” 

‘Sec. 186 - “Prior to the assessment 

of the candidates, on the third Monday in 

June preceding each general primary, the 

oounty c,ommlttee shall also aarefully es- \ 

timate the cost of printing.the offlclal 

ballots, ‘renting polling plaoee where same 

may. be found necessary, providing and dis- : 

tributlng all neoeesary poll booka, blank 

stationery and voting booths required, 

compensation df election officers and 

‘alerks and messengers, to report the result 

ih,auch precinbt to the county chairman, as 

provided for herein, and all other necessary 

expennes of holding such primarlee in suah’ 

counties and.shall apportion ‘such cost among 

the Various candidates for nomination for 
Hon. Leonard King, page 5 (v-1448) 

district, county and precinct offices only 

as herein defined, and offices to be filled 

by the voters of such district, county or 

precinct only, In such manner as in their 

judgment Is just and equitable; . . ." 

An analysis of the above statutes relative 

to "farm-to-market elections" and "primary eleatlons" 

reveals: 

1. It Is mandatory that the commissioners' 

court appoint only four persons to hold the "farm-tomarket election" in each election precinct, whereas 

the county chairman of the political party, with the 

assistance of a majority of the county executive committee, appoints a presiding judge of each election 

precinct, and the presiding judge appoints an associate judge and clerk to assist him. However, an 

indeterminate n~umber of persons may be appointed to 

hold each precinct primary election if It is so determined by the county executive committee. 

2. The four persons appointed to hold the 

"farm-to-market election" shall be chosen where practicable from opposing polltltial parties; contrarily, 

however, the three persons or more appointed to hold 

the "primary election" are chosen from the same political party. : 

3. The judges and clerks of each election 

precinct in the "farm-to-market election" are paid. 

by the county, but the judges and clerks of the 

"Primary election" are paid by the county chairman 

out of the funds derived through the assessments 

paid by the candidates of the party holding the, 

primary election. 

4. All other expenses of holding the 'farmto-market election" are peld for by the county, whereas 

similar expenses for holding the "primary election" are 

paid by the county chairman out of the funds collected 

from the candidates. 

This office passed on a similar question In 

Attorney General's Opinion O-2539 (l#O), from which 

we quote as follows: 

‘I 

. . . However, we are of the opinion 

that Article 666-33, supra, is an express 
Hon. Leonard King, page 6, (v-1448) 

provision of the statutes requiring the 

commlssioners~ court to appoint offloers 

to hold local option electiona~,ae now required to hold general elections, and In 

appointing 'or attempting to appoint the 

election officials designated to hold prlmary elections would not be In compliance 

with the express provisions of the above 

mentioned statute. 

"In view of the foregoing> you are 

respectfully advised that It 1s the oplnion of~thls department that the commlssloners' court does not have the legal 

authority to appoint as judges of a local 

option election the same judge8 as those 

appointed by the County Democratic Committee to hold the Democratic Primary Election. In the event the same election 

judges, etc. holding the primary election 

were to hold the local option election at 

the same time, there would be no saving of 

'exp$nses, for the county must pay the expens- 

' es of holding the local option election, 

and candidates, through the county chairman, pay the expenses of the primary election and the county could not legally avoid 

the payment of the expenses of holding the 

local option election by attempting to have 

the election officials of the primary election to hold the local option election along 

with the primary election, the expense of 

. . 

such being paid bK the candidates In the 

s primary eleotlon. 

In view of the foregolng, It Is ok ,oplnIon that the oommle~l~nere-' oourt does ,not have”&u- . 

thorl 

h% 

to or@r tiat’tha eUet9on juBgee and olerks"=' 

oonduo lng 8 pa&y prlmmry:eleotlon al00 cWMUCt at 

the name time aceleotion to determine If a11 ad valorem 

tax should be levied for farm-to-mu4cet and lateral 

roada. 
Ron. Le.onard King, page, 7 (v-1448) 

A commi~%!loness', court do&.not have 

authority to &der tha.t the eleatloh'judges 

and clerks conducting a prlmary~~,~lection 

also conduct at the same time'8ti!electlon 

to determilie if an ad valorem ix& should be 

'levied for farm-to-market and lateral, roads. 

Yours veby thly, 

APPROVED: 

Mary K, Wall 

Reviewing Assistant 

PFU~B DANXEL 

Attorney Qeheral 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Ahlstant 

JCD:mh :' 

,e.$uh),p11 

. C. Davis, Jr. 

Assistant