OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Sonorabla Glenn Ca;ps 

County Attorncly, I(eson Couatp 

mason, Texas 

S3ar sir: Gpinion No. o-6585 

he: Legality of md th8 

to be followed in a 

‘60 h,#s your l&t 

request an oplalon on the toll 

n wsbool district 

10s within ftr 

has been oondrtcted In 

a parlod of tire yeam, 

r rote of the reeident 

and over the protect of the 

aoutlguou8 ooniwm so-1 axuhe event of the. attaohlng of the tsrriiguous oomnou school district to said 

ependerrt aohool diatriot by said oounty 

board would the territory and property wlthia aald uom- 

&on school district attaohed be liable in proportion to 

its aseeesed value for tha outstanding ‘bonded indebtednese of the independent school district to which it is 

attached without a majority vote of the reaidsnt cltizenship of maid attoclad cmxmn school d&strict end/or the 

lndepeadent district ae a whole? 
Honorable Glenn Cagps, pa&e 2 

*lb. would the tax rate ror sohool purpose8 of 

the independent sahool diatriot apply to the territory 

of the attached ocmson 8ohool diatrlct wcit.kmut a majority vote of the qualified reeldent oitieenship of the 

attached territory (preeent tax rate of 1ndepenUnt dlstrict being tl.00 on om hundred dollar amessed mluation ror 8ohool purpotia8 and in oomuw eohool di8trlot 

attached $.lO (lO#) on the one hundred dollar raluution)? 

"lo. tiould the valuation of territory and property 

within attached ooaam sOhoo1 district be fixed and a8- 

aermed for rohool purpose8 at value Ilxed and as8888ed for 

oounty and etate taxe8, or at valuation au fixed and a8- 

aessed by independent school Uistrirrt for sobDo tax purpose87 

"ld. Would County Board of 3ohool TrusSeer or Tru8- 

tee8 of Independent Gohool District hare authority to apply valuation8 and tax zmte OS independent eehool dlatriot 

to territory of attaohed oommon eohool dlstriot? 

"E. m'ould the County Board of ;ichool Trustees of 

teacon Countr, finding it neoe88ary ror the intereet of thm 

a~ohool ohildron, have authority under the provirion8 ot 

Art. Z9Ua or Art. 89U. to detaoh territory from a eontiguou8 eonumn rohool dimtriot add add the territory 80 detaohed 

to oontiguou8 independent scflool district, eald ooamn (iebool 

distrlot containing 1M rquare miles or more and heti~ no 

bonded indebtednelu'i 

*eS. Would the oonsezt or approval of the mejorlty 

of the resident cltlzenrhlp or tlm trusteae of said ooxtnon 

eohool dietriot, br petition, vote or otherwi8e, be neac8- 

sary before the County Board of aohool Truetre8 ocluld legally 

detaoh territory from the o,mnon aohool dietriot and attaoh 

sake to independent sohool diezrict? 

"eb. Gould territory eo detaohed from eomuin aohool 

dietriot aud attaohed to independent aohool distriot bo 

liable for pro-existing bonded indebtedness of independent 

school distriot without majority vote of citlwn8hlp ot 

tarriiory detaohed or district as whole a8 enlarged? 
“80. lould tax rate and ralui~tioas for tax purgoeer, of iodqmndent sob001 dlstriot bo legally applicable 

to dataohed territory of ooamoIL school dletrict without 

consent of majority of oitlzenehip of detached territory 

by vote, petition or othmwite? 

-26. bould mticle 2741 or Article 2742a be ep- L 

plicable, or would or nhould the procedure as set iorth 

in ;,rtlCle 2941 or 27480 be rollouedV 

m3.%ou14 the county hoerd or tehool Trust&err under 

the provlolons OS irtlole 2741 and 274tf, have authority, 

when duly petitioned, by e majority of the reeident oitizurshlp end the majority of the trusbeee of 8 ooatlguous 

oomm~n aohool district to annex the territow of @id ooma08 school distriot to a aoatiguoua indegmadent eollool 

diatricb? 

“5a. When annexed, rorlld the territory of meid OOPanon aohool dietrict be liable for pre-exlatiog bowled indebtedness OS iadependent eohool 4latrlot to whioh attaohod without a vote of majority of unnoxed dietriot OT 

distriot voting aa a wholo? 

“3b. H’ould tax rat6 0Ad ValuatiOar ot t;ixable 

property ror eohool pupoee 0r lndepenaent sohool dirtr io t be applioeble to l tmmxed oomn sohool diatrlot 

without maJoritI vote of oitiaensh~lp ot aoaexed district 

or dlstrlat aa a whole? 

“4. #here reoords of the rsotrrded field note8 cod 

deocription of Independent and Co.mon Sohool Gietrlote of 

County have been lent or destroyed and the County Judge 

and/or the County Board of ~ohool Trustees bate been petftimed of desire to order an election to oonmolldete or 

amex (six) otmtiguoua uomnon school dlstrlota to e oentral 

oontl&guous independent eolwol dietriot In county, and des%re to set forth rlelu notes and deacriptlon or OOWIKB~ 

eohool distriot an4 Independent sohool dlstrlot in eleotion order and natiaer, would the Comiiseionera’ Court 

under term of Artlele 2942 be legally authorlxed to oauee 

to be cede new mete6 and bound8 of said sobool diatrlote, 

hollowing original boundnrioe in 80 far %A# pmatiaable 

and can be ransonably aooerthined of oomwm arohool dletricte and independent sohool dfstri& of the County and 

approve saul~ &e true bmnndoriea of eatd school districta 
IA s&id oounty and b%ve seid field notee and descriptions filed and reaorded in proper reoorde of the 

county. 

“4a. Kould said field notes 80 made be valid 

field notes of the ,netes and bound% of the school districts within oounty an4 oould same be legzlly used 

wnen inade In election order and election notices in 

eleotion for consolidation or annexation of oontiguous 

eahool distriate under the provieions of .-rtiole 2806 

end hrtfcle 2922a7" 

‘ne ahall answer your queetione in their numerical 

order, using the %%me deeignation a8 that oontained In your 

letter. 

artiole 2742m, 1925 Revise4 Civil Statute% 

was passed in’& and has been supereeded by nrtiole 2742ez1, 

passed in 1939. Thle latter aot ombreoe8 the s%me oubject 

matter oontained in Mtiole 2942m and being the latest expreesion OS the Leglelature, 1s oontrolllng. *e advioe you to 

follow the prgvIsIona ot Article 2942e-1. 

la. The added territory of said contiguous oommon 

sohool distrlot would not be liable In proportion to l@ aseeaee4 

values for the out%tanding bonded indebtedneae of the independent 

echo01 4istriot until aster an eleotion wae held in the district 

as a whole aseumIng e,uoh indebtedneu. See Crebb v. Celeete 

Independent Sohool District, 140 9. W. page 528, et cetera. 

lb. The tax rate for school purposes of the lndependent eohool district wouid not apply to the territory of the attached oommon school dietrict without e majority vote of the qualified resident taxpayer% of the district a% a whole. In other words, 

after thie 00?8[11on school district territory has been attached to 

the Independent school district, it would be neoessary to have 

an election throughout the dietrict ae extended, on the queetion 

of voting a uniform tax over the entire dlstriot. 

lo. If the Independent dletrict has Its own t%l aesessor or its own tax aseessor and collector, the valuatioti of 

property for school purposee could be assessed at a different 

valuation from that assessed for state an4 oountg taxes, but If 

the taxes :,re assessed and colleated by the County &mes8or’- 

Colleotor, the valuations must be the sad* 8s those for 3tat.e 

an4 oounty purgouee. Of course, after the Independent district 

is enlarged by attachIn@, the added territory, an election .mst 

be held In the dlstriot ae enlarged before any tar may be oollected on %Ay of the property in the district. 
ld. In view ot answers to your questions la and lb, 

we answer this question lh the negative. However, if after the 

territory of the oomon school district Is attached to the independent sahool district, the trustaes of the independent school district 

would fix the tax rate within the rate authorized by the quallrled 

tax paying voters of the enlarged district at an election held for 

that purpose, unless the rate voted is a speoiric rate. 

The valuationa will be determined 5.n aaoordanoe with 

our answer to lo,, subject to equalication by either the Board of 

Equalization of the district or the county according to the method 

of aeaaeslng the taxes adopted by the truataee of the independent 

school district. 

2. The County Board of School Trustees would have 

authority under Article 2742a to detach terrftory from a contiguous 

oommon school district oontaining 126 equare miles or more which 

has ho bond.ed indebtedness, ii necessary for the interest of the 

eohool ohildren, and attach saxe to a eontlguous independent school 

district, provided that no common sohool dlstriat, when so reduaed, 

shall contain less than nine quare miles; provided reasonable 

notice is giveu to the public and to the trusteer of the dletriote 

atfeoted and sufficient opportunity ia given for all interested 

persons to be heard. 

ea. The eonsent or approval oi the majority of the 

resident oitixenehip er the trustees of said eonmon eohoel district 

is not required, but mtiole 2748a does require that the truateea 

of the common school distriot and the independent school district, 

and the public be given notice of the hearing before the oounty 

board, after which hearing, the county may proceed to enter Its 

order. 

2b. The territory so detaohed from the oomnon sohool 

district and attached to independent school dlstriot would not be 

liable for pre-existing bonded indebtedness oi the independent 

sohool district without majority vote of property taxpayers at an 

eleotion held to determine whether the enlarged district should 

assume the outstanding bonds of the Independent school district. 

20. This question ie answered by our anewer to 

question ld. 

26. The procedure set out in 2742a should be folloWed. 
3. HO. Article 2742f does not authorlee the county 

board or school trustees to annex g of a oommon sohool dfstriot 

to another district. The proper procedure in such oasea would be 

to have an eleotion in each district to authorize the consolidation 

of the district, pursuant to the 

later statute than article 2741. 

govisions 0r Article 2806, a 

3-a, 3b. In view 0r our answer to your queatfon 6, 

It lm not neoeasary to antawer theae questions. 

4. Where the records or the recorded field notes of 

a oommon or independent school district has been lost or dertroyed, 

we think the County Board of i;ohool Trustees should paae an order 

re-derining and re-eotabllshlng the diatrlot or dlrtrlots, rollowlng the original boundaries Insofar es praotIoable, and when this 

order has been paseed, it should be raoorded, together with the 

rield notes, in the proper records ot the oounty~. 

4a. The answer to this q!~&%sU on 18 yea. 

we are 

Trusting this satis~aotorlly enawera your questlone, 

Your8 very truly 

A'lTOP3IZY GENE&&L OF TFXAS 

C. P. Glbron 

Assistant