TaE ATTORNEY GENEOF TEXAS 

April 18, 1939 

Hon. Tom F. Coleman, Jr. 

County Attorney 

hngellna County 

ILIfkin, Texas 

Opiniori No. O-610 

May the Commisslone~s Court ., Of 

Angelina Angelina County legally legally pay&g for all 

the DrorJeF exDeI1ses lncui‘rd incui‘rea~ in 

Dear Sir: 

RIS: 

the gpecial eiectlon hela underthe authority of Articl&, 1133 CmI1134, Revised Ciiril St&td%s,‘1925, 

for the incorporation of the city 

of Huntington? 

Your re@iest dated April 5, 1939 for ari"oplnlon frbm' 

the Lttorney General on the following question, has been received: 

'(* l l As to whettier or not.'the C&nmFs- 

&lion&G CoUrt of Angelina County can~~legally .. 

pay~all proper expenses Incurred in the special 

election held.under the authority of Articles 

1133 and 1134, Vernon's Revised Civil Statutes, 

'~ for the incorporation ofthe city of Huntington." 

Articles 1133 and 1$3&,~'R.C.S., 1925 

referred to in your request, are set out in full: 

"ArtWle 1133. &'& Incorporated. 

When a town or village may cbntain 

in6tie than four hundreds and less than'.ten thotisand Inhabittints, it may.~be Incorporated as a 

totln or village In the manner prescribed in this 

chapter." 

"Article 1134."' Mode of incorworation. ^ 

If the lnhabltan~f?ui:h toijn or village 

desire to be so 1ncorporated;at l‘east twenty 

tiesldents thereof, who would be'quallfl& voters 

i&d&r the"provlslons of this chapter, shall file 

en application for that purpose in the ofcice of. 

the'.couhty judge. of the county In which the town 

or: village is situated, stating.the'~boundarles.of 

the proposed town or vlllage, the n&tie by which 
Hon. Tom F. Coleman, Jr., .April 18, 1939, page 2 0-610 

it is to be known when incorporated, and accompany the same with a plat of the proposed town 

or'vlllage Including therein no territory except 

that which is Intended to be used for strictly 

town purposes. If any. town or village be situated on both 'sides of a line dividing two counties, 

application may be maae^to the county" judge'or 

either county In which a portion of said town 

or village is located, in mannei? and form as herein providea. A new' election shall not be ordered 

in less than one year." 

The election provided for in the two articles above 

quoted is undoubtedly a special election. 

9 RULING' CASE LAW. p. 978 

"Any election which Is not regularly 

held for the electloncf officers or for some 

other"purpose.which shall come before the Alectors at regular fixed intervals Is a special election. ,It.Ls opposed fin irieaning more particularly 

to regular than to general elections, and so 

where elections are ~classifled as"genera1 and 

special, a regular annual municipal election cannot be-included in the latter class, but must 

be' treated as a general election. l +',* Where 

the constitution provides for the organization of 

a city under general laws .'whenever a xc&jority -' 

of the electors voting at a general election shall 

So determine' the election to decide the question IS, still a special election although decided 

at a general electlon,"and a statute providing for 

the calling of a special election to determine 

the question Is not lnconslstent with the constItutlona1 r,equirement, and this is true notwithstanding the fact that the special election is to 

be held on the same day as the general election. 

The use of the word 'special' in such a case is 

,surplusage, as the election not being a regular 

ge;uzr;y,,one could not be other than special. 

2O'CORPUS JURIS, D. 56 

~"A special election lsone provided for 

by law,under special circumstances. It is an 

election held to supply a vacancy in office before the expiration of the'full term for which 

the incumbent was elected, nor an election at 
Hon. Tom F. Coleman, Jr., April 18, 1939, page 3 0-610 

which some question or proposition is submitted 

to the vote of the qualified electors, or an election for someparticular emergency. + * l +'I 

The county judge has charge of the details of the 

election for the purpose of determining whether or not a town 

or village containing more than four hundred and less than ten 

thousand inhabitants Is to be incorporated and is empowered to 

apbolnt the necessary election officers by Article 1136, which 

reads as follows: 

"Article 1136. Election order 

If satisfactory proof is made that the 

town or vlllage.contains the requisite number of 

Inhabitants, the county judge shall make an order 

for holding an election on a day therein stated 

and at a place designated with in the town or s 

village for the purpose of submitting the question~,~ 

to a vote of the people. He shall appoint an officer to preside at the election, who shall select 

two judges and two clerks to assist in holding It. 

After a previous notice of ten,dayS, by posting 

advertisement thereof at three public places In 

the town or village, the election shall be held 

in the manner prescribed for holding elections 

in other cases." 

In view of the fact that the election for the incorporatlon of the city of HUntington was a special election, hrticle 

29% is applicable. It provides for expenses for election supplies and reads as follows: 

"Article 2996. ExDenses for election 

SUDDlieS. All expenses incurred In providing 

voting booths, stationery, official ballots, 

wooden or rubber stamps, tally sheets, polling 

lists, instruction cards, ballot boxes, envelopes,,sealing wax and all other supplies required for conducting a general or sp,ecial election shall be paid for by the county, except the 

cost of supplying booths for cities. All accounts 

for supplies furnished or services rendered 

shall first be approved by the Commissioners court, 

except th8 accounts for voting booths for Cities.!' 

According to the provisions of said article, all expenses connected with the mechanism of a special election for 

the purpose of incorporating a city within the population rang8 

of four hundred ~to ten thousand inhabitants shall be paid for 

by th8 county within which it Is situated. 
Hon. Tom F. Coleman, Jr., April 18, 1939, page 4 0-610 

Article 2943, R.C.S. of 1925, as amended by Acts of 

the 45th Legislature, p. 591, Chapter 295, par. 1, 1937, sets 

forth the scale of compensation for judges and clerks of both 

general and special elections. It stipulates that payment shall 

be made by the county treasurer of the county where the election is held upon order of the Commissioners Court. We quote 

the statute as amended: 

"Article 2943. Pay of judges and clerks. 

Judges and Clerks of general and special elections 

shall be paid Three Dollars ($3) a aas each. and 

Thirty (36) Uents per hour each-for any time in 

excess of a day's.work as herein defined; provided 

that in all counties having a population in excess 

of thrree hundred and fifty-five thousand (355,000) 

inhabitants, according to the last preceding or 

any future Federal Census, such Judges~and Clerks 

shall be aid Five Dollars ($5) a day each and 

Fifty (5Op Cents per hour each for any timi in excess of a day's, work as herein defined. The hag8 

who delivers the returns 'of election immediately 

after the votes have been counted shall be paid 

Two Dollars ($2) for that service, provided the : 

polling place of his precinct Is at least two (2) 

miles from the courthouse, and provided also he 

shall make returns -of all election supplies not 

used when he makes return' of the'election. Ten 

(10) working hcurs shall be.consider&d 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 are rendered upon order 

of the Commissioners Court of such county." 

Since an election. for the incorporation of a city 

within the four hundred to’ten thousand population range is a 

special election, and since articles 2996 and 2943 provide for 

payment of expenses of materials and services used In such special 

election by the county, it is our opinion that there Is statutory 

authorization for the payment of the expenses of the election for 

the incorporation of the city of Huntington by the county of 

Angelina. 

We have noted Article 2997, R.C.S. which says that "The 

expense of all 

same are held." 

city elections shall be paid by the city in which 

It is our opinion that this article does not 

govern the situation of a special election under the supervision 

of county authorities where the question of incorporation itself is being voted upon by the citizens of a given area within 

the county. In this case the area to b8 incorporated, subsequently the city of Huntington, ,was not a city within the purview of 
Hon. Tom F. Coleman, Jr., April 18, 1939, page 5 O-610 

Article 2997 prior to the time of the election. Article 2997 

is applicable to municipal elections only, and the city of Huntington was not subject to the provisions of said article,until 

after the incorporation election. 

The expenses incurred in the election held for the 

purpose of incorporating the city of Huntington were Incurred by 

the county under articles 1133, 1134 and 1136, R.C.S., 1925. 

We hold, therefore, that Articles 2943 and 2996 are 

controlling and that the county of Angelina may legally pay all 

proper expenses incurred in the special election held under the 

authority of Articles 1133 and 1134, R.C.S., 1925, for the lncorporation of the city of Huntington. 

Trusting that the above fully answers your inquiry, 

we are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GRNRRAL OF TEXAS 

By s/Dick Stout 

Dick Stout 

Assistant 

DS:omb:wc 

APPROVED: 

s/Gerald C. Mann " 

h!PTOFtNEY GENERALOF TEXAS