The Honorable Carlos Valdez 

105th Judicial District Attorney 

Nueces County Courthouse 

901 Leopard, Room 206 

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 -368 1 

GREG ABBOTT 

July 18,2007 

Opinion No. GA-0555 

Re: Residency requirements for election to 

Del Mar College District Board of Regents 

(RQ-0562-GA) 

Dear Mr. Valdez: 

You inquire about the residency requirements applicable to candidates for election to the 

governing body of the Del Mar College District (the "District").' Del Mar College is a two-year 

institution of higher education governed by a board of regents elected by the voters of the District. 

Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1. 

You state that the District has historically relied on Election Code section 141.001 as 

governing the residency requirement for candidates for election to the District's Board of Regents. 

See id. Election Code section 14 1 .OO 1 (a)(5)(B) provides as follows: 

(a) To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or 

appointed to, a public elective office in this state, a person must: 

(5) have resided continuously in the state for 12 months 

and in the territory from which the office is elected for six months 

immediately preceding the following date: 

(B) for an independent candidate, the date of the 

regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the 

ballot. . . . 

'Letter from Honorable Carlos Valdez, Nueces County District Attorney, 105th Judicial District, to Honorable 

Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas, at 1 (Jan. 12,2007) (on file with the Opinion Committee, also available at 

http:/lwww.oag.state.tx.us) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 
The Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 2 (GA-0555) 

TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 5 14 1 .OO 1 (a) (Vernon 2003).* Section 14 1.001 (a)(5)(B) requires a candidate 

for regent of the District to reside in the territory from which the office is elected for at least six 

months before the filing deadline.3 

You point out, however, that Election Code section 141.001(b) provides that "[a] statute 

outside this code supersedes Subsection (a) to the extent of any conflict," and section 141.001(c) 

provides that "[s]ubsection (a) does not apply to an office for which the federal or state constitution 

or a statute outside this code prescribes exclusive eligibility requirements." TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 

5 14 1 .OO 1 (b)-(c) (Vernon 2003); Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2; see also TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 

5 130.082(f) (Vernon 2002) (elections for members of the junior college board "shall be held in 

accordance with the Texas Election Code except as hereinafter provided"). Education Code section 

130.082, which governs the election of Del Mar College regents, includes language that you believe 

may conflict with the six-month residency requirement in Election Code section 141.001 (a)(5)(B). 

See TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 5 130.082(a) (Vernon 2002) (governing boards ofjunior colleges shall 

be chosen pursuant to section 130.082, subject to certain exceptions); Request Letter, supra note 1, 

at 2. Section 130.082(d) provides that "[elach member of the board shall be a resident, qualiJied 

voter of the district." TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 5 130.082(d) (Vernon 2002) (emphasis added). 

Section 130.082(g) provides that "[alny resident, qualzjied elector of the district may have his or her 

name placed as a candidate on the official ballot for any position to be filled at each regular election" 

by applying to the secretary of the board. Id. 8 130.082(g) (emphasis added). See Oser v. Cullen, 

435 S.W.2d 896, 898-99 (Tex. Civ. App-Houston [lst Dist.] 1968, writ dism'd) (a "qualified 

elector" or "qualified voter" holds a voter registration certificate); BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 1254 

(7th ed. 1999) (a qualified elector is a legal voter, who meets the requirements for voter registration 

and has the present right to vote in an election). 

Section 130.082(g) does not include a six-month residency requirement, and you suggest that 

it dispenses with this requirement "in direct contradiction of Section 141 .OO 1 of the Election Code." 

Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2. You suggest that the Education Code provision referring to 

"residency" controls over the Election Code section 14 1 .OO 1 (a)(5)(B) six-month residency 

requirement. See id. Under your interpretation, a registered voter could be a candidate for the 

District Board of Regents upon establishing residency in the district or the applicable trustee district. 

See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 8 1.015 (Vernon 2003) (defining "residence"). 

Brown v. Patterson, which addresses two statutes very similar to the Election Code and 

Education Code provisions at issue here, provides the answer to your question. See Brown v. 

Patterson, 609 S.W.2d 287, 288-89 (Tex. Civ. App.-Dallas 1980, no writ). In that case, an 

2The term "independent candidate" includes a candidate in a nonpartisan election. See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 

5 1.005(9) (Vernon 2003). 

3The Del Mar College Board of Regents includes at-large members and members elected fi-om a defined area 

within the District's boundaries. See DEL MAR COLLEGE, BOARD OF REGENTS, available at http://www.delmar.edu/ 

bdadmin.htm1 (last visited July 16, 2007); see also TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 5 130.0822 (Vernon 2002) ('junior college 

board may order that all or a majority of board members be elected from single-member trustee districts). Thus, some 

regents are elected from single-member districts and others from the entire junior college district. 
The Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 3 (GA-0555) 

individual was appointed to a vacancy in the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees, 

and the appointment was contested on the ground that the appointee did not fulfill the statutory 

residency requirements. See id. at 288. The Election Code included the requirement now found in 

Election Code section 14 1 .OO 1 (a)(5), requiring an appointee or candidate to have resided in the state 

for twelve months and in the district, precinct, or other political subdivision for which he was elected 

for six months before being appointed to or filing for an office. See id. (quoting Act of May 19, 

1967, 60th Leg., R.S., ch. 723, fj 4, 1967 Tex. Gen. Laws 1858, 1861 (formerly article 1.05 of the 

1951 Election Code) (recodified in 1985) (current version at TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. fj 141.001(a) 

(Vernon 2003)). Another statute divided the Dallas Independent School District into nine singlemember trustee districts and provided that "residence within the Trustee District from which a 

person seeks to be a candidate at the time of filing for office shall be a prerequisite to filing." Id. at 

289 (quoting TEX. EDUC. AUX. LAWS art. 2783d (Vernon 2006) [Act of May 14, 1973,63d Leg., 

R.S., ch. 21 1, fj 1, 1973 Tex. Gen. Laws 485, 4861). 

The appointed trustee, who had not resided within his trustee district for the six months 

immediately preceding his appointment, argued that the Education Code provision prevailed over 

the general residency requirements in the Election Code. See id. at 288-89. The court disagreed and 

resolved the alleged conflict between the Election Code and Education Code residency provisions 

by examining the policy underlying the provisions. See id. at 289. It said that the general residency 

requirements for election to office, first adopted in 1895, represented the longstanding and fixed 

public policy of the state-that a candidate for public office must have resided in the particular 

district or precinct from which he is elected for at least six months. See id. at 290 (citing Act 

approved April 20,1895,24th Leg., R.S., ch. 56,1895 Tex. Gen. Laws 81,81-82). The court noted 

that the residency requirement would "provide better representation by assuring that voters will be 

better acquainted with the qualifications and views of the candidates and that candidates will be 

better acquainted with and responsive to the needs and desires of the voters." Id. It found no 

indication that the Legislature intended the Education Code to exempt school trustees from residing 

for six months in the trustee district. See id. at 291. "Such a departure from the long-established 

policy and political tradition of the state should not be attributed to the legislature in the absence of 

express and mandatory language." Id. Because the Education Code did not expressly exempt school 

trustees from residing for six months in the trustee districts from which they were elected, they were 

subject to the Election Code residency requirements. See id. at 291. 

We conclude on the basis of Brown that Election Code section 141.001(a)(5)(B) and 

Education Code section 130.082(g) can be read together. See id. ("[Wle can give full effect to both 

statutes and their underlying policies by holding that there is no conflict . . . ."). A candidate for the 

District's Board of Regents must be a "resident, qualified elector" under Education Code section 

130.082(g) and must satisfy Election Code section 14 1 .OO 1 (a)(5)'s six-month residency requirement. 

TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. fj 130.082(g) (Vernon 2002); see TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. tj 141.001(b) 

(Vernon 2003) (six-month residency requirement superseded only "to the extent of any conflict"). 

Moreover, on the basis of Brown's holding, we conclude that Education Code section 130.082(g)'s 

permitting any resident, qualified voter to become a candidate by applying to the secretary of the 

board does not prescribe "exclusive eligibility requirements." See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 

tj 14 1.001 (c) (Vernon 2003) (making the six-month residency requirement inapplicable if another 
The Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 4 (GA-0555) 

statute prescribes exclusive eligibility requirements); Brown, 609 S. W.2d at 291 (requiring "express 

and mandatory language" to depart from the long-established policy of a six-month residency 

requirement). Accordingly, a candidate for election to the Del Mar College District Board of 

Regents must comply with the six-month residency requirement set out in Election Code section 

141.001 (a)(5)(B). 
The Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 5 (GA-0555) 

SUMMARY 

A candidate for election to the Del Mar College District Board 

of Regents must comply with the six-month residency requirement in 

Election Code section 14 1 .OO 1 (a)(5)(B). Education Code section 

130.082(g) does not exempt candidates from the Election Code 

requirement. 

Very truly yours, 

.- ~ttorneueral of Texas 

KENT C. SULLIVAN 

First Assistant Attorney General 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee