OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Lee Freenell 

Oouuty Attorney 

3Ypahur County 

Oilmel?, Tsxas 

Dear Slrr 

May 5, 1989 

f your letter or April 

of this Department 

the authority, 

e boundaries of 

the Texas Coastltutlon proqegulatlng the ma~gement of publio 

aohools, the building & repding or 

sohool houses, and the raising of money for 

such purposes; 

*And in all other oases where a general 

law can be made applloablo,~no+l~o,~~ or 

speoial law shall be enaotedl 
Honorable Lee Presnell, Kay 5, 1939, Page 2 

Prior to 1927, Section 3, Article 7 

Constitution contained the following language: 

of the State 

"And the legislature may also provide 

for the formation of school districts by 

general or special law without the local - 

notice required In other cases of speolal 

legislation." 

This seotion of the Constitution was re-adopted 

e$Zeotive January 20, 1927, and the above provlslong was 

ohanged to read as follows: 

"And the legislature may also provide 

for the funmatfon of eohool districts by 

general laws.* 

After this ~onstltutloual provisions was changed the - 

14% Legislature in 1933 passed a speoial aot, provl~ding for 

$he fOrmat&ion of a oouuty-wide oozmon sohool dlstrlot in Kln- 

.ney County on a majority vote of the qualified voters of said 

oouuty, abolishing existing sohool distriots and providing 

ior the op.eration of said dlstriot. In Fritter v. West (T.C.A. 

1933) 65 S.W. (2) 414, this speolal sot was held 'unoonstltu- 

.$:oual, the Court stating: 

*It is clear that, by eliminating from 

the Constitution the provision that school 

districts oould be formed by speoial law, It 

was Intended that such distrlot be oreated 

by general laws. 

rrFurt.hennore, the oonstitution now provides a speoirio manuer in which sohool dlatrlcts may be formed, that ls,.by general 

law. This would exclude the formation of 

school districts in any other ~aaMer than 

that expressly provided -ior in the oonatitution.T* * *v 

'5. B. Ho. 542, being a speoial law 

and repugnantto seotion.~.Artiale 7 and 

geotion 56 of Article 3,&f our State 

Const$tutlon, i'unoonstituional and 

void." 

In Brownfield v. Tongate, ( :?C. A. 1937) 109 S.W. (2) 

352, the 44th Legislature bad passed T%lll a validating the 

action of the Connty Board of Sohool Trustees in Terry County 
Honorable Lee Presnell, I&y 5, 1939, Page 3 

In detachinr: thirteen sections fro= theRed Onion Common 

Sahool District and atteching it to the Union Independent 

School District in Terry County under and by virtue of 

Mticle 27421 or Article 2742m. In holding such act to 

be unconstitutional the court stated: 

"Since under its provision this act applies to Dimmitt and Terry Counties only and 

oould never have atfeoted any othera, we oonelude Senate Bill No. 19 was a looal law. The 

Legislature $8 peraltted to provide for the 

formation of sohool dlstrlote by general laws 

only, aonstltotion Artiole 7 Seation 9, and 

not by epeoial laws, henod we are of the opininn that the 'legislature was without authority 

to validate the order of the Sohool Board of 

~. 

We are of the opinion that when Article 5 Seation 

56, and Artlole 7 Seation Sof the Texas Constitution are 

oo~strukd together, the Legislature ia without authority to 

ohsnge the boundaries of a common aohool disttiiot by epeoial 

or looal law. 

Very truly your8 

By (signed) %eoll C. C&u&k 

Ceoil C. Gammaok 

'Assistant 

Wl'ORX?EYGENRRALOFTEXAS