THE L~TI-ORNEY GENERAL 

OF-XAS 

AUSTIN. TEXAS 78711 

April 18, 1972 

Hon. Rayford Price 

Speaker, State of Texas 

House of Representatives 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Opinion No. M-1120 

Rez. Whether the nepotism 

statutes prohibit a member of one house of the 

Legislature from employing a person on his staff 

who is not related to him 

but is related within the 

second degree of affinity 

or the third degree of 

consanguinity to a member 

of the other house of the 

Legislature, and a related question. 

You have presented the following two questions to 

this office for an official opinion: 

"(1) Do the nepotism statutes prohibit 

a member of one house of the legislature from 

employing a person on his staff who is not related to him but is related within the third 

degree of affinity or the second degree of 

consanguinity to a member of the other house 

of the legislature? 

"(2) Do the nepotism statutes prohibit 

the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

who is authorized by House Rules to appoint 

employees of the House of Representatives, 

from appointing a person as an employee Of 

the House who is not related to any member 

of the House but is related within one of 

the degrees mentioned above to a State 

Senator? M 

-5454- 
Hon. Rayford Price, page 2 (M-1120) 

Article 432 of the Penal Code of Texas prohibits 

employment or appointment of persons related within the 

second degree by affinity or within the third degree by 

consanguinity. This opinion, of course, will be restricted 

to these respective degrees of relationship. 

This Article prohibits the appointment by 

II . . 0 any member of the Legislature, . . . 

of any person related . . . to any other member 

of.. . the Legislature . . . when the . . . 

compensation of such appointee is to be paid 

for, ; . . out of or from public funds. . .- 

It is patent that your first question must be 

answered in the .affirmative. The statute clearly prohibits 

a member of one.House of the Legislature from hiring a relative (within the restricted degrees of relationship) of 

a member of either House of the Legislature when such employee is to be paid from public funds. Article 433 of 

the Penal Code expressly provides that "members of the 

Legislature" are subject to the inhibitions of Article 432. 

The office of Speaker of the House of Representatives derives from Article III, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution, which reads, in pertinent part, as follows: 

II . 0 . The House of Representatives shall, 

when it first assembles, organize temporarily, and 

thereupon proceed to the election of a Speaker 

from its own members; and each House shall choose 

its other officers." 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is a 

member of the House of Representatives when elected, and he 

does not lose his status as a member of the House of Representatives after becoming elected Speaker. As a member of 

the House of Representatives the Speaker is prohibited by 

Article 432 from appointing a relative of a State Senator 

as an employee of the House of Representatives. Article 

433 declares that "The inhibitions set forth in this law 

-5455- 
. . 

Hon. Rayford Price, page 3 (M-1120) 

shall apply to and include the . . . Speaker of the House 

of Representatives." 

We therefore answer your second question in the 

affirmative, since we are convinced by a study of the legislative history of the nepotism laws that Article 432 is 

fully applicable to the members of the Legislature and the 

Speaker of the House. 

SUMMARY 

Article 432 and 433, Vernon's Penal Code, 

prohibit a member of one House of the Legislature from hiring a relative of a member of the 

other House of the Legislature when such relationship is within the second degree by affinity 

or within the third degree by consanguinity. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is a 

member of the House of Representatives and is 

governed by Articles 432 and 433. 

C. MARTIN 

orney General'of Texas 

Prepared by Robert W. Gauss 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

-5456- 
Hon. Rayford Price, page 4 (M-1120) 

Lonny Zwiener 

Sam. L. Jones, Jr. 

John Grace 

J. C. Davis 

SAMUEL D. McDANIEL 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLAWHITE 

First Assistant 

-5457-