Honorable T: M. Trimble 

First Assistant 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Re: Does the extension of the bounaaries of the city of Texarkana 

automatically extend the boundaries of the Texarkana Independent School District? 

We are in receipt of your letter of July 25, 1941, in 

whicti YOU reauest the opinion of this denartment as to whether 

or not"the extension 

automatlcallg extend 

ent 3chool District. 

of-the boundaries of the city of Texarkana 

the boundaries of the Texarkana Independof the Revised Civil Statutes reads as 

Extending city . . -. . 

l_lmlts to include - 

Article 2804 

follows: 

"Art. 2804. 

district. Whenever tne llinits 0s any lncorporatea 

city or town constituting an independent school 

district are so extended or enlarged as to embrace 

the whole or any part of any independent or common 

school dfstrlct adjacent to such incorporated city 

or town, that portion of such adjacent district so 

embraced within the corporate limits of such incorporated cftg or town shall thereafter become a part 

of the independent school district constituted by 

Isuch Incorporated city or town. 

"If within the portion of such district so embraced there should be situated any real property 

belonging to such district, such city or town may 

acquire the same upon such terms as may be mutually 

agreed upon between the governing body of such city 

or town and the authorities of such district. 

"This article Shall not apply where it shall 

be determined at an election held within such city 

#or town by majority vote of those voting thereon 

,that the territory or any portion thereof to be so 
Hon. 'T. p1. Trimble, page 2 O-3823 

embraced shall not thereby become a part of the independent school district constituted by such city 

or town, but shall be taken into the c~lty limits for 

municipal purposes only, and shall remain for school 

purposes a portion of the adjacent independent or 

common school district as though said city limits 

had not been extended. . . ." 

It is apparent from the above quoted article that 

is the city of Texarkana is a city constituting an Independent 

school district, then the extension of Fts boundarles would 

automatically extend the boundaries of the school district, 

The city of Texarkana was first chartered by the Legislature in-1907 by Chapter 104, House Bill 743, Acts of the 

30th Legislature. Section 172 of said act granting a charter 

to thedty of Texarkana provides aa follows: 

"Public Schools - Independent Districts -The 

City of Texarkana is hereby constituted and shall 

continue to be a separate and independent school 

district." 

Under the above quoted enactment of city of Texarkana 

constituted an independent school district. However, in 1920, 

the L#egislature passed Chapter31, Senate Bill 9, Third Called 

Session, 36th Legislature. Section 1 of said Article provides as follows: 

"Sectlon 1. That there is hereby created the 

Texarkana Independent School Distr%ct, which shall 

include within its limits all lands and territories 

included withln the corporate limits of the city 

of Texarkana, Texas, the boundarles of said independent school district to be fdentical with the 

limits and boundaries of said city and said independent school district is hereby incorporated and 

made,a body corporate ln law for free school purposes only, separate and distinct from the corporatlon of Texarkana, Texas." 

Apparently, by the above quoted Article, the school 

system was divorced from the city of Texarkana and there was 

created the Texarkana Independent School District. Said school 

district was made a body corporate in law forfree school purposes, only, and the' Legislature said speclflcally that it was 

to be separate and distinct from the corporation of Texarkana, 

Texas. It is ~quite apparent, therefore, that after the passage 

of the above quoted enactment the city of Texarkana no longer 

constituted an independent school district but rather the Tex- 
Hon. T. M. TrFmble, page 3 O-3823 

arkana Independent School District was created as a separate 

distinct corporate entity apart from the'~municipa1 corporation 

constituting the city of Texarkana. '~~Apparentlg some question 

arose because of the fact that the Section 1, supra, of Chapter 31 provided that the boundaries of the Texarka~na Xndependw ent School District 'should be the same as the boundaries of 

the city of Texarkana. The distinction to be known in this 

case was' made by the Supreme Court of Texas Ln the case of 

Snyder vs.'Bafrd Independent School District, 111 3. W. 723. 

The Court stated as follows: 

"The distinction between a atstrict Incorporated 

for School purposes only and~a town or cLty which 

constitutes an independent school atstrict must be 

kept in view, for upon that distinction depends the 

Proper solution of the question certified. .A corooration for school purnoses only Is not an incoruorated 

tits- OP town as .%neci.fied inthe Constitution but 

is simuly the incornoration of a 8ChOOl distrir 

Which may embrace the town or city only or it may 

smbrace a town or city and rural territory 

6e observed that, by careful use of language, 

It will 

the 

Legislature, in-creating the Baird Independent 

School District, preserved the dLstinctlon between 

the incorporated city of Baird and the incorporated 

Baird Independent School District. The first section of the act which creates the district declares 

that an incorporation for free school purposes only 

is thereby created, to be known, not as the CYty of 

Baird, but as 'the Baird Independent SchoolDistr1ct'. 

Again, in Section 2 the distinction 'LB definitely 

drawn, It is Said that the city of Baird is divested 

of the control of its public free schools wlthin its 

limits, and the control of such school8 is vested 

in the Baird Independent School District. The city 

of Baird is not an independent school district. 

Neither is the Baird Independent School District a 

city." (Underscoring ours). 

It IS the opinion of this department that Article 2804, 

supra, has no application to the Texarkana Independent School 

District and that such ArtLcle would not operate so a8 to extend the boundaries of the Texarkana Independent School Distrlct upon the extention of the boundaries of the city of 

Texarkana. 

The question is also raised in this case because Of 

the fact that the Act of 1920 creating the Texarkana Independent School District, supra , provides in SectIon 1 thatthe 

Texarkana Independent School distrfct shall include withln its 
.-. 

Hon. T. M. Trimble, Page 4 o-3823 

limits all lands and terr%tOPieB included within the corporate 

limits of the city of Texarkana, Texas, and the boundaries of 

said independent school district is to be identical with the 

limits and bound,aries of saLa city. 

The question is whether the intention of the Leglsla,- 

ture by the use of the foregoing language WaB to define the 

boundaries of the district as of the date of its creation, 

that is, was this a shorthand method for giving a metes and 

bounds descrlptlon, or was it contemplated and intended that 

the boundaries of the diBtriCt should In the future follow 

Ipso facto any changes that might be made In the boundaries 

of the other corporation, the city of Texarkana, so that 

they ,would always remain Identical. The caption of the 

original Act merely provides "An Act incorporating the Texarkana Independent School District" in relating to Section 1 of 

the Act, and the caption nowhere declares a Legislative intention that in the future when the boundaries of the city of 

Texarkana are extended that the same shall automatically extend the boundaries of the Texarkana Independent School Distrfct. 

An analogy may be drawn to the Act creating the Rouston Independent School District befng Chapter 19 of the 

Special Laws of 1923, page 317, which reads in part a8 follows: 

"An Act creating and lncorporatlng the Houston 

Independent School District, and defining its boundaries; providing that Said act shall automatically 

extend to all territory which may hereafter be included in the new city limfts by an extension thereof, and providing how the territory adjacent to said 

district may become part of said district; D O D 

"Sec. 2. That there is hereby created the Houston 

Independent School District, which Shall include within its limits all land8 and territory fncluded within 

the corporate limits of the City of Houston, and 

in addition thereto, all lands and territory adjacent 

to the corporate limits of the said City of Houston, 

and included wlthln the limits and boundaries of 

Harris County Common School D1strlc,t Number 25, as 

defined by an order of the commissfoners' court of 

Harris County, Texas, on September 20, 1915, the 

boundaries of safd independent school dlstrLct to 

be identical with the limits and boundaries of said 

cfty, and those of said Independent school district; 

and said independent school district Is hereby incorporated and made a body corporate In law for free 

school purposes only, and the name of safd corpora- 
Hon. T. M. Trimble, page 5 O-3823 

t;iOn and said independent school district shall be 

‘HOUStOn &dependent School District.’ 

"Sec. 3. In the event of the extension of the 

city limits of 'the municipality of the City of 

Eouston after the passage of this Act, the territory 

taken into said city by such extension shall automatically become a part of the~Houston.Independent 

3chool District, and subject to the provisions of 

this Act." 

Upon careful consideration, it would seem that had the 

Legislature intended to do more than define the boundaries of 

the Texarkana Independent School District at the date of its 

creation, It would have more specifically so provided as in 

the case of the Houston Independent School District, and more 

adequate notice would have been given in the tttle that not 

only were the original boundaries being fixed and defined but 

that provision was also being made for a change in those 

boundaries after their original establishment. 

It is the opinion of this department that the extension of the municipal boundaries of the city of Texarkana did 

not automatically extend the boundaries of the Texarkana Independent School District and that the boundaries of such 

school district are subject to the applicable laws relating 

to bodies corporate for school pUrpOBeS Only, 

In your letter you al80 ask what steps are necessary 

for those sections which have been annexed to the city of Texarkana to be taken in order for them to become a part of the 

Texarkana Independent School Dfstrict. The territory which 

has been annexed to the city of Texarkana forms a part of the 

Spring Lake Park Common School District, 

We call your attention to Chapter 49, Senate Bill 297, 

Special b&W8 of the 39th Legislature, First Called Session, 

1926 ,. Said Act reads In part asp follows: 

"Section 1. That Chapter 31, of the local 

and Special Laws passed by the Thirty-sixth Legislature, at its Third Called Session, 1s hereby 

amended by adding thereto three new sections to 

be designated as Sections l-a, l-b, and l-c, and 

which shall read respectively, as follows: 

"Section l-a, Whenever a majority of the 

Inhabitants, qualified to vote for members of the 

Legislature of any territory adjoining the limits 

of the Texarkana Independent School District, shall 
Hon. T. M. Trimble, page 6 

dlssire such territory to be added to and-become a 

part of said independent school district, and a 

majority of such qualified voters sign a petition 

to that effect, any three of such quallfiea voters 

my file with the board of trustees of said lndepsendent school district the said petition, making 

a,ffldavlt of the facts set forth in said petition, 

fully descrlblng by metes ana bounds the territory 

p:roposed to be annexed, and showing its location 

with reference to the existing territory of the Texa:rkana Independent School District; provided, that 

said territory proposed to be added must be contlguous to one line of said independent school district, 

And upon filing of said petition, affidavits and des,criptions, with the president of the board of 

t:rustees, it shall be his duty to submit the same to 

the board, and, if upon lnvestlgation by the board 

it is found that the proposed add,itfon is necessary 

and practicable, the said board of trustees, by resolution duly entered upon its minutes, may receive 

s,uch proposed territory as an addition to, and as 

becomlng a part of the corporate limits of the said 

Texarkana Independent School District. After the 

passage and adoption of such resolution, the terrltory SO received shall be a part of the Texarkana 

Independent School Distrfct, and the lnhabftants 

thereof shall thenceforth be entitled to all the 

rights and privileges as other citizens and lnhabitants of the said Independent school district. The 

--, whole or any P ortion of, any continuous common 

school district, whether bonded OP not, mav be annexed to the Texarkana Indenendent School District 

rn the manner herein prescribed...." (Underscoring ours) 

The above quoted statute clearly provides how territory 

may be annexed to the Texarkana Independent School District. 

It specifically provides that part of the territory so annexed 

may be part OP whole of a common school district. You are advised thatthe procedure outlined therein should be followed in 

annexing the territory which is now part of the city of Texarkana to the Texarkana Independent School District. 
Hon. T. M. Trimble, page 7 O-3823 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/Billy Goldberg 

Billy Goldb‘erg 

Assistant 

BG rN :wc 

APPROVBD AM) 7, 1941 

s/Grover Sellers 

FIRQT ASSISTANT 

ATTORNFXGENERAL 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/REK Chairman