HonorableF. T- Bmham Opinion No, c-43

CriminalDlstrfctAttorney Cameron county Brownsville,Texas Ne:

Dear se: Whether+ a county CaraniaaloDer with an unexpired telB of
more than one year autaemtleally reel(gsae

his otflco um becoming a candidatefor trustee of an fndependent school dl&Plet, and related quert1one.

In xollr

opiasfm rJe@eet,you et&e that mrIr. TQW Tmmyo, Jr., was elected to the offfoe oi Oounty Cmnl88loner~ Pre8lmt No. TWO, cawroa COWty, Zbx88, at the general elmtlon inNovember,1962,for a iour-tc#r%enr. Ilr.!lbamyo~e duly. qucrllfled

and aaeumed the dutier of such offfce on January 1, 

### 1963. On oraboutthe Sthdey of l@reh, 1963, Nr. Tammy flled a8 a candidateior the offfoe of tm8tee of the Brtnm8- vllle ConsolidatedIndWendent S&o01 Disttiot. Qn the basla ' of these raateo you hve requestedan opinion on the folloul~ QWotlon8:

'OSa (1) Are the ofYfoe8 of Bounty omlr~,ioner and trustee ootmolldatedi~ t 8@loo~ d%rtPfat ln~~tfble?
(2) Ii a tmunty omf,rfoner wit48 an miretd term in -888 Of m mF eQBWVEe8 OF flh f'aOt dOO8 b8Om a Oandlid8t.o for the offfae of tm8tee of.6 oun8olfdatedfndependent ; 8ohool di8tciotpdocrr 8uOb a- or oeind1da0yeormtitute an autarsW.0 rrrigrtla d #PO @f&O* & oouaty 00158- ' 8lamP thoo tulm 

### (3) Isa theover&

thatmaohaawuwwwt 

### or cmdl48oya8 8et out in @e8tOon Ilo.'ho &oee oomtltute an autmtfc rep 8i@l8tiORanbthO OPerti~Of Q V808tkO -8iotUti hold the &floe 'da $I& ,daQIttle OOuQtf OOIfl hi@ 8uOOe8OOFha8 boa& appo1astodt

h'tiOl0m, 6OQtiola # Of th8 5U88 COWt%tUtiOn prorLck8 th8t 80 v 8h811 hold OF WlWOi8eo et the MW ti80, moPeth85 am oirlloffloe of moluwm%, exoeptthsbto?

. ..

Bonorable P ., TI, ceaham page 2 O$inlon No, C-43

Ju8tioeof the peace, counts cowi88Ioner, and certainn8med ofSIoeenot rtex%el to thlr opinion. 'IhIs conatltutlonal provl.8Ion

would not prevent the aa@e $erson from holding the office8 of county o=Irsloner end tru8tee of an Independent 8ohool dfrtrfet,not only because the office of .countyarmrl8rIoner I8 emressly exceptedbut ale0 becaure the offfae of truetee of an Xndependentschooldisttiet Iti noe an oftlae of emolument, However, the earn8 personmay not hold tip oiffoeswhfoh am f.ncwtIbls, even though the holdfng of

JurIaprudenCe8&e orat the foll.~wIng

teete 

### for deteraafnfng Incagwtibllfty:

o * * * Offfoes are Incompetfble where thefr dutfea
are or.-3 be Incorsrfstent QF coeflfct, but not ’ where their &tier are wholly unrelated,are In no manr6eP

fnoon8lrtentand ere never In oonflfot,and where wIthOr offloer f8 06OOtSntmBle er UWW the &3Wrdm OS, Qc rubordIeabt6 to, I%6 other, or.&8 asaf rIgI& QP powor-

to I~terfwa wltb'ehe other i.ti the perfawan~e of any draty

."

We have been un8ble to ffnd any court decfelon eeklltq the question of whether the two offices here Involvedare Inolty are IQ0

T tible, Sor the FeQIOn# rtated %n the followtng quotation M the opInloQ~

"In OUF oplnlm the oSfIoe8 of school trustee aEd alderman am lnoompetlbleifor under OUP system there ax% in the ofty counoil. or board of aldermen ~verlow dfreotorl or 8upervIrory power8 exertable In re8p8ot to rohool property looate& within the ofty or tom and in XWpeOt to the dutfer ci? rohool trwte8 mightwe E rfonmble wIthin it8 llaftr--e-g*,there

arlre a oonfllot of dlroretlon or duty in re8peot to health, qureranM.ne, san%taw, and fire preventfan re laMone. See artfole8 1015 lo@, lO?l* 1.8. 1%. Tf the a8ue ~epson 0ou1A be
a #ah001 trrastee

and a member of the cffy cbunetlHonorable F. T. Graham page 3 Opinion No. C- 43

or board of aldermen at the same time, school policies, In many Importantrespects,would be subject to direction of the council or aldermen instead of to that of the trustee8."

In regard to the matters mentioned in the court’s opinion, both the school board and the city councilare investedwith discretionor duty. Unlike the city councfl, the commlssfoners court has no correspondingsupervisorypowers over the school property of an Independentschool district,nor does it have any authority over the policies adopted by the trustees for the administrationof the school system.

Severalprior Attorney Oenera18s opln.l.ona have dealt with this question. Attorney Qeneral'sOpinion No. O-998 (1939) held that the offices of county commissionerand county school trusteeare Incompatible,citing a number of statutes on which this conclusionwas based and referringto an opinionwritten In 1929 which held that the offices of county commissioner and truatee of a school districtwere Incompatible. Opinion No. O-5145 (1943)held that the offices of county commissioner and trustee of a rural high school district are incompatible,mentioning apeclflcallythe duty of the commissionerscourt to
canvass the returns of certain school dlstrldt electionsas creatingan Incompatlbillty. We do not agree that the duty of canvassingthe returns of elections,which Is largelymlniaterlal In nature, createsan Incompatibility between the offices,but there may be certain other duties of the commlsaioners court with respect to rural high school districts which would do so, and we express no opinion as to whether the result.reachedfn Opinion No. O-51&5 Is correct. Opinion No. V-63, .rendered in 1947, reviewed the former opinionsand held thet the offices of county commlsslonerand truetee of an independentschooldistrict are not incompatible. We have reconsideredthis holding and have concluded that It Is correct e

In your brief you mention a possible conflict of interest where the school board requests the commissionerscourt to pave or Improve a,certain road whl.ch, if paved, would materlally affect travel of school. buses, We are impressedby thlr argument, but we do not believe the supervisoryauthority of the commissioners court over the county roads within the dlstrlct creates such a conflict of Interestas to make the offices Incompatible. Although the school board would have an Interest In the rerrponue to Its requeet8 neither body fs InHonorebleF. ‘is. Qmham page 4 CIpiFaian No, C-43

the position of oontrollfngthe actions of the other,and neither hae any authority In the management of the affair entrusted to the other. Uhele the matter is not free Srom doubt, we adhere to the holdInS in QpfnfonNo; v-63.

Your eeccnd 

### queetfonfnvolvtt a constmetfon of the provision in Article XVI, Sectfon 

### 65 of the Connstitut%on, added by amendment In 1958, which reads:

L *Provided, however@ that fp a~ of the offfoers named herein &all announoe their txindidacbc~~, OF shall in fact bei%&? a catm&&t~ fn %ny General, Special or PHmary Blectlow, for asay office of ppoIfit or trust m&w the lawe of thfr 

### State or the Unftt4 States other than the 

### offfctthen held, at any time tihen

the me fred tena sf the off’ict then held #hall exoaed one “;p 1) year Ouoh announcement
.orouch candidacy shall conetidutean automatfcreal.g%tfonof the offlee then held, and the vacancy thereby cre%ted t&all be ff.11~4 propeuant

to law In the same IIVMXMP aa other vmmccfte .forsuch 

### office

are filled

u *

WMJ officeranamed era Section 

### 65 are those district, c&&P aad precinot ofricerrwhose tezm were fnoreartd

### hi6 two ~tarw to 

### row year6 by the constftutfaaael in l*, anQ fncludt county coarlrrfomam. anIe?&entadopted



### $tctim 65 of im%iclt XVI p~~v%&tr that auttmaticrk

### l icpstion shall wrult iroa beomfraga omndbidate “in any

fmemlp’8~eofaP or grWmy eleotfon.fop any offloe of ppoit or trust under the laws ot thlr hate oc the PJnnfttdHonorableF. T, Graham page 5 OpinionNo. C-43

concludedthat the 1958 amendmenthad two purposes: (1) to reduce the duration o? appointmentsreaultlngfrom relinquirhment of the office then held upon election to the second office,and (2) to prevent the ofifcer from &gaging In a political campaign for another offlce at 

### any time except during the last 

### yearof hfs term. Although candidacyfor an office which could be held efmultaneouely wfth the of?Ice then held would not be contrary to the ffret purpose, it is contrary to the second purpose. Ae already noted, a person mey law?ullyhold the offloe of county comfaaloner or justice of the peace eImultaweou6ly with another offlce I? the two offices

### art not incompatible. Certain o?ffaea whloh are filled at the gtne~l eltotfon for state and countjr offlcers
are not fncomp%tlble wfth the offioee of county cumfasloaer and JustIce of the peaot. Yet we think there can be no doubt that oandldacyPar any other 

### offlct which ie ?fll&.at the I general tltotionr0P state and oounty orricers, at a tiae 

### whenthe 

### untaplrtd

terrof the 

### offfot

thenheld txattde4 one year, would oonatftutaan automatfom9gnation, regardloseof whether both oifl~tr could 

### be held by the 8ame perron.

The three typtrr 0r tleationar0r stltctlon 0r public offloersare gtneal or 

### “rtgulap” eleetfona,sptoial tltotlone (both of which are elections in the true eenee thnt o?fIctrs
are elected thereat),and prfmarg tleotlons for nominationof candlslatts

by polftfcalpartfee. A general eltctlon la one which recursptx%oUUally at rated lntervalres fixed by whtre8ea e~aLaltl~tionfao~t~t'rrires?~eae law, exigency OF specialwtd outside the usual routine, such a8 to fill a vaoanoy fn o??fot. I.8 

### Am.Jur.

181, Slectlone, Sec. 5. In thle Betwe an eltotion 18~ school tnartets regularlyheld
on a 

### date ilxed by law lr a general tltotfon. 

### The antutrto your 

### mtooaad qutrtfom turne on Mmther tlkfr la the meanlrag

of the tom 81) ursd in St&Porn 65 o? ArtiaI,t XVI, or whether lte 

### meanly lr rertriotedto the ~lenn%al~general tltctfon f6r state and county ottioers.

In Oretnwoodv. efty of B1 Paso, 186 S.U.2d 1015 (Ttx. C1v.App.m tmt qutstlon **fop** aeairfonme whether the term 

### "gtntral

tltotionn

a8 used ira

a rtatutt rtqufrfpag that the application or mn indtpematmt candfgattior a city orffoe be slgntd by voter8 numbering flvt per oent o? the entire vote caet In the city *at the Jrst generaf 

### tleceisn" meant the last generalmuri~cipal electlam or the la& general eleotlon for state and county officera, In reaching the eonalueionthat the tom ae there wed had the latter meanlaag, the court Bald:"The words 'generalelection'would, standing

al&e, mean the state-wideelection held In 

### purfiuanct of general 1Sw every two yearas which election IS ?or the atleotlonof state,dfStrICt, couatyand preolnot Q??lcera. This la a popular 

### meaning o? the term. It Is a fundmental rule of statutoryoonetructlonthat 

### unless some good 

### mason appeSPa to the contFaPy,words uSed In the Statute would be 

### eonatmedby the 6ourta In QcooPd%not

with thtlr p6pul.a~

and ~nemlly mdtratood meanIn&"

The CQUPt fudher obatrvtd, 

### hweverothatthe kw "&eneral elt&lonn may rmetlma r&m to the petiaddfeal elect&ma held 

### by citle8 SOP the Se%SotfQBb of munlel~l 

### s??lcs~8 (by. 

### txtennlonn,



### thisobservation

WoraPd SlSo apply ts the petiodlcal eleatlonaheld w'achool dlot~lfeta), 

### and held that In the oath which the 

### algmtra of the appllcs~tlon



### o? en 3.ndtpendtnt

aandl

### datefora 

### oftyoffice wirerequired to 

### subaoribt o,awmng that they 

### were qualIStedv&era "at the bet general tlootloa,* the ten, nmnt tha next 

### gmmml olty tltotion.



### !fht phr8ae 'the gemwl election" 

### aamltr a 

### dl??erent connotetbm rpa the @maw "any gene2ml electlon.N The for6tr auggemtse+

### apeolfla wneml electlen,an4 would ueumlly be takta to mean the one moat agaotXly known-the Novambw 

### gtneml tltotlon

?or atate

s8M 8ount.y

citfcerr-unless

ua& la sontext mguIxtng

a dfiierent

faat.trpretatlm. “Amy 

### 6tWlW1 

### eleetlon"

fa not a0 lllftad

fn oonnotatlor3. #bCtiQsL

### cQdtp tht @2?%8t, "fKl 6111 tltttfOFl8, ~EltXlBl, T?ww#mut the a

or ppamar-y,* or aimalar woks 

### la rP8qut8t~ used when 

### he @p!J ~rovlalom la lnttmiMd to apply to,evtly tm 0S election,by 

### wbatevel,

authority

ft ~7 be held,

end **ohjar** 

### 3 Imcludtaaloatlona 

### held

by e%tfor,

#a&ml dletz%ote~

end her 

### polltlaal aubM.vlrleor

0r 

### theBtate

ma welldr tleotlona for state and 

### coumty QrrlatP8

0 Sees tar 

### l

aam@e, Artfolsa l.W, 2.010 

### 3.03, 3.04, 

### 9.01,

sad 

### 9.U2,

Vtmon~a 

### ~~stfon Co&.

AB used In Ststlom 

### 65 of A&lole l(vI we think tkm krm "my gene-l, apealal OF pri85~rg election8was lmttmdtd a8 an 

### all-igclueive

dtasrfptlon

o? every

lcfnd.o?

l

### leotfon

at uhloh roflt op trust 

### under the laws of this Nate 

### or o? tat88 sn voted or&.



### gtatR1 eltotlm ior rtMo and aoumty oSSfeer8,we think this lnterprttatlan

la &efinlte~ 

### aanSlrme4 T 

### Ar4%olt

XI', &atlom 11 oS the Comatlhtlom, oh%& wa8 rubrft e4 by the same-

iionorable

F'. T. G?%ham page 7 OplnfonNo. C43

Legislature

and adopted at the same electionas the 1958 amendmentto Section 65 of Article XVI. The pertinentportion of Article XI, Section 11 reads ae followa:

"Sec. 11. A Home Fiule City may provide by charter or charter amendment,and a city, town or village operatingunder the general lane may provide by majority vote of the qualifiedvoters voting at an election called for that purpose, for a longer term of office than two (2) years for its officers,either elective or appolntlve,or both, but not to exceed four (4) years; provided,however, that tenure under Civil Service shall not be affected hereby.
"Provided,however, I? any of such o??loera, eleotlve or appolntlve. shall announce their candldacy, or shall In fact become a candidate, In any general, apeclal or.prlmaryelection, for any office of profit or trust under the lawa of this State or the united States other than the oiflce then held, at any time when the unexpired term of the office then herd shall exaeed one (1) year, such announcement or such candidacy shall aonatltutean automatic realgnatlonof the oflice then held, and the vacancy thereby created shall be illled purfMInt to law in the 

### samemanner as other vaoanolts ror auah ofiloe
ara filled."

, We find In the second paragraph of this amendmenta repetltlon, In Identical langukge, of the electionsand offices referred to In Section 65 of Article XVI, and'lt must be preeumed that the lanfxuane was ,Intended

to have like meanlnn In both amendments. ~olilngaworthCounty v. Allred, 120 Tez. 473, 40 S,W.2d 13 m Garrett v. MercantileNat. Bank at Dtlllas,

140 Tex, 394,
me offices for zE:omatic resignationunder Article XI,-Section 11 are not limited to offices regularlyfilled at the general election for etate and county o??lcsra, for the sectionwas manifestlydealgned to make candidacyfor another city office at a city election constitutea reelgnatloa,as well as candidacyfor other o??lcsaat electiona held by other political entitles. This necessarily

must be true, because the phraee "other than the office then held" would otherwI,ae be meaningless,alnoe the %?flct then held" could be filled only at a olty eleotlon. I9elther

oan this aeotlon be oonatruedas referringotix to. . -

HonorableF. T. maham mm 8 apInion Ho. C- 43

eleotlona

### for ollq7 osrioea, because no off loe 

### “under the 

### United Staterw 10 filled at a city eleotfon. CorMruing the two aeotionetwether, we lust oonolude that in each section the lanlyageuaa Intended to embrace all elictfona,fncludlng electlona.for

school truetebei Aooordfnglyowe are of the opinioathat candidacy 6r the count~~eoafseioner ror eohool trustee constituted an autoomtio reeignatlonof the:ofrfoeof oounty~ comil~aloner.

Your~thlrdquestion,m-whether the oounty oattmiasioner continue8to hold the offfce'~unti1 hle auooeeaorhas been
a pointed 'waeanmered~ln Attorney Qeneml'8 OpinionNo. W

### 853 (1962).That opinion held that under ArticleXVI0 Seatlon 17 of the Conatftution,providing that all officer8Wall continueto perform the duties .of their offices until their
auoceeaore&all be duly qualified,an ofiicbr.whose realgra-
* tlon haa been effected by operation of the provirlon 

### for automtio.reslgnatlon contlnueeto aerwe 

### ao a "de jum" offioer '.. ' until hla eueoea80r q~allfiedfor the orrice.

The orrioeb 

### of count ooaairrrfoner and trustee of
an Independent 

### oohoo I 

### dlmot are not lnoompatlble, and may be held by the, Mae perron. Where a county oalo~ioher beoomerra aandidate for the office of pw#tea~ ‘csf ;a111 Qkdqendent rohooldistrict at a time when the &e~@red term of his office e%oeeda one year0 hlo oanbidaoy oomstitutes ann;rie& rwigaation of the ofrioe of county

Tax; Coast. Art. XVI0 Sea. 

### 65. He oontlauerto'eerve

### a# a “de fur@ abffoer until his 

### ig;gaor lo a#po%nted and 

### bar~u8liiied

for 

### the

. Tax.Con&. Art. 

### S?X,Sea.17.
Tours *em tnxlp,

WA- CAR6 lrttorney

Qeneral of Texea 

# ma v e -6

Htwy K. Wall AerletantAttorney QeneralHonorableP,. T. Graham k-we 9

APPROVED:

OPINION COMMITTEE W. P. Geppert, Chairman

3. C. Davis, Jr. Edward ii.

Hoffett J. Arthur Sandlln W. 0. Shultz

APPROVED FOR BIE ATTORNEY OENBRAL BY: Stanton Stone opinion No. C- 43

.