JIM MATTOX Attorney General
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# The Attorney General of Texas

HonorableWilliam P. Hobby LieutenantGovernor I>:! Texas P. 0. Box 12068,Cap:L,:ol Station Austin, Texas 78711 opinionNo.JM-179 Re: Whether a home rule city may provide for a four-year term for officialsof singlemember districts Dear GovernorHobby: You askwhether ,r home rule citymay amend its charter toprovide for a four-year term for city council members if those officials are elected from single-:n,?mber districts. Section 11 of wticle XI of the Texas Constitutionprovides, In pertinentpart:

A Home Rule City may provide by charter or charter awndment, and a city, town or village operating cnder the general laws may provide by majorityv3ce of the qualifiedvoters voting at an election crlled for that purpose, for a longer term of office than two (2) years for its officers, either elective or appointive, or both, but not t) exceed four (4) years; provided, however, that tenureunder Civil Service shallnot be affectedhereby.

. . . . A munic:i.pality

so providing a term exceeding two (2)vearsbut not exceedina four (4)years for any of itrlnon-civil service officers must elect all of t’x members of its governing body by majority %e of the qualified voters in such municipali’e ‘.. . . (Emphasisadded). When section 11 of article XI was approved by the voters in November 1958, singI:-memberdistricts for city council members were not common. Thus, itwas clearlynot within the contemplationof the voters, in approving the amendment, to rule out the possibility of four-year terms for personselected from single-memberdistricts. The purpose of the underscored language of the amendment was only to ensure that a majorj.tyvote, rather than a plurality vote, of the

p. 791HonorableWilliam P. Hobby - I'r,ge 2 (JM-179)

qualifiedvoters so voting is :lecessaryin an election for members of thegoverningbody of a home r%,le city; the amendmentwas not intended to address whether such members were to be elected at large or bv district. See Braden, ed., The, Constitutionof the State of Texas: An Annotated andcomparative An$s&, Vol. II,p. 701. We note that the amendrent declares that, when a municipality adopts four-year terms, its c~nuxilmen must be selected by majority vote of the "qualified v,):ers in such municipality." In a single-memberdistrfct, the only "qualifiedvoters" are those persons who live within the geograpbkal boundaries of that district. We therefore construe section 1:.of article XI as not prohibiting the adoption of four-year terms for municipal officials elected from only a portion of a municipalit>,,i.e., single-member districts. The underscored langugage of sectl.onT requires only that any election for members of the governing body of a home rule city be by majority vote of the qualifiedvoters sic voting. Our construction of art:L:leXI, section 11 is consistent with federal statutesand judicial t,ecisions which, in some instances,have required the adoption of si.r;gle-member districts. See 42 U.S.C. §1973c, et seq.;~Beer v. Un:L::ed States, 425 U.S. 1307141 (1976); Allen v. State Board of Elections, 393 U.S. 544, 569 (1969). An interpretation of the amendml?llt which ruled out the nossibilitv of four-year terms forpersons elected from single-memberdistrictswould unnecessarily penalize a cit:rwhich complied with federal law, and thus might itself run afoul cf the United States Constitution. We conclude that a home rule city is authorized to adopt four-year terms formunicipal officialselectr,C from single-memberdistricts. J-U M M A R Y A home rule city is authorized by article XI, section 11 of the Texas Constitution to adopt four-year terms for municipal officials elected from single-memberi,jstricts.

JIM MATTOX Attorney General of Texas TOM GRERN FirstAssistantAttorney Gener,rl DAVID R. RICHARDS ExecutiveAssistantAttorney Ckneral

p. 792HonorableWilliam P. Hobby - Psge 3 (JM-179)

Preparedby Rick Gilpin AssistantAttorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Rick Gilpin, Chairman David Brooks Colin Carl

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