6) 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

The Honorable Robert Vititow 

Rains County Attorney 

Post Office Box 1075 

Emory, Texas 75440 

Dear Mr. Vititow: 

May 29,2012 

Opinion No. GA-0941 

Re: Whether, under section 775.034, Health and 

Safety Code, a county commissioners court may 

meet to vote on the appointment of a member of 

the governing board of an emergency services 

district prior to January 1 of the year in which the 

appointment takes effect (RQ-1027-GA) 

You ask whether, under the terms of section 775.034 of the Health and Safety Code, a county 

commissioners court may meet to vote on the appointment of a member of the governing board of 

an emergency services district prior to January 1 of the year in which the appointment takes effect. I 

Section 775.034 of the Health and Safety Code provides, in relevant part: 

(a) The commissioners court of a county in which a singlecounty [emergency services] district is located shall appoint a fivemember board of emergency services commissioners to serve as the 

district's governing body .... 

(c) After the votes are canvassed and the commissioners 

court enters the order creating the district, the commissioners court 

shall appoint the initial emergency services commissioners to serve 

until January 1 of the year following the district election .... 

(d) On January 1 of each year, the commissioners court shall 

appoint a successor for each emergency services commissioner whose 

term has expired. 

ISee Letter from Honorable Robert Vititow, Rains Cnty. Au'y, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 

1 (Dec. 7, 2011), http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Robert Vititow - Page 2 (GA-0941) 

TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 775.034(a), (c), (d) (West 2010). You question whether 

subsection (d) requires the appointment of an emergency services commissioner precisely on January 

1, or, in the alternative, whether the county commissioners court may make the appointment on a 

prior date for the term that begins on January 1. 

Subsection (c) of section 775.034 does make clear that the term of the office at issue begins 

on January 1. Id. § 775.034(c). But the statute does not state the consequences of a failure to hold 

a vote to appoint on the precise date of January 1. See id. The date of the vote is not a matter of 

statutory consideration. The statute's only concern is the date of appointment. As a consequence, 

we read subsection (d) to require only that, regardless of the date on which the commissioners court 

meets to vote on the appointment at issue, the actual appointment shall take place on January 1. See 

id. § 77S.034(d). We take note ofthe incontrovertible fact that January 1 is a legal holiday on which 

governmental bodies are invariably closed. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 662.003(a)(l) (West 2004) 

(January 1 is a national holiday), 662.021 (a national holiday is a "legal holiday"), 662.022 

(recognizing that a public office of this state may be closed on a legal holiday)? 

In addition, to disallow prior to January 1 a meeting to vote on the appointment to an office 

whose term begins on that date would necessarily result in the appointee's failure to begin her term 

until a later time. Any appointee must be notified of the appointment, determine whether to accept 

the appointment, notify the commissioners court of her decision, take the oath of office, and prepare 

to begin the exercise of her duties. We do not believe that the Legislature intended to prescribe such 

a rushed process. See Carreras v. Marroquin, 339 S.W.3d 68, 73 (Tex. 2011) (stating courts will 

"interpret statutes to avoid an absurd result"). 

We conclude that a county commissioners court may meet to vote on the appointment of a 

member of the governing board of an emergency services district on a date prior to January 1 of the 

year in which the appointment takes effect. Because we answer your first question in the affirmative, 

we need not address your second question. 

2J anuary 1 is a legal holiday in Rains County. Tel. conversations with Misty Johnson, Legal Assistant to Rains 

Cnty. Att'y and Kathy Lucas, Assistant to Rains Cnty. Judge (Mar. 14,2012). 
The Honorable Robert Vititow - Page 3 (GA-0941) 

SUMMARY 

A county commissioners court may meet to vote on the 

appointment of a member of the governing board of an emergency 

services district on a date prior to January 1 of the year in which the 

appointment takes effect. 

DANIEL T. HODGE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

JASON BOATRIGHT 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Rick Gilpin 

Very truly yours, 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee