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### A-rro~n;~u Gmnzm~ OF-I?ExAs March 30, 1939 Gerald C. Mann Au- Il. TszxAEs X-B- A-mm- OXXIIAL

Honorable Ben J..Dean DistrictAttorney Breckenridge,

Texas Opinion No.O-513

Ri: Zliblgllity of County School Trustee to serve as Election Judge 6r Clerk In'Independant School Trustee Election ,DearSir:

March 14, queatlon:This department is in receipt of your letter of

1939, requestingan oplx$otyuponthe following:

"+asmuch as under ,the p&vieiom-~of'

Article 275s tbe~.electlon .of m9mol -tm$eee. of ,831. lndependen-t..echoolid?.s$rlct organized-,Ynder. that portIon of.

.the~-S~hool:,Larr--ie.-deq~ated, for the.~~.flxyt:

Saurda~Xn Aprilil.%%:;it your opinlon,Wat .&

‘manppho~.~~(~s.holding.the office of count;;v.

school trustee:under Article 2676 would ~~prohlbL$ed~f&ym,ac$~ing .a8 ,a judge-or clerk oi.-an:

eleotion~:far..echool,,.~hlaCee .o@in indepamjent

aa~ooL-.dj.t3tz+t?,~ ' .'I8 an.~~e~eption:~~,~d

uade~.$@e.prqvie-ions ~~ of Article ?75&IR.S.:agenera~~L(lection.or a special election?!

Article-26f~i7.R~c.s.: 1925 pOVide8 that county 8chool trustee 'shall~bepaid $3.00 per day,~ but not to,exceed $36.00 in one year". ,Thegare elected. under Article 2676 and have numWous duties to perform as provided by the various statutes pertatnlngto public schools.

.Artlcle2758,.,R.C.S. 1925, pertains to the election of school trustees in independentschool districts createdfIonorable Ben J. ;iean,

**Maroh =O,**  **1939, ?age**  **8**

follow%: "Any CormdOn crohool di8triCt containing seven hundred inbabitaotaor more may fern an incorporation r0r **free** Oohool purpose8 only, rhloh may OT may not inolucO tithln it8 band6 eny town or villago **lnaorporateb** for aunloipal purpoae6,the 8am not having O88uEMd control of the publla $TOO SOh0016 Xithin it.6

limits. The territory 80 inoorporatea BbeU hOmlnafter by Oalled nn "independent sohooldi8triOt"and 8Oia @OOrporation 8hOllbO 

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Artiola 8940, R.C.S. **lQ%b,** xuWr Title %C, XLOOfiion~,OODhill8 th8 f01bW~ pl’Oti8iOIl; .,;

*No one who hold8 an 0rti88 of 

### profitor Crud pllaor **the United**  **matoe 011** **this** state, or in any alty or town la thir @Bate of wlthin thirty Ely8 after rO81&Xbring Or baiq diemlsao& tray any m&h offioa, oxos# a notw pobllo, or whe i8 a ourdfdak r0r 0ffi00, or

,HonorableBen J. Dean, March 30, 1939, page 3

"No one who holds an office of profit or trust under the United States or this State, or In any city or town in this State or within thirty days after reslgnlng or being dismissed from any such office, except a notary public, or who Is a candidate for office, or who has not paid his poll tax, shall act as judge, clerk or supervisor of an election.

. . .'
You also call attention to Chestnut vs. Wells, 280 S.W. 351, and 278 S.W. 465, as holding that Article 2940,does not apply to a special sbhool tax election, but applies .only to general or primary elections.

Chestnut vs. Wells (T.C.A. Ft.Worth, 1926) 280 s~.w. 39, lnvo1ved.aschool tax election contest in a common school district on the ground that an election officialwas a school tivstee: Chestnut vs. Wells (T.C.A.Ft.Worth, 1926) 278 S.W. 465, was a contest of an election-todeterminewhether school districtsshould consolidate. Two ground8 were presented ln this case, Le., an election officialwas a trusteeof one of the districts.andthe electaon judge failed to write his name on the outside of theballot.

In each of these cases the ground- of contest,was one providedonly under the general lay. The court;relylng on the holding and-language-of Chief Justice Gaines ln:Waillsvs. Williams, 108 SiW. 153, held that the elections In questionwere purely apeclal and the provisionsof the Terre11 ElectionLaw were not applicable. The speclflc holding in Wallls v8. WllHams was that the general law providing for the prlntlng **of** ballots did not apply to a.speclalelection to locate a county seat since the general election laws were not applicable?

InScherz vs. Telfer.(T.C.A.X&tin, 1934) 74'.SiWi (26) 327,.the court held that the general law providing for the signatureof.the election judge on the ballotwas appllcable to common school trustee elections since the general.law would apply to all matters not covered by Articles2745, 2746 and 2746a.

**We** are of the opinion .thatthe reasoningof the court In the foregoIngcase Is equally applicable to electionsheld under .Artlcle

2758, and that It properly dlstlnguishes the cases in'the light of Wallis vs.~Wllllams. The court in Scherz vs. Telfer states:iionorable Ben J. bean, Narch 30, 1939, Page 4

Suoh electionsas above enumeratedare oleorly local **in** character,of infkequsntocourrenoe, apply only to a given looallty, em usually final, the matters voted upon einposea 0r st a single eleotion,and are not recurrlng in abaraoter. * 4 l ke think the eleotlon of oozzon sohool trusteea does not oonstitutea special elaotloa dealtrlth In the abovo -4eolslona. Suuh eleotion is not confined to any given louality,nor to any glvon lndlvi4pa1, nor to say limited alaes of lndlvlduals. On the contrary, artiol~18-2745,

Z744 antI8746a relate to all con- ~88OhOO1 diStX'iSt8 thlW&AOUt **th0** StStS, and %O tho l lOOtiOa **Of the**  t-t@88 thOrOOi, proride iOr OUOjlllSOtiion l Mh fe8E t&OU@lOUt t?lO8-t.. 

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