ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

January 11,2006 

Mr. James Chastain, President 

Bandera County River Authority 

Opinion No. GA-0392 

and Groundwater District 

Post Office Box 177 

202 Twelfth Street 

Bandera, Texas 78003 

Re: Qualifications for members of the board 

of the Bandera County River Authority and 

Groundwater District (RQ-0367-GA) 

Dear Mr. Chastain: 

On behalf of the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District (the “district”) 

you request an opinion about the qualifications for holding office as district director.’ The district 

was created and its powers established by two legislative enactments: a 197 1 enactment creating the 

Bandera County River Authority,* and a 1989 enactment creating the Springhills Water Management 

District.3 Questions have arisen as to the qualifications required for an individual to serve as a 

director of the district. You ask whether qualifications to serve as district director include residing 

in the district or the relevant single-member district and owning taxable property in the district or 

the single-member district. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2. 

The two enactments creating the district were adopted pursuant to article XVI, section 59 of 

the Texas Constitution. See TEX. CONST. art. XVI, $ 59 (authorizing the legislature to adopt laws 

creating conservation and reclamation districts with power to tax and incur debts). In 197 1, the 

legislature created the Bandera County River Authority within part of Bandera County, granting it 

all of the rights, powers, privileges, authority and duties conferred 

and imposed by the general laws of this state now in force or hereafter 

enacted, applicable to water control and improvement districts created 

‘See Letter from James Chastain, President, Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District, to 

Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas (July 5,2005) (on tile with Opinion Committee, also available at 

http://www.oag.state.tx.us) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 

*See Act ofMay 31, 1971,62d Leg., R.S., ch. 629, $0 1, 5, 1971 Tex. Gen. Laws 2045, 2045-46 [hereinafter 

1971 Act]. 

‘See Act ofMay 24, 1989, 71st Leg., R.S., ch. 654, $4 1, 9, 1989 Tex. Gen. Laws 2155, 2156-57 [hereinafter 

1989 Act]. 
Mr. James Chastain - Page 2 (GA-0392) 

under the authority. of Article XVI, Section 59 of the Texas 

Constitution; but to the extent that the provisions of any such general 

laws may be in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions ofthis Act, 

the provisions of this Act shall prevail. All such general laws are 

hereby adopted and incorporated by reference with the same effect as 

if incorporated in full in this Act. 

1971 Act, supra note 2, $9 1, 5, at 2045-46. 

Section 9 of the 197 1 Act provided that the district’s powers “shall be exercised by a board 

of nine directors” named in the enactment and that successors would be appointed by the governor. 

See id. 5 9, at 2046. Section 9 also provided that “[n]o person shall be appointed a director unless 

such person is 21 years of age or over and a resident of the district and owns land therein.” Id. 

In 1989 the legislature created an underground water conservation district in Bandera County 

subject to a confirmation election. See 1989 Act, supra note 3, $0 1, 9 at 2155-57. The district, 

which included all the territory in Bandera County, was named “the Springhills Water Management 

District” (the “Springhills District”).4 See id 9 1, at 2155. The following provision of the 1989 Act 

created the board of directors of the Springhills District and placed it in charge of both the 

Springhills District and the Bandera County River Authority: 

All powers of the district shall be exercised by a board of nine 

directors composed of the persons who serve as directors of the 

Springhills Water Management District. Each director of the 

Springhills Water Management District serves on the board of 

directors of the Bandera County River Authority as an additional 

duty of his office as director of the water management district. 

Id. $ 12, at 2 157 (amending 197 1 Act, supra note 2,§ 9, at 2046). The district’s directors are elected 

and serve on the Bandera County River Authority board pursuant to the 1989 Act. Thus, we look 

first to the 1989 Act for qualifications to serve as district director. 

The 1989 Act provides for electing two directors from each commissioners precinct and one 

at large. Id. 4 10, at 2157. It repealed the language of section 9 of the earlier statute requiring 

Bandera County River Authority directors to be appointed by the governor and providing that “[n]o 

person shall be appointed a director unless such person is 21 years of age or over and a resident of 

4The name “Springhills Water Management District ofBandera County” was changed to “Bandera County River 

Authority and Groundwater District” in 2003 by order of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. See Request 

Letter, supra note 1, Exhibit 3 (Tex. Comm’n on Envtl. Quality, An Order Approving a Request by Springhills Water 

Management District of Bandera County to Change its Name to Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater 

District (Apr. 10, 2003)); see also 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE 9 293.102 ‘(2005) (procedure for changing name of water 

district). 
Mr. James Chastain - Page 3 (GA-0392) 

the district and owns land therein.” Id. $ 12, at 2 157. The qualifications for office established by 

section 9 of the 1971 Act no longer apply. 

Neither the 197 1 Act as amended nor the 1989 Act establishes the qualifications of a district 

director. However, the 1989 Act granted the district “all of the rights, powers, privileges, authority, 

functions, and duties provided by the general law of this state, including Chapters 50 and 52, Water 

Code, applicable to underground water conservation districts created under Article XVI, Section 59, 

of the Texas Constitution.” Id $ 6(a), at 2156. The 1989 Act “prevails over any provision of 

general law that is in conflict or inconsistent” with it. Id. 

We next look for the qualifications for directors of the district in the applicable Water Code 

provisions and other general laws that are not in conflict or inconsistent with the 1989 Act. In 1989, 

Water Code chapter 50 governed the administration ofwater districts in general, and chapter 52 dealt 

with underground water conservation districts. The Seventy-fourth Legislature reorganized and 

revised statutes concerning underground water conservation districts,5 placing them in Water Code 

chapter 36, and repealed chapter 52. See Act of May 29,1995,74th Leg., R.S., ch. 933, $5 2,6,1995 

Tex. Gen. Laws 4673,4679-4701 (adopting Water Code chapter 36; repealing chapter 52). The 

same legislature repealed Water Code chapter 50 and adopted chapter 49, relating to the 

administration of water districts. See Act of May 25, 1995,74th Leg., R.S., ch. 715, $3 2,39, 1995 

Tex. Gen. Laws 3755,3802. Water Code chapters 36 and 49 apply to the district to the extent they 

are not inconsistent with the special law provisions that govern it. 

Water Code section 49.002 provides as follows: 

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this chapter applies to 

all general and special law districts . . . . 

(b) This chapter does not apply to a district governed by Chapter 

36 unless a special law creating the district or amending the law 

creating the district states that this chapter applies to that district. 

TEX. WATER CODE ANN. $49.002 (Vernon 2000). 

Because the district’s directors are elected in their capacity as directors of a groundwater 

conservation district, we look at chapter 36 for qualifications for office. Section 36.059 provides that 

“[a]11 elections shall be generally conducted in accordance with the Election Code except as 

otherwise provided for by this chapter.” Id. 6 36.059(a). We find no qualifications for office in 

chapter 36, only a disqualification for office that does not -apply in a district with a population of less 

than 50,000. Therefore this chapter does not apply in the Bandera County River Authority and 

“‘Groundwater conservation district” is the common name for “underground water conservation district.” See 

HOUSE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. H.B. 2294,74th Leg., R.S. (1995) at 2. 
Mr. James Chastain - Page 4 (GA-0392) 

Groundwater District.6 See id. $ 36.051(b) (Vernon Supp. 2005) (ineligibility of member of a 

governing body of another political subdivision for election as director). 

We turn to the Texas Election Code, which “applies to all general, special, and primary 

elections held in this state.” TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 1.002(a) (Vernon 2003). Election Code 

section 14 1 .OOl provides as follows: 

(a) To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, 

a public elective office in this state, a person must: 

(1) be a United States citizen; 

(2) be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to 

be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as 

applicable; 

(3) have not been determined mentally incompetent by a 

final judgment of a court; 

(4) have not been finally convicted of a felony from which 

the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the 

resulting disabilities; 

(5) have resided continuously in the state for 12 months and 

in the territory from which the office is elected for six months 

immediately preceding the following date: 

(A) for a candidate whose name is to appear on a general 

primary election ballot, the date of the regular filing deadline 

for a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot; 

(B) for an independent candidate, the date of the regular 

filing deadline for a candidate’s application for a place on the 

ballot; 

(C) for a write-in candidate, the date of the election at 

which the candidate’s name is written in; 

6The Bandera County population was 17,645 in 2000. See BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, U.S. DEP’T OF COMMERCE, 

2000 Census OfPopulation, available at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48019.h~1 (State and County Quick 

Facts). 
Mr. James Chastain - Page 5 (GA-0392) 

(D) for a party nominee who is nominated by any 

method other than by primary election, the date the 

nomination is made; and 

(E) for an appointee to an office, the date the 

appointment is made; and 

(6) satisfy any other eligibility requirements prescribed by law 

for the office. 

Id. 6 141.001(a) (Vernon 2003). 

Section 141 .OOl (a) answers the specific questions you ask. To be qualified for service as a 

district director, an individual must have resided continuously in the state for 12 months and in the 

district and the single member precinct he seeks to represent for six months immediately preceding 

the applicable date set out in section 14 1 .OO l(5). He is not required to own taxable property within 

the district or single member precinct he seeks to represent. Of course, he must satisfy any other 

eligibility requirements prescribed by law. 
Mr. James Chastain - Page 6 (GA-0392) 

SUMMARY 

Election Code section 141 .OO 1 (a) states the qualifications 

for serving as director of the Bandera County River Authority and 

Groundwater District. To be qualified for serving as a director of the 

district, an individual must have resided continuously in the state for 

12 months and in the district and the single member precinct he seeks 

to represent for six months immediately preceding the applicable date 

set out in the Election Code provision. He is not required to own 

taxable property within the district or single member precinct he 

seeks to represent. 

Very truly yours, 

BARRY R. MCBEE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee