OFFICE OF THE AHORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

lion. Charles 8. m1k4Xlaa, 

county iittorney 

6an Augustine, Tsrne 

tmar Sir: 

seven raembora 

rponsora or t 

Dl8trlot No.1 

9, or rxt1010 16, of our cQnBt1tot1on 

Off10~6 rlthln thle state 8hal.l oaahr dutlea sf their offlowd until th8ir 

auaoecmora shall be duly quallfled.* It ha8 been held that 

this prorlslon appliee to bhrr truateee or 8 oonsoll6atJd 

aomd100. sahool dlstrfct. plalrm Comon Conrol. Sob001 Diet. 

vs. Hayhurst, 182 6. W. (24 SSS, by the marillo Court Of 

civil. Appea1.s. rn our 0p3.n 1 on it wul6 ala0 ba appllaable 

to trueteas or rural hi&h rohool flLtrlot8. I?rom the opinion in the @bore altard 86110 m quoter 
Hon. Charles S. Mohlllan, page 2 

*under a general pro~ialon or the Constltution, Vernon's Ann. st. const. art. 15, % 17, 

*all oifieer8 within thle State 6hall oontlnue 

to perform the duties or their 0rrioc.m untfl 

their 6uooe8sors ahall be duly quallfled.* m 

OMEtXuing thb provision of the Constitution, 

in 34 Tex. Jur. 370, pare. 31, we rind thl6 

laf%uagor The p~rp00e Of the OOll6titUtiollal 

and statutory provlalons requiring orrlaers to 

hold over until their suoacimorm have qualtiled 

is to prevent vaaanolee ln offloe and a OOMOquent oeesatlon 0r the fuaotlons or gorernmont, 

The oonetltutlonal provision le self-exeoutlng, 

and, like the similar provisions la the statutw, 

it 1s mandatory. under the Constitution an orrioer oaanot arbitrarily divert himeli ?r the 

obligation Me authoz+lty to perrona tbe'dutiss or 

hi6 orrloe until his 6uooo8eor quallile6; and 

even though he reslgm and bla re8ignatlon la 

aaseptod, the law operates to aontlnue him in 

orrloe until his nuooo6oor quallrlos. * * **" 

As said in MoOhoe t6. Dlakap, 23 8. W. 404, *the 

pub110 neoeesltg for aontlnulty of ettialal tenure 1s not 

left to the aaprlae or.tW orfloeholdar." IO. the oases of 

Keen ~6. aeatherston, 69 5. WC 9S3 (error roiussd), El Paso 

aad F. F. R. Car fs. AnkeIfbemer, 17!3 8. a. 1090, Rlaglins 

vs. City or Hempsteed, 193 fed. 596, it was hold that under 

the above,~onstltutlona.I pro~lf4lon an orrioor~s rerignation 

does not beoonte aiieatlre until the appolnt6mt and quallflaatlon of hi6 6uootwaor. In iwlger va. u, S., 93 U. 8. (199, 

23 L. Ea. 991, under a 6onat;itutlondl provlslon of xlll6ols 

almost ldentlaal with our offa, tha Eluprama Ceurt hold that 

the qualirloatlon or a su~oessor wa6 neoosmwy to the efteOtlreness or a resignation, 

yroa the oplnlon of the Su come Court of South 

carollna in the cede or State was St f oklay, 61 8. 15. au, we 

quoter 

*The ramaining questions proaented by the 

petition and return all doDen4~ugon whatber a 

publia orrioor, who ha6 tendered his reslgaation uaoondltlonally, aaa withdraw the earn berore acoeptanooi or what is the efteot of an 
Hon. Charles 6. MoMlllan, page 3 

unconditional resignation. on this question 

the authorities are not in acoord. There 1s 

a line of 'oasas.malntalnlng tha proposition 

that an uucondltlonal ro8ignatlon tendered 

to the authority entitled to reoeire it aannot be withdrawn. Btate f. Fitts, 49 ml&l. 

402; 6tate T. HauSE, 43 Ind. 105, 1.3 J&L Rep. 

364; State ex rol. Klrtloy f. Auguetine, 113 

MO. 21, 20 6. W. 651, 35 ADI. 6t. Rep. 696; 

State Y. Clarke, 3 NOV. 566. on the ocher 

hand at ootmah law and la a great number of 

the Etates the doctrine prevail8 that the 

resignation or a public ofrlcer is not aomplete until ~lt is either expressly or by lnp1loatlon accepted by the proper authorities. 

state Y. Clayton, 27 mm. rH2, 41 m. Rep. 

418; Colonan t. Snada, 67 Va. 669, 13 S. g, 

1481 State Y. Ferguson, 31 N. J. Law, 107; 

Van Orsdall v. Kazard, 3 Hill (I:;. Y.) 2431 

Edwards V. united Gticlteti, 103 13. 6:471, 26 

I.. Ed. 314; Hoke Y. Henderson, 15 W. C, 1, 

25 Am. Doe. 679; 1 MUon, malo. Corp. (34 

Ed.) 249. In the case of State t. Anoker; 2 

Riafi. Law, 245, thi6 rule wae applied to the 

resignation or oertain ofrloers end me&ore 

of a ohuroh, tho oourt saying: *The question 

is whether suoh a resignation has b&n mado 

and acoopted aooording tc law, and in a way 

obligatory oa all the parties to this eontrovers y . To mcike tt oo there must have been 

both a remlgnation ounplalao and an aooeptanoe 

of it on the pert of the aatlag and rosponalble 

government at the time.9 fn~the absenoo of 

etatute this rule is euppcrted by the better 

reaeonine and the greater weight oi authorftles, 

and ha8 boon adopted by the Supreme Court Or 

the Uhit9d 6tato6. E&war46 v. mite4 States, 

103 U. 6. 4V1, 24 L. Ed 314, Until the tender 

or 0rrer to resign f6 accepted by the proper 

authority, 18 oan be withdrawn. * * ** 

It. is ow: opinion that those trustees riahing to 

do so may withdraw their attempted ro6lgnatlon8, slnoo no 

sucoemors &WW been appointed. 

(jn xey 12, 1939, the Tax ~s6666or and ColleOtor 

or Rexar County tendered his written reelgnation tc the Cam- 
Eon. Charles 5. ~c~~illan, page 4 

missioners' court of mxar county. on the followiI3g day, 

and before any action had been ta!cen on such resignation, 

he delivered to the same body a written withdrawal of suoh 

reslgnatlon. In our Opinfon MO. O-555 we held that the 

withdrawal of the resignation was effective and Rlaced the 

situation in the 831% condition es it would have been lf 

the resl&nation had never been tendered to the Commiesioners ' court. We hand you herevrith a copy of that opinion. 

,Should some of the trustees continue in their 

wish to resign they nay do so by tendering their resignations to the remain- members of the Ward, vho would be 

empovered to appoint their successors. cur opinion 

No. Q-2230; Clark YCJ. Wornell, 65 s. i. (2d) 360. 

For sll praetloal purposes we believe the above 

sufficiently answers your questions, nithout going into 

the problem as to what body or authority could accept such 

a group reslgnatlon and provide for 5uooessor8. 

GleM R. LeViiS 

&3sistant