Hods.

M; F. Kieke County-Attorney Lee coiinty -. fflddlags,

Texas 

### i-398

RICE DANIEL 

### 'TORNEY GENERAL ~' Ray 5;. 1947

opinion HO.v-1.84 :

Re: Thi3

effect to be acootidwd 0u1-hwp~tlsm statutewhere a *alId contract is executed withy a teacher; and thwre'is subsequently elected a.sohool trus-

...tee who Is within the .prosoribwd

de@88 of rwlatlonshlp.

Dear Sir: .',

You propound to,us the folloW+g quwstl?ns:

"I have.~before

me for sol&Ion ihe ,qawstioti of legality ,6f

ttiw following

~s.ltuatlon arIaIn& out of one of 'O~I'C&UU~XIschool.dlstrlcts of Lwe CMnty, Teias; It relates .to.the validity Of 8school teachers two year bontract, and her contractpay-'underheswmploym6nt; Bi%wfly stated?Almwta Robersoa, .acolored teacher holding a degree was employed on March 12th 1947 to teach the Doak Springs ~ school for the scholasticperiod and sohool year of 1947 to 1948-l&r contractwail duly sl&ued &ad ~exwcutwd bg the threw trustees of said dlstriet to i?lt; Thomas Hodge-0.B.Thomas-GeorgeWashington- she had~taught in.sald school for the school.$ear1946 .to1947.
"Th6 trusteeswere In no manner related to Altamwta Robwrson the teacher and were lawfully authorized to &xwoutw thlsootitract, which happened to b&'a'twoyear contract; Such contractwas authorizedby the Statutewhich provides that teachersmay be wlectwd'fora term of two years-onApril 

### 5, 1947, in'accordancwwith law requiringelections for school trustees to be held wwr the State;.~ qne Timothy Robwrson was elected to take theHon. M. F. Klekw - Page 2 V-184

plaaw of Qeo. Washington,a trusteewho was defeated for rw-electlon as trustee for said district; "Timothy

Robersonwill assume office on May 1st 1947~as tru&tww. Timothy Robwrson Is the uncle of AltamwtaRobe&on's husband, which would make her a relativewithin the second degree by affinity to the newly wlected trustee Timothy Roberson.

"The Board of Trustees have voted to fla the pay of the teacher at a sum equaling the maxlmum sum fixed by the State Department of Education at Austin, this sum now belsg uncertain until the Legislaturecompletes the law as to base pay-rizral aid-and per capita. 'As the matter now 3tands under the laws of Texas, the teachwr.has a valid contractwith
a valid Board of trusteeswho have elected hegoir the year just ahead to teach the

The followingquestionsarw~~propoundwi to you for clarlflcatlon, to-wit;
"Question

Nb. 1 After a valid contract Is made by the Boar&of Trustees and the teacher,ana dulg~' signed and executed,does the electorate or voters have the power to destroy ix lnvall--., date a valid contractbetween the board.and-. the teacher by electinga relative of within the prohibiteddegree as trustee. "Question

No. o IL Would tt

ie destructionof such aontract be a violation of the Constitutionof the United States and State of Texas, Bspwclally Article 1 Section 16 which provides 'no bill of attainder, 8x post facto-law,retroactive law or ANY LAW IMPAIRINGTHIS OBLIGATIONOF CONTRACTSbe made.' 'QuestionNo. 3 The NeDOtiSm law only Inhibitsan offlcer from lA?POINTING, VOTtiG FOR OR CORFIRMIN%' a relative. In thiscase the relative has done none of these thlngs; Article 435 p~ovldws 'no officer or other person Includedwithin the third prwceding article shall approvw~anyaccount etc.'Hon.,

M F. Kelkw - Page 3 ~ .:~.~,, ,. .i.,,', .q-184

_,.. 

### :;41.5

!Thw third arti~lw.refarr6a -tos.pec~lfl-: callg relates to any officerwhd'Vappoints, votes for or~conflrms*..,~Now since the newly elected trustee did nwithB+of these things, would :I$

be.l&legal f,or

$h6 othe~r,..$wo

membwrs~ 6f~thw board to approye. the teachwrs~ voucher? ,. ,' "9kektl,on

No;.'4 .~ .':~ Would not the teach6rbe wntltlwa to,~~'~' the corn nsatlon and contract salary for the year 19 

### T-1948

for which she was duly eleotr ed, and enterwd.intoa.contract with a valid and wllglblw board of t'rustews." :., Art,iclw

432 of our~Pwna1Code Is commonly .>.,. ,aowu aa +hw~-"anti-nepotism tatutw.~It Is as follows:

: j "I&officer of this State. or any offlcer'of tiny

district,-,county,

city, precinct, school district, or other municipal subdi-, vision of this State, or any officer or mwmber of,any State, alstrl.ct, county, city, school district, or othermunicipal board, or.jixdgw.of

any court)~.orwatwd by or ~undwr

. authority ;o.fSany

'gwnwrar.or

specl+l law of this State,~or.any mwmbwr~ of the Lwglslature, sball~~inppdlnt, or vote for or confirm the appointment to any office,position, clerkship,employmentor duty, of any person related wlthln the second degree by affinity or within the third degree by consanguinity to the person so appointingor so voting, or to any othermember of any such h&rd, the Legislature,or court of' which such person so appointingor voting, may be a member, when the salary, fees, or compwnsatlonof such appointee Is to be paid for, directly or~inairectly, out of or from publlc'f%ndSor fees of .offlce of any kind
or characterwhatgowver."

You are respectfully advised that the election of the school trusteewho Is relatedwithin the prohlbltea degree to the teacher who had been previouslywmployed for the year 1947-1948,,would notoperate retroactively to void the contract.

We hand you herewith copy of Opinion No. O-6330 rendered by this departmentJanuary 25, 1945, which Is lnHon. M. F. Kelke - Page 4

line with our holding herein.

The election bf a~trustew to a board of school trustees,irhoIs related to a teacher of such school having a valid wXlstlng contract with the board, does not make vald suoh contract under Artlale 432 of the Peas1 Code.

Yours very truly
ATTORIiEXGRNERALOFTRXAS

BY
Assistant 0S:wb:jt

ATTORNEYGENEXAL