“FPlCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENER*L STATE OF TEXAS 

JOHN CORNYN 

March 31,1999 

The Honorable Eddie Lucia, Jr., 

Chair, Special Committee on Border Affairs 

Texas State Senate 

P.O. Box. 12068 

Austin, Texas 7871 l-2068 

Opinion No. X-0028 

Re: Authority of the city council of a 

general-law city to dismiss council meetings 

for three successive months (RQ-1192) 

Dear Senator Lucia: 

You ask whether the city council of Indian Lake may dismiss or not convene regular council 

meetings for three months in a row. Information submitted with your request provides the 

background for your question. The minutes ofthe city council meeting for April 13,1998, state that 

a motion to have no meetings in June, July and August was seconded and carried with four votes.’ 

According to a letter submitted with your request, only one or two aldermen and the mayor remained 

in town after the last regular meeting on May 4,1998, and the other three aldermen were on vacation 

after the May 4th meeting.* 

Indian Lake is a Type A general-law city, the governing body of which consists of a mayor 

and five aldermen. See TEX. Lot. GOV’TCODE ANN. $3 6.001 (authority to incorporate as a Type 

A general-law municipality); 22.031 (composition of governing body) (Vernon 1988). A majority 

of the number of aldermen constitutes a quorum, except for a called meeting or a meeting to consider 

the imposition of taxes, where the quorum consists of two-thirds of the aldermen. Id. 4 22.039. 

Thus, three of the five aldermen constitute a quorum of the council of Indian Lake under ordinary 

circumstances, while the quorum for a called meeting or a meeting to consider the imposition of 

taxes will be four city council members. Based on the facts provided, it was not possible for a 

quorum of the city council to assemble to hold a meeting during the months of June, July, and 

August. See Webster Y. Texas & Pac. Motor Tramp. Co., 166 S.W.2d 75 (Tex. 1942) (authority 

vested in a governmental body may only be exercised as a meeting of a quorum). 

We find no statute that requires the city council of a Type A city to meet every month or that 

otherwise establishes a meeting schedule. Section 22.038 of the Local Government Code provides 

that the city council of a Type A city “shall meet at the time and place determined by a resolution” 

and shall determine the rules of its proceedings. Thus, the city council is authorized to determine 

‘This item was included on the public notice of the April 13,1998, meeting. 

‘Letter from Barbara J. McKinley, ccmtih~ent, to Senator Eddie Lucia, Jr. (Aug. 14, 1998) (on file with 

Opinion Committee, Offke of the Attorney General) [h ereinafter McKinley letter of 8/14/98]. 
The Honorable Eddie Lucia, Jr. - Page 2 (JC-0028) 

its own meeting times. See TEX. LOCAL GOV’T CODE ANN. $22.038 (Vernon 1988). We have not 

been informed of any resolutions or rules adopted under this statute and thus do not know whether 

the city council had adopted a meeting schedule that could not be changed by the council’s majority 

vote on April 13. Accordingly, we find no basis for concluding that the council’s decision not to 

hold meetings in June, July, or August, was inconsistent with law. 

You also ask whether our answer would be different if Indian Lake were a Type B generallaw city? We find no statutes governing the meeting schedule of Type B cities. Accordingly, we 

find no basis for concluding that the city council’s decision not to hold meetings in June, July, or 

August would be inconsistent with the law applicable to Type B cities. 

We have not been informed that any public business was neglected because of the city 

council’s decision not to meet in June, July and August. We note that section 22.038 of the Local 

Government Code provides that “[tlhe mayor may call a special meeting on the mayor’s own motion 

or on the application of three aldermen.” Moreover, “[a]n alderman shall be fined $3 for each 

meeting that the alderman fails to attend unless the absence is caused by the alderman’s illness or 

the illness of a family member.” Id. Thus, it was possible to hold a meeting during the summer 

months if the need arose. 

Accordingly, no statute in chapter 22 ofthe Local Government Code requires the city council 

of a Type A city to meet every month or otherwise establishes a meeting schedule, nor does any 

provision of chapter 23 of the Local Government Code establish a meeting schedule for the city 

council of a Type B city. 

‘A letter submitted with your request expresses the opinion that Indian Lake may have fewer that the 600 

residents necessary to hmporate as a Type A city, see TEX. LOCAL GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 6.001 (Vernon 1988), and 

expresses the belief that it is achlally a Type B city. McKinley letter of g/14/98, supra, note 2. In answering your 

question about a Type B city, we do not consider whether a drop in population below the 600 level would automatically 

reclassify Indian Lake as a Type B general-law city. 
The Honorable Eddie Lucia, Jr. - Page 3 (JC-0028) 

SUMMARY 

No statute in chapter 22 of the Local Government Code requires the city 

council of a Type A city to meet every month or otherwise establishes a 

meeting schedule, nor does any provision of chapter 23 of the Local 

Government Code establish a meeting schedule for the city council of a Type 

B city. 

Attorney General of Texas 

ANDY TAYLOR 

First Assistant Attorney General 

CLARK RENT ERVIN 

Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel 

ELIZABETH ROBINSON 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General