R-693 

265 

OFFICE OF 

A~STM, TEXAS 

Hon. W. K. Baldrldge Opinion No. V-340 

County and District 

Attorney Re: Persons qualified 

Denton County '. to.'vote In an elecDenton, Texas tion held under Article 27425, Sec. 

1, V.C.S., as amended by Acts 1947, 

. 

,y&L$Ij;: s* 30, 

We 'refer. to your letter of reoent date, aokowledged 'by the Attorney General on July 25; 1947,' 

requesting an opinion of thts office‘oonoernlng persons 

who'may vote In an election called to change or lncorporate a.oommon sohool district Into sn Independent 6 

school district under the provisions of Article 27423, 

&ction l;V.C,Q,, as amended, by Acts 1947, 5Cth Leg-' 

lslature, R;. S., S.:B. 182; Ch. ,311. 

Prior to the recent amendment of Article 

'27423, there existed two methods by which certain oommon'.school. districts could be Incorporated: orchanged 

into an independent'school district. Any oommon school 

district not ~~clnlcipally controlled and containing 

seven.hundred or'more inhabitants oould; and still may, 

be changed or incorporated Into an Independent school 

district by conformance with the provisions of Article 

2757, V.C.S.' Article-2757 requires that a petition for 

that purpose be presented to the county judge signed by 

twenty'or a majority of the resident qua~if'ied voters 

of~such a district praying for an election on the mat- 

'This statute further provides that only qualified 

rs-who are restdents of the corrmon school district 

shall be entitled to vote at said election, and lf'a 

'majority of the-votes cast favor the proposed inoorporation, the county ji@.ge'shall so find and enter.hls 

order to that effect. 

A second method by whlc~h~such a change might 

have been effected prior to the 1947 amendment w&a 
Hon. W. K. Baldridge - Page 2 v-348 

provid@d by:Artiole 2742j.i ,Sectlon l,‘V.C.S., enacted 

In Aotti.1930, 4lst Legisl&Ure; 5th:called sesslbn, 

3. B. 19; oh. 5. Under thie 1930~ Act, any oommba sohool 

district, irrespective of the number of its inhabitants, 

could be changed or incorporated lntp an~lndependent 

school dlstriCt." A. Q.,Oplnlons Hos. 0;6190 and O-3424. 

Under S. B. 19, whenever S majority of the legally qualified property taxpaying voters, togethbr with a majority of the trust&es of the district, petitioned the 

county board of'trustees to change or incorporate the 

oonmon schbol distriot into an independent sohool district and furnished ~suIYlclent evidence to said county 

board that the district when Incorporated would be flnanoially able to carry-out high school work at a reasonable cost per capita, the county board of trustees 

had authdrlty to pass an.order incorporating the"sald 

district; and the same would become an independent 

school district without the necessity of an election. 

This second method of incorporation h+? been 

amended by the 5Cth~Legislature in S. B. 182. Article 

m42j, Section 1, as amended,, now applies only to “any 

common school district ih which there is maintained a 

first class hi h school of twelve (12> gradas, offering sixteen (1 2 ) or more.oredlts." In a common school 

district, caning within. the.'speo~lfic provlalons of Ari 

title 2742j, Section 1, as amended, the county judge, 

upon presentation bf a petition properly signed by twenty or's majority of the legally quallfled property taxpaying voters residing in the district, shall call an 

election for the purpose of oonverting the common school 

district Into an lndependekt shhool district. Said amended Act further provides,that if the'majority of the 

votes cast favor the ohange, the county board of trustees shall~pass an order creating said independent 

sohool~distriot and appoint a boar&of seven trustees 

who shall serve until the next,regular trustee eleotion under the laws of this State, at which time seven 

members shall be elected a8 provided by law. 

Thus, under the present laws governing the 

ohange or incorporation of sohool districts, a common 

school district as described or designated in Artlole 

2742j, Section 1, as amended, may incorporate In accordance with the provls:,Sons ofsaid amended statute 

by an election, or, if it has seven hundred or more inhabitants, it may elect to .Ind'orporate inaccordanoe 

with the provisions of Article 2757, bg'an eleotion. 
:: 

Hon. W . IS. Baldridge - ! Page 3 v-348 ~’ 

Btnob ~a l otaeol dirtSot bavtw retm hundred 

or more Znhabitants nay ln6erporato i&or Article 2742j, 

Seotion 1, as mended, or uuder Art,iole 875p and Article 2757 provide8 that la buoh an slectlon qurlifled 

voters who ar% residents of the oommop sohool diEtriot 

proposed to be lnoorporatbd shall be entitled to vote,” 

we can conceive of no logical legal basis or reason for 

construing Article 2742 

quiring that only legal I 

, Srotion 1, as amended,,as revoters resldi 

y qualified property taxpaying 

n& 

in the di6trict of that particular Qtiaractor ace anti led to vote in an elect Ion held th%Feunder . Certainly, th% Leglslaturo in smending Article 

27423, Section 1, aaae no such qualifloatloa, nor, 40 

we believe, should any such llmltation be lmpllad. 

It is our opinion, therefore, that rll pbrsons who are qualified voters and who are rerident8 of 

a common school district falling withio.the Uerignation 

of Article 27425, Section 1, as amended, ar% entitled 

to vote ,‘in an election held under’ and for the pur se 

set out In said amended statute. See Article 295 $ , : 

V.C.S. 

It: +#a@ not be amiss to direct the attention 

of those common school districts whlch,conteraplate coonaFting or Incorporating. into independent school dlstricts to the case styled,: Bigfoot Independent School 

District v. Gernard, 116, 9. W. (2d) 804, affirmed by 

the Supreme court of T%xas in 129 s. WI (2d) 12l3, holding that where, after a common school district has voted a maintenance tax, the district was regularly converted Into an Independent school district, the independent school district could not impose the malntenancs 

tax without having first obtained the approvsl of the 

votrrs of the new diatriot, notwfthstandlng the independent district embraced the identical territory whloh 

formed the common school dirtriot. 

All pqreons who am quallfled voters and 

who are residents of a comon sohool UiStriCt 

of the derl 

AiWole 274 8 

nation and descrlptlon fret out in 

j, Sec. 1, V.C.S., as amixImI .bj 

ACtD 1947, 50th Leg., R. S., 9. B. 162, am 

entitled to vote in an election roqulred thereunder for the oonvrrrlon of such a common sohool 
-.. 

Hon. w. 1c. B8ldrldge - Page 4 v-340 

dlstriot Into rn independent dohool dlstrict . Arts. 2757, 2955, V.C.S. 

verj truly your8 

ATTORNEY'QXRHW, OF T'I&Aer 

Ohe8ter E. Ollh~On 

Alslstrnt 

CEO:djm:jt 

APPROVED; 

T ASSISTARP