. 

### 724

OFtiCE OF,THE ATTORNEYGENERAL~OFTEXAS AUSTIN GROVER SELLERS ,, .: A‘rrORNEY OENERAL I

Honorable B. C. Roosar County AttOmey Howard **County** Bfe;springa, Texas Dear 3frr Oplnlon BIO.o-e564 Ro: Thorauthority oi .th olrrk to Is5

Your 

### reoent letter t a rolloWing hots:

oonmilraioner tion. Said tlon blank8

ed by said party, are

quss Bdspartlaent*8 opinion on the follorlng

lark*8 authority to issue mm blrnh. sued, what ntmbers she11 the olsrk giva ths AeW blanks. 3. Doall petition blanks ham to be aooountau rorl

### 725

Honorable Ii. C. Hooaer, Pago 2

4. Should the party saklng the applioation for petition blanks be required to make an affldavft etatfnp what beoame of the mtilated patition blanka. Penal Code, 1925, amamandod, Artiole $65, motion 32, amended Aote oi 1943, 48th Legirlaturo, pago 509, Chapter 325, paragraph 7, deal8 with local option ol&otionr and among other things provldor that;

-+* l Upon tbo appiioatlon ot any one or more qwfried voters of my county, jueioe prooinob, u6 lnoorporot~d town or elty, the oounty olork of suoh runty mhall iaouo to tho opplloaut or applloantr a

### patl*ionto be olrouldttod among the qwllrlod voters thoroof for the 1l@wturor or those quallfiod, votore in ruoh la’oaaho donire that al&al option olootlon bo.o&led theroin 

### for tho purposo 

### of betermining 

### whetherthe oalo

or alcohollo ,beversges 0r ono or more of the variouo typos and alooholio ocntaat shall bo prohibited or logalizod althin th+ prmaribsd limits of ouoh oounty, juetieo prooinot 

### or Jnoor town 

### or oity. The,petition p10Issued shaPorated 1 olom1~ rtats the tsauo 

### orimaues to be voted upon In 5uoh olootionj oaoh suoh petition ahall show the date vi ita issue 

### bythe oouaty olerk and shall be soriellp ntunberod, end oaoh page of suoh petition ahall 

### bearthe same date a& serial number, and shall bear the real or the county olork. The ocunty olerk shall doliver a8 &my copies o’fraid patition 

### asmaybe roqujrod by the applloant and casoh OOpy ahall boar the data, number and 5iw1~ on oaoh page CMmqnire8 in the oriplin&l. The county olsrk shall keep aoopy of eaoh euoh p;t,it$ and araaord of the applioanti9 thorefor. It la well to boar intind that it is tho petition that oonier,re upon the ocm&s8ionora1 oourt Ule juriadiotion t,oorder an oleotfon am3that the oomi881onars* oourt is a oourt or.rooord. Pouell v. Bond (?laoo Coart OS Civil Appealr, 104ll 150 3. #a (21 337. Thus. apetitton in a 10081 Option oleo:lon is anal@ua to aploidln(r In alaw ruit and that the proteotive sld precautionary measuraa lntbe

### abovestatute is to sea that the eleotiou isau3 be aoouratelg presented and

### 726

Honorable H. C. Hooser, Fage 3

to prevsnt fraud and impoaitlon **upon** thd ao.mlsrlonere~ oourt and prop10 in orlllfli; and OofldlWtinpaanelsotloh. It is, therefor@, our opinion that offiolals should and eon adopt any muns th@ythink propar to gravont h‘oud In tha oalllng 8hd OOItdUGt~npOf6 10081 OptlOtl 818QtiOll.

Our statutes provide tor ths subatltutlon or loat reoords and psperpl (R-C.)?. 77) and t&s oourta have held that this relordy Is not exoluslvo but soou~ulstlre end that any other method can be subutituted thut rould bring about the eme **reeult,** i.a. supply auoh lost reoords or papers. The oourte ham further held that aparty dorrlrlng to supply 8uOh lost paporr rbould xaslmaffidavit **o?** tl% loso **or drrtruotlon**  of the papers he seeks to r6iproduos. Houston v. Rlythe, 60 Tsx.SOBj Byden v’. Dunawry, i?9S; a, 829; Strohmyer v. :Ying, 775. ‘if.977.

%etherefore nnswer youryuoationa as follomr 1. The oounty olz2rk is aruthorlzed to issue new petition blanks.

2. Nownumbered blenke should be given to the **party.** To llluetrets~ if t!m twanty (EO)potftion blank8 were rm&ered one to twenty, lnaluslve, and fiftoea of them hadbaen destroyed, thsn the fifteen mu blankn should be mxnberbd, twenty-one, twenty-two, ato., Ug to snd lnoludlhg thirty-five. 3. ft 1s our opinion th8t all petftioa blank8 should be scownted for and It ia **rupgested** that **the** reoord or stub of **the** fifteen 1Ost blanks should shaw that the80 petitions 80 nmbnred ham been destroyed and that In lieu thereor the newnmbored petitions havs been handed to the applioant. 4. Asaproosutlonary m88~re it in suegaatsd that the party mskine:'the sppllostion for those patition blenks should nake an affidavit ahorrlnp ahat beosrce or the mtflatsd petition bl8nk8; or that they have bsen lost,

## 727

Honorable II. 0, Rooser, faga 4