# T~~EA~ORNEYGEN#~RAL OF TEXAS AURRN. TRxae 78711

February 12, 1974
The Honorable Franklin L. Smith County Attorney Nueces County County Courthouse 

### Corpus.Christi, Texas 78401 Opinion No. H- 225 Re: Removal of Judge of the Domestic Relations Court ofNueces County, Texas Dear bfr. Smith: .’ .,; ~XOU have asked us.two,quertions concerning the offices of Judge of the Domestic Relations 

### Co&of-Nuecea County as created byArticle 2338-10,. V..T.:C.S.. Your ,queatipns are: ;

‘; “1. Is the officeof Judge ofthe Domestic Relations Court-of Nueces~ County 

### a state or district office, 

### or : is it a county office?.

“2. Is Section 14ofArticle 2338-10 providing for the removal of the Judge ofthe Court of Domestic Relations of

### Nueces .Countyinthe.same manner and for the 

### same causes,.as a~county Judge may be removed under the laws of this State constitutional?” Section 3ofArticle 2338-10,. V. T.,C. S., grants to the Nueces County Court of Domestic Relations “jurisdiction concurrent with the District Courts of Nueces County”, of.a11cases generally involving domestic relations. Section 14ofthe Act provides:, ,, : “The Judge of the Court of DomesticRelations of Nueces County may be removed from office in the same,manner and for the same causes as a.County Judge may be removed under the laws of this State.”

p. 1048The Honorable Franklin L. Smith, page 2 (H-225)

Article 5, $24, ofthe Texas Constitution provides as follows:

“County Judges , county attorneys, clerks ofthe District and County Courts, justices ofthe peace, constables, and other county officers, may be removed by the Judges ofthe District Courts for incompetency, official misconduct, habitual drunkenness, or other causes defined by Law, upon the cause therefor being set forth inwriting andthe finding ofits truth by ajury.” Another.means of removal is provided by the section ofthe Constitution establishing the State Judicial Qualifications Commission. Texas Constitution, Article 5, 5l-a. Although, **as** you point out inyour. opinion request, the office of Judge ofthe Domestic Relations Court ofNueces County is in many respects similar to the office of District Judge, we believe that the primary authority in this inquiry is the opinion ofthe Supreme Court of Texas in Jordan v. Crudgington. 231S.W. 2d 641 (Tex. 1950). Inthat case the Supreme **Court was.**  considering the constitutionality ofArticle 2338-3, V. T. C.S. (see also Acts 1949, 5lst Leg., ch. 426, p. 792), establishing the **Court** of Domestic Relations in and for Potter County, Texas, which statute is similar to Article 2338-10. However, the article establishing the Domestic ,Relations Court of Potter County, Texas, provided a somewhat elaborate and innovative procedure for removing said judge and inholding this provision unconstitutional, the Supreme Court stated:

“Another provision is for the removal of thejudge and clerk of this court by the Juvenile Board. That provision is violative ofArticle V, Section 24, ofthe Constitution, which provides that county officers may be removed by district judges upon findings byjuries. The judge and clerk of the court created by this Act are county officers, and. therefore, can be removed only in the manner prescribed by this section of the Constitution.
. . . ‘I (231 S.W. 2d at 646).

p. lb49The Honorable Franklin L. Smith, page 3 (H-225)

At another point in its opinion, the court again stated that “[t]he judge ofthe court created by this Act is a county officer” and therefore required that said judge reside in the county where the **court** has jurisdiction. (231S.W. 2dat 646).

**Our** determination that the conclusion of the court in Jordan v. Crudgington, supra, is applicable in this case is reinforcedby the requirement that thejudge’s salary be paid from the county treasury. Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, Article 2338-10, 52. Therefore, the answer to **your** first question is that, for purposes of removal from office, thejudge ofthe **Court** ofDomestic Relations for Nueces County is a county officer, and the answer to **your** second question is that the provision established for the removal of thatjudge in the same manner and for, the same causes asacounty judge is constitutional. SUMMARY For the purpose of removal from office, the judge of the **Court** of Domestic Relations of Nueces County is a county officer and the provision providing for his removal in the same manner and for the same **causes** as a County Judge is constitutional.

DAVID M. KENDALL. Chairman Opinion Committee

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