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 of Nueces 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 by Article 

2338-10,. V..T.:C.S.. Your ,queatipns are: ; 

‘; 

“1. Is the officeof Judge of the Domestic Relations 

Court-of Nueces~ County a state or district office, or : 

is it a county office?. 

“2. Is Section 14 of Article 2338-10 providing for 

the removal of the Judge of the Court of Domestic 

Relations of Nueces .County in the.same manner and 

for the same causes,.as a~county Judge may be 

removed under the laws of this State constitutional?” 

Section 3 of Article 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 .a11 cases generally involving domestic relations. 

Section 14 of the 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. 1048 
The Honorable Franklin L. Smith, page 2 (H-225) 

Article 5, $24, of the Texas Constitution provides as follows: 

“County Judges , county attorneys, clerks of the 

District and County Courts, justices of the peace, 

constables, and other county officers, may be removed 

by the Judges of the District Courts for incompetency, 

official misconduct, habitual drunkenness, or other 

causes defined by Law, upon the cause therefor being 

set forth in writing and the finding of its truth by a jury.” 

Another.means of removal is provided by the section of the Constitution establishing the State Judicial Qualifications Commission. Texas 

Constitution, Article 5, 5 l-a. 

Although, as you point out in your. opinion request, the office of 

Judge of the Domestic Relations Court of Nueces County is in many 

respects similar to the office of District Judge, we believe that the primary 

authority in this inquiry is the opinion of the Supreme Court of Texas in 

Jordan v. Crudgington. 231 S. W. 2d 641 (Tex. 1950). In that case the 

Supreme Court was. considering the constitutionality of Article 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 in holding 

this provision unconstitutional, the Supreme Court stated: 

“Another provision is for the removal of the judge 

and clerk of this court by the Juvenile Board. That 

provision is violative of Article V, Section 24, of the 

Constitution, which provides that county officers may 

be removed by district judges upon findings by juries. 

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. lb49 
The Honorable Franklin L. Smith, page 3 (H-225) 

At another point in its opinion, the court again stated that “[t]he 

judge of the court created by this Act is a county officer” and therefore 

required that said judge reside in the county where the court has jurisdiction. (231 S. W. 2d at 646). 

Our determination that the conclusion of the court in Jordan v. 

Crudgington, supra, is applicable in this case is reinforcedby the requirement that the judge’s salary be paid from the county treasury. Vernon’s 

Texas Civil Statutes, Article 2338-10, 5 2. 

Therefore, the answer to your first question is that, for purposes 

of removal from office, the judge of the Court of Domestic Relations 

for Nueces County is a county officer, and the answer to your second 

question is that the provision established for the removal of that judge 

in the same manner and for, the same causes as a county 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 

p. 1050