ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

March 22, 2010 

The Honorable Jane Nelson 

Chair, Health and Human Services Committee 

Texas State Senate 

Post Office Box 12068 

Austin, Texas 78711-2068 

Dear Senator Nelson: 

Opinion No. GA-0763 

Re: Whether a municipality is required to receive 

a petition signed by twenty percent of its qualified 

voters before calhng an electIOn to wIthdraw from 

a regional transportation authority (RQ-0824-GA) 

You ask whether a municipality is required to receive a petition signed by twenty percent of 

its qualified voters before calling an election to withdraw from a regional transportation authority.! 

You indicate that, in 2004, the City of Richland Hills held an election to withdraw its membership 

in the Fort Worth Transportation Authority. Request Letter at 1. You tell us that the voters elected 

to remain within the Authority. You tell us further that the City Council of Richland Hills is at 

present considering another withdrawal election. Id. You inquire about the process for calling such 

an election, specifically whether the municipality's authority to call the election is conditioned upon 

the receipt by the city council of a voter petition. 

Section 452.651 of the Transportation Code provides, in relevant part: 

(a) The governing body of a unit of election may order an 

election to withdraw the unit from an authority. An election ordered 

under this subsection for a unit of election located in an authority 

consisting of one subregion governed by a subregional board created 

under Subsection 0 may not be held if the governing body rescinds 

the order and notice of the election before the 45th day before 

election day.2 

lRequest Letter at 2 (available at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov). 

2Subchapter 0 is applicable only to "the board of a subregion that has a principal municipality with a population 

of more than 800,000." TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 452.571 (Vernon 2007). The population of the City of Fort Worth 

in 2000 was 534,694. See U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, U.S. DEP'T OF COMMERCE, 2000 CENSUS OF POPULATION: State and 

County QuickFacts, available at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfdlstates/48/4827000.html (last visited Jan. 21, 2010). 

As a result, subchapter 0 does not apply to the facts you present. 
The Honorable Jane Nelson ~ Page 2 (GA-0763) 

(b) On the determination by a governing body of a unit of 

election that a petition for withdrawal under this chapter is valid, the 

governing body shall order an election to withdraw the unit of 

election from the authority. 

TEx. TRANsp. CODE ANN. § 452.651(a)-(b) (Vernon 2007). 

In construing a statute, we begin with the proposition that "our primary objective is to 

ascertain and give effect to the Legislature's intent." City of Marshall v. City of Uncertain, 206 

S.W.3d 97, 105 (Tex. 2006). We attempt to discern such intent from the actual language used by 

the Legislature. See Osterberg v. Peca, 12 S. W.3d 31, 38 (Tex. 2000). Statutory words and phrases 

must "be read in context and construed according to the rules of grammar and common usage." TEx. 

Gov''r CODE ANN. § 311.011(a) (Vernon 2005). 

Subsection (a) declares that "[t]he governing body of a unit of election may order an election 

to withdraw the unit from an authority." TEx. TRANsp. CODE ANN. § 452.651(a) (Vernon 2007) 

(emphasis added). The word "'may' creates discretionary authority or grants permission or a power." 

TEx. Gov' T CODE ANN. § 311.016(1 ) (Vernon 2005). Subsection (a) authorizes but does not require 

a municipality to order an election. Subsection (b), on the other hand, provides that "[o]n the 

determination by a governing body of a unit of election that a petition for withdrawal under this 

chapter is valid, the governing body shall order an election to withdraw the unit of election from the 

authority." TEx. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 451.651(b) (Vernon 2007) (emphasis addedV The word 

"'shall' imposes a duty." TEx. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 311.016(2) (Vernon 2005). As a result, this 

provision requires a municipality to order an election if a valid petition is submitted in accordance 

with statute. Moreover, because subsections (a) and (b) are not joined by an "and," it is evident that 

neither subsection is dependent upon the other. Rather, the two subsections provide two different 

means of calling a withdrawal election. Thus, while the city council is required to call a withdrawal 

election upon receipt of a valid petition, it is authorized to do so in the absence of a petition.4 

Accordingly, in answer to your question, a municipality is not required to receive a petition 

signed by twenty percent of its qualified voters before calling an election to withdraw from a regional 

transportation authority. 

3 A withdrawal petition must be signed by not less than twenty percent of the number of registered voters of the 

unit of election. TEX. 'fRANSP. CODE ANN. § 452.652(c) (Vernon 2007). 

4"An election to withdraw may not be ordered, and a petition for an election to withdraw may not be accepted 

for filing, more frequently than once during each period of 12 months preceding the anniversary of the date of the 

election confirming the authority." Id § 452.651(c). Because you indicate that the last withdrawal election was held 

in 2004, this provision does not at present prohibit the calling of a new election. 
The Honorable Jane Nelson - Page 3 (GA-0763) 

SUMMARY 

A municipality is not required to receive a petition signed by 

twenty percent of its qualified voters before calling an election to 

withdraw from a regional transportation authority. 

ANDREW WEBER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JONATHAN K. FRELS 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Rick Gilpin 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee