Bon. James E. Barlow 

Criminal District Attorney 

Bexar County 

San Antonio, Texas 

Dear sir: 

Opinion NO. ~1-68 

ore: Conetltutlonallt 

of Article 2351 Y /2c 

Taxes Revletd Civil 

3tatutcs 

You have requested an opinion on the conrtitutlonallty’ of 

the provision in Article 2351 1/2c, lkxaa Revised Civil Statutes, 

which states that If, upm a change of boundaries of Justice 

Precincts, only one previously elected or SQQOinttd Justice o? 

Peace or Constable rtaldta rlthln a precinct as so chirngtd, 

he shall contlnoe In office a8 Justice or Constable OS that 

prtOlnct for the remainder of the ter@ to which he was elected 

or appointed. The full text c# thi ptPtlWnt portion of Article 

23% 1/2c, enacted ‘in 1965, reads aa follows : 

” (c) When boiandariee of Justice of the Pcaci Pi-cclnctrr art changed, so that txlatlng preclnpta art 

altered; new precincts art formed, or Somer~preClnCt8 art abOll8htfJ, IT OmOnt pr~viouslp elected 

or appolnttd Justlct'of the Ptact oc Conrtablt rtsides within a precinct as so changed, he shall contlnut’ln office aa Justice or Constable of that prtcinct for the rtmalndtr oi the CeiYn to which he wall 

elected or appointed. If more than one Justice or 

Constable reeldta therein the off&e #hall becomt 

vacant and the vacancy rhall be filled l s.5.n other 

You have further inquired: 

" Doer a’move in the precinct liner conatltute a 

change in’the jyeclnct caurln@ the office involve8 

to be vaaated? 

In 

If a change lh bdufidary lines cf itseW creates ‘s..vtcancy, 

the office ,,bg aboltehing tha, ‘.trfatlng~~.precSnct$’ t;hda :.Artiolc 

235$s~lec oollldts with Section 28, of Arti$clt~~V 6t the Tcxar 

COnSbltutlOn, which QFoVidtS ,111 fOllO~13: 

- 312 - 
Hon. James E. Barlow, page 2 (M- 68 ) 

“Vacanclta In the offlct of Judgtb of tht Suplitm? 

Court, the Court bf Criminal Appeals, the Court 

of ~Clvll Appeals and Dletrlct Courta shall be r111td 

by the Qov&nor”uhtll the next succeeding gentSa 

election; and vacancies in tht,office of County Judge 

and .luaticta at the mace shall be filled by the Commisbiontre Court until ,tht next gtmral 

8uch oiilcts." 

election for 

“. 

‘Artlale ‘V, Stt.itiqn 18 alro provides, In 

“Ba&h organlmb c’ounty~ in tee ‘State now 

part., aa followr : 

or hereaf ttr 

rxlatlng, bhall be divided from time to time, for the 

oohvbnltna~ bf ttie 3Mbplt Into prtcinc,tr, not ltaa 

‘than iom’and @ore then e&#&t. The priaent county 

courfr #hall mtkt thi firat.dlvlrlon. Subrequtiit 

dlvlribnr rhall br made’,by the Commlanlonera Court, 

QlioVLded for bg ttiia,CaH~tttUtlOn. In rrch’rti6h 

prtclnat: thire ‘Mall be electrd at’ trah blennlal 

electi&; one Jurfiot bf the:Ptace and on@ Conntablc, 

eaoh of whoa rhrll hold hlr office for two y&&r! ,and 

until his oucatmor #hall have be&n elect&d and quallilcd~ - 

provided that In ang’ praclnct In which there aey .be i 

,clfJ of tlOht ,thourmd or more lnhrbitmtr, them~rhall ’ 

be elected two Jwbloer of thti Peace.” 

Artlola ‘2351, V.,O.S., red8 ln,pprt: 

” ,&ch Cdmmlrrionerr court #hall: 

l.,Lay off, thair,n((lprotlvi cowitler fnto h?lnctr,, 

not leer than iour,.~raad not ,rOre man ei&h ?, , for the 

eleatlon. of Jurtioer of the Prrcq and Conitrblea, 

fix tnr timer and p.laorr ,‘bf .;,@olding Jurtiora Courts, 

l nU ,lhall rrtibllgh,p~roor in muoh~preoinatr where 

eleotlonr’ alull ,b8 hrldl. . ..” ,‘, : , 

Article 2355 V.C.8: provi6er: 

" me Court rhall have po*rr to illi vrcrnalta in the 

ofilcea of: Coylt, 

Attorney, Count9 La 

Judge;, ‘County Clerk, Sheriff, County 

*, 

l mwo r , Cbunty Srirveyor, County ,í ~

: 

Hide Ineptcto*,. Arbenror of’ We8 j Collector ‘of Taxeg.,, 

Jurtlcaa of the Peace Conrtabler,, uN:Cixmty’SuplrW¶- 

'tendent of Public Inrbuotion. Such vacancier &hall 

be illlad by a majoritr”votb ,of thi memberl, df rrld" 

Chart, prerent and vottiS, and the, pt'rton ‘cnpn r&l1 

hold ofilat until the nrxt ,Stneral election. 8;’ 
Hon. Jamta E. Berlow, page 3 (M- 68) 

In State ex rel. Dowltn v. Rigaby, 43 S.W. 271 (Texaa Civil 

AQptalaT897 I I th Court construed-Section 28 of 

Article V o?*t~~~n~~l~u~lon~end Article 2351; to mean. In 

tiftct, that the txclualvt power to crta,tt,-ilier or abblleh 

Justice Precincts has been vested ln~ the Commlaelonera Cqurt 

by' the Constitution. The only llmitatlon upon this power la 

that there must be as many aa four and not more than tight 

precincts. 

The fact altuetion upon which your requtrt is baaed la a 

~pro oatd 

158 P 

tranaftr of two voting prtclnctu (Precincts 142 and 

from Justice Precinct No. 2 In Rex&r County to,Juatict 

Preclnkt No. L. You state iurther that none of the o??lcera 

Involved live ,ln the voting precincts to be trendierred, an0 

tech ‘would still live in %he area where he waa elected after 

the change. 

fn your brief you l xQr to eI the view that t+e provlaloti of 

AiWclt 2351 i/2 under aonaide~atlon is invalid btaauat 6f the 

holding of the Court of Civil Appeala In Brown v. Mteka, 96 

S.W. 2d 839 ( Texas, Civil ApQtale 1936, error diem. 1. In that 

case, the Commissionem Court of Bexar County had entered an 

order, shortly before the dtadllht ?or filing In the Qr$nary 

elections to be held in 1936, rearranging’ the Justice Precincts 

of Etxar County’atld providing that the changes were to become 

t??tctlvt on January 1, 1937. The order provided, however, 

that at the tltctiona to be held in 1936 the o??lcere for the 

Justice Precincts wire to be voted on by the re@ldentaI;fa~ht 

precincts aa they would exist after January 1, 1937. 

election contest bttwteh oandld.atte for nomlnat+on to the 

o~?iiae~o? Cbnatable~ for one of the precincts, the CouCt held 

tha’t the ~atttmpttd nomlnatlo~~ by votta,,o? the new precinct 

was Invalid because the precinat had no+ than come Into 

txlattnct. Aa to whtthcr tht~, winning candldatt couJd c-lalm 

nomlnetlon to the offlatf~r the precinct at It axleted at the 

time a? the primary ~tltctlon, the court held that’ht could not 

do so because he had not run for that offlae slid also btcauat 

the office would no longer be in exlrtenca when the new term 

began. The court atetkq’thrt the result of the Commlaaiontra 

Court’8 order wee that ‘when the new precincts come into txlattnct, 

all precinct o??iaea will be vacant and the C~a&lOntr0 Court 

will be charged with’thr duty of filling the QMClnCt offlcts 

by appointment. ‘! 

Thla statement br the Court of~Clvl1 Appt~la has led ant 

to conclude that an ‘automatic vacan0y” oacurb at any time ‘., ~’ 

bound&files o? Justice Precincts hrt altered, whether the 

Commissioners Court intended to abolish the Qreclnct’and to 

create a new preclnot. Ut do not believe that the cotta SUppOrt 

- 314 - 
. . 

Hon. James E. Barlow, page 4 (M-68 1 

this bonclualon, and wt era convinced that a vacancy la not 

automatic under there i?Iraumatanct8, partlcularlg where thera 

la ho txprtaelon on the part of the COmmlaaioner~ Court's order 

Of an Intent on the part of thtX?omBl8alontr8 Court to aboliah 

an axlatlng precinct and to create a new one. 

It la Interesting to n&t tht ln the 

the Commi88lontra Court exprtarly abollsht 

cane, eupra, 

not No.5 In 

one order, and at the a&me t&e tatabllahed by another order 

a new precinct 5, conkpored of the territory embraced In the 

, 

aboliished precinct 5 and a part of’tbt prevlou8ly belonging 

to precinct No.1. At the ramt'tlme the Cemmlralontrs Court 

appointed Mglrby to fill the vbcrncy In the otflct of the 

juatloe of the peace of prtclnct No.5, which offlct we8 vacant 

at the time such preainct war abbllrhed. The elected Juatlct 

of the Peaat.ot precinct No.1 ~88 attempting to oubt the appointed 

Justice o? the Peace, of prealnet 5, which r??ort failed, but 

nowhere In the'oplnlon 18 it even ru@emted that the mere 

territorial ah8nse of Preclnat No.1 h8d the l ffeot of ebollrhiag 

Precinct No.1. 

lht office of Jurtlce’o? the Peace la a conrtltutlonal 

o?f%oe, and the otflct~would pre8umptlvtly remain In txlettnot 

unlerr the order of.tht Commirrlon8rr Court l bolirher txi8ting 

prealnctaand are&em new preolnotr. To the oxtmt t t 

V-790 9 

art in con i 

19491, V-1032 (1950 WW-536 

thep are to th8t extent overruled. 

lict rltn~tiha.8 opinion, 

Bven thoyh under the frctr' rubmltted by'pW'Peque#t no 

automatlc~ vrornaP in the ottiae would ooeur theme Qortfonr 

of &Male a351 l/k, which ottem@ to oontroi tha rwaerrion 

bf’oftlctr whtrt ntu pmcinotr am ar88ted, uxirtin(l precinct8 

are rbollrhetl or wheW8 vac8nc 

Commlrrionerr Court8 are unebn8 t i%uW(wl. 

1 8 lxprr881 .areatBd by the 

kia balmee of 

ActLo 2351 l/20 ir aulrplurage boorue MM l vdr ret forth 

would occur rt&wdltsa of the shtute. 

,’ 

. . 
1 . 

Hon. James E. Barlow, page 5 (M- 68) 

SUMMARY 

Under the facta submitted; a proposed transfer 

of voting precincts 142 and 158 from Justice 

Precinct No.2 to Juetlct Precinct No.1 of Btxar 

County, which doen not affect the residence of 

tny of the prtatnt office holdtra, will not create 

a vacancy In any of the office8 of the two prt- 

‘clnet8, hue the provltlons of Article 2351 1/2c, 

Vernon*6 Cioll Statutes, for continuation In the 

office of fht incumbents after a change in 

boundarie~a of Justice Pcecincta is unconrtitutlonal 

a8 an aMmnpt on tht’pafit of tht’&Sfelature, to 

tOnbrO1 thtt which has been vetted txcluaivcly with 

the Comm%aslontra Courter. :.lb the extent of their 

confl%et with this o inion, 

0pZniona 7 

Attorney0 Omtrtl~!b 

,anb C-112 

1949 , V-1032(1950), W-536 (19581 

are ovtrrultcl. 

Prepared by Houghton Brownltt, Jr. 

Amiltant Attorney Qtntrcrl 

APPROVBD: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman 

W.V. bepptrt, Co-Ch&rman 

W.O. dhultr 

Ktrns Taylor 

#e&l Willisms 

John Reeves 

8TAPP MCAL ASSI&TAWT 

A.S. Carubbi, Jr.