Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1984 )

The Attorney General of Texas
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General
Supreme Court Building Honorable William P. Hobby opinion No.JM-179
P. 0. Box 12546
Austin, TX. ?0?ll- 2546
Lieutenant Governor I>:!
Texas
5121475-2501 P. 0. Box 12068, Cap:L,:ol
Station Re: Whether a home rule city
Telex 9101674-1367 Austin, Texas 78711 may provide for a four-year
Telecopier 512475.0266 term for officials of single-
member districts
714 Jackson, Suite 700
Dallas, TX. 75202-4506 Dear Governor Hobby:
214/742-6944
You ask whether ,rhome rule city may amend its charter to provide
for a four-year term for city council members if those officials are
4024 Alberta Ave., Suite 160
El Paso, TX. 79905.2793
elected from single-:n,?mber
districts.
9151533.3464
Section 11 of wticle XI of the Texas Constitution provides, In
pertinent part:
~- 1 Texas, Suite 700
.auston, TX. 77002-3111
A Home Rule City may provide by charter or
7131223~5666
charter awndment, and a city, town or village
operating cnder the general laws may provide by
606 Broadway. Suite 312 majority v3ce of the qualified voters voting at an
Lubbock. TX. 79401.3479 election crlled for that purpose, for a longer
6061747-5238
term of office than two (2) years for its
officers, either elective or appointive, or both,
4309 N. Tenth, Suite S but not t) exceed four (4) years; provided,
McAllen, TX. 76501.1665 however, that tenure under Civil Service shall not
5121682.4547
be affected hereby.
200 Main Plaza, Suite 400 . . . .
San Antonio, TX. 76205.2797
5121225-4191 A munic:i.palityso providing a term exceeding
two (2) vears but not exceedina four (4) years for
An Equal Opportunity/
any of itrlnon-civil service officers must elect
Atfirmative Action Employer all of t’x members of its governing body by
majority %e of the qualified voters in such
municipali’e ‘. . . . (Emphasis added).
When section 11 of article XI was approved by the voters in
November 1958, singI:-member districts for city council members were
not common. Thus, it was clearly not within the contemplation of the
voters, in approving the amendment, to rule out the possibility of
four-year terms for persons elected from single-member districts. The
purpose of the underscored language of the amendment was only to
ensure that a majorj.ty vote, rather than a plurality vote, of the
p. 791
Honorable William P. Hobby - I'r,ge
2 (JM-179)
qualified voters so voting is :lecessaryin an election for members of
the governing body of a home r%,lecity; the amendment was not intended
to address whether such members were to be elected at large or bv
district. See Braden, ed., The,Constitution of the State of Texas: An
Annotated andcomparative An$s&, Vol. II, p. 701.
We note that the amendrent declares that, when a municipality
adopts four-year terms, its c~nuxilmen must be selected by majority
vote of the "qualified v,):ers in such municipality." In a
single-member distrfct, the only "qualified voters" are those persons
who live within the geograpbkal boundaries of that district. We
therefore construe section 1:. of article XI as not prohibiting the
adoption of four-year terms for municipal officials elected from only
a portion of a municipalit>,, i.e., single-member districts. The
underscored langugage of sectl.onT requires only that any election
for members of the governing body of a home rule city be by majority
vote of the qualified voters sicvoting.
Our construction of art:L:le XI, section 11 is consistent with
federal statutes and judicial t,ecisionswhich, in some instances, have
required the adoption of si.r;gle-memberdistricts. See 42 U.S.C.
§1973c, et seq.; ~Beer v. Un:L::edStates, 425 U.S. 1307141 (1976);
Allen v. State Board of Elections, 393 U.S. 544, 569 (1969). An
interpretation of the amendml?llt which ruled out the nossibilitv of
four-year terms for persons elected from single-member districts would
unnecessarily penalize a cit:r which complied with federal law, and
thus might itself run afoul cf the United States Constitution. We
conclude that a home rule city is authorized to adopt four-year terms
for municipal officials electr,Cfrom single-member districts.
J-U M M A R Y
A home rule city is authorized by article XI,
section 11 of the Texas Constitution to adopt
four-year terms for municipal officials elected
from single-member i,jstricts.
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
TOM GRERN
First Assistant Attorney Gener,rl
DAVID R. RICHARDS
Executive Assistant Attorney Ckneral
p. 792
Honorable William P. Hobby - Psge 3 (JM-179)
Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Rick Gilpin, Chairman
David Brooks
Colin Carl
p. 793