Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF TEXU
JOHN CORNYN
July 6, 1999
The Honorable Irma Range1 Opinion No. JC-0074
Chair, Committee on Higher Education
Texas House of Representatives Re: Whether a public school employee may
P.O. Box 2910 simultaneously serve as a county commissioner
Austin, Texas 78768-2910 and draw a salary therefor (RQ-0011)
The Honorable Delma Rios
Kleberg County Attorney
P.O. Box 1411
Kingsville, Texas 78364
Dear Representative Range1 and Ms. Rios:
You have requested our opinion as to whether a public school teacher or administrator may
simultaneously serve as a county commissioner and draw a salary therefor. We conclude that she
may do so.
Article XVI, section 40 ofthe Texas Constitution provides in relevant part: “No person shall
hold,or exercise at the same time, more than one civil office of emolument, except that of Justice of
the Peace [or] County Commissioner. .” At first glance, it might appear that the above-quoted
provision answers your question. In the first place, county commissioners are exempted from its
prohibition. Furthermore, a public school teacher or administrator is not an “officer” for purposes
of the amendment. Ruiz v. State, 540 S.W.2d 809, 811 (Tex. Civ. App.-Corpus Christi 1976, no
writ).
Article XVI, section 40, however, by operation of the following proviso, is applicable to
certain persons who are not “officers”:
State employees or other individuals who receive all or part of
their compensation either directly or indirectly from funds of the
State ofTexas and who are not State officers, shall not be barred !%om
serving as members ofthe governing bodies of school districts, cities,
towns, or other local governmental districts; provided, however, that
such State employees or other individuals shall receive no salary for
serving as members of such governing bodies.
The Honorable Irma Range1 - Page 2 (X-0074)
The Honorable Delma Rios
A public school teacher or administrator receives part of her compensation from state funds and is
therefore subject to the proviso. Consequently, she may serve on a local governing board only if she
renounces any compensation attached to the service. Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. JM-118 (1983). In
County ofMaverickv. Ruiz, 897 S.W.2d 843 (Tex. App.-San Antonio, 1995, no writ), however, the
court held that a county did not constitute a “local governmental district” under the article XVI,
section 40 proviso. As a result, the court declared, a teacher who serves as a county commissioner
is not prohibited from receiving a salary for the latter position.
Ms. Rios also asks about the continuing validity of Attorney General Opinion H-6 (1973).
In that opinion, this office addressed a situation identical to the one you pose: whether a public
school or junior college instructor could validly serve as a county commissioner and receive the
salary attached to the latter position. The opinion concluded, first, that, since a county commissioner
was a member of the judicial branch of government, and a teacher a member ofthe executive branch,
such service, in the absence of the newly-added “state employee” proviso, was barred by article II,
section 1 of the Texas Constitution-the separation of powers provision. Because of the proviso,
however, the individual at issue was permitted to serve as commissioner, but could not receive a
salary for doing so. The opinion simply assumed without explicitly so finding that a county was a
“local governmental district.”
The implicit conclusion of Attorney General Opinion H-6-that a county is a “local
governmental district”-has been rejected by County ofMaverick. The explicit conclusion-that
article II, section 1 ordinarily plays a role in dual-office-holding matters-has long been abandoned,
both by the courts and by this office. See Turner v. Trinity Indep. Sch. Dist., 700 S.W.2d 1 (Tex.
App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1983, no writ) (school trustee may also serve as justice of the peace);
Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. JM-5 19 (1986); Tex. Att’y Gen. LO-92-004, LO-88-019. Ms. Rios’s brief
suggests that County of Maverick does not control because Kleberg County is not within the
jurisdiction of the San Antonio Court of Appeals. While such an argument might be considered by
a district court, the attorney general, in the opinion process, cannot ignore reported judicial
interpretations of law from this state’s appellate courts.
It is therefore our opinion that a public school teacher or administrator may simultaneously
serve as a county commissioner without renouncing the salary attached to the latter position.
Attorney General Opinion H-6 (1973) is overruled. We note, however, that article XVI, section 40
does not affirmatively authorize a county commissioner to hold a second salaried position; it merely
exempts a commissioner from the prohibition applicable to other officers.
The Honorable Irma Range1 - Page 3 (JC-0074)
The Honorable Delma Rios
SUMMARY
A public school teacher or administrator may simultaneously hold the
office of county commissioner without renouncing the salary attached to the
latter position. Attorney General Opinion H-6 (1973) is overruled.
JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas
ANDY TAYLOR
First Assistant Attorney General
CLARK RENT ERVIN
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel
ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Chair, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General