Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFJ=KlE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
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Honorable0. A. Falter@
OOUty AttOrnaT
6u1 Saba County
San Saba, Toxar
&I, aatIol&itingthat ha w0ua be ~ao4mrfrfl.
on that third eramlnatlon, maar thtiraoa aaa
*au aomiaatod over the prerent in0umbant.
Thlr week brlagr the infornmtloa that he
railed again for the third time.; I preeutm
he will take ~aaothsreuLmfaatIo,aaad~, Ii ha
doea I awwme that the raeult wlil ba knowa
beram the Novacabal: elrotlon.
I
.
Honorable 0. A. Walters, ?age 2
TJnlaea prohibited,eltbsr through a
mnaamus or Indunotlon,one oriboth prooesd-
tags, his name will b0 oortifledby the oom-
altter and his name will go up oa the tlokot
at the general lleotIon.w
On the basis of thsse fasts yes hesire to~knowl
(1) What steps may be taken to eatabllsh
the lnellglbllltyof the 04n4laate for the or-
ii00 or county attorney;
(2) If steps may bo taken, rho Is author,-
< . Iesd to institutethe aroessary prooerdiags~
(3) 'Other questionsbased upon the assump-
tlon that timely stdps will not bo takea.
U Opinion No. 0+%?05 this department held that
u&or Artlolss 332 ana 2927 OS the Rev'lssdCivil Statutes,
'1925,one who does not hire his license to praotloe law aad
'will not have It at the time of thg Suly prlcmry oleatloa
Is not entitled to have his name oertitid ae a oanalaate
for the offLoe oi oounty attorney at suoh eleotion.
Artlalss 2927, 2928 6.tta 2989 of Veraon~6 Annotatoa
01~11 Statutes, rep&: as r0110w8:
*Art. 29117.
To person shall be ellglblr to any Stats,
oounty, pretolnotor munlalpal 0PiIoe In this
Stata unless ha shall be eligible to ho14 of-
iiae under the Coastltutloaof this Ytate, and
unless he shall her0 r6SIdsa In this Stats for
the pQrIod or tw6lve months and sir months in
the oounty, prealnot, or aunI0Ipellty,In whIoh
he orfers himself as a oanblbate,aoxt preood-
Ing any gea4r41 or speolal eleatloa,and shall
hare beon 1111
aotual bona fide oltlsen of said
oounty, prsolnot, or munIolp4lIty.fora0re than
sir months. No person Ineligible to hold oftloe
shall ever have his name placed upon the ballot
at any general or spealal eleotlon, or at 4ny
prlmclryelection where oandldatbs are soleoted
under prIm4ry eleotlon laws of this State; and
ao such ineligiblecandidate 8hal.lever be VOtea
upon, aor hnre votes oountad for him, at eny
suoh general, 8p00141, or primary el0OtIOn.
Eonorable 0. A. Walters, Page 3
“Art. ZQE%.
\
“Neither the Seoretaey of State, nor any
oounty judge or this State, nor any other au-
thority authoria4a to issue orrtItloat48,shall
Is8u4 any o4rtlrIoat4sor eleatlon or appolnt-
akentto any person 4l40t0a or-appointedto any
oriios la this State, who la not eligible to
hold such 0ff~o0 uadt3rtha CoaetItutIon0r this
State and under the above artlale; and the nams
or ao InslIgIbleperson, under the Constitution
ma laws or thle State, shall be oertirira by
any party, ooamittee,or any authority author-
ha to have.the naa0e Of 04ndia4t0s placed
upon the primary ballots at any primary elea-
tlon In this Statei and the name or ao Inell-
glble aanalaate under the CoartItutIonand laws
or this Stst.4 shall be plaO@d upon the ballot
of any general or 8p40141 eleotloa by any au-
thority whoa@ duty.It -Is to plaoo names of
eandlaateo,updnolrlolal ballots,
“Art. 2929.
“The dI8trIOt court shall have authority
to Ieeue writs of Injunctionand all other
neaessary prooese at the suit oi any Iaterest-
ad party, or of any voter, to enforod the pm-
visions or the above two artloles and to prb-
teot.thereunaerthe rights or all part.108and
the public; for suoh purpose, jurisaiotIon
and authority Is ooarerrra-upon all dlstrlot
oourts or this State and all oases filed here-
under ahsll hare rimi right 0r pr000amoe
upon trial and appeal."
Under the Artiolee of the RsrIsed Civil Statutes,
above sat rorth, the Oandldate mentlonrd In your letter Ie
:not entitled to have hla naae go on the ballot in ths gen-
eral eleotloa In lOor@mbsrna the D4aooratIo aomlaee for the
ofrice 0r county attorney. He should not be voted upon at
that time as suoh nominee, and Wider Article 2929 an ln&K~o-
,~tIon my iaeus rros the dlstrlot court to prevent his nam
being plaaea berore the YOters at the general 614OtIOn.
iet us point out here for your guldanoethat
awhilemtiole 8E53, Vsraoa~s .4motiit4a 01~11 8tatute8, pro-
.
~-, Honorable 0. A. salters, Page 4
,videsthe remedy of an InfornmtloaIn the natul
quo warrato to be 4Ireoted against qae uulawft
truaiag upon or assuming the atah8 or ea 0rric
,whIohhe IS aot entitled, that rmaedy IS not a1
sat11 the oae against whom the writ Is to ,bed:
hmm,aotuallyintruded Into ana unlawfullyh0iat
As stated in Callaghanv. Tqbln, 40 T. 1
90 s: w. (ea) ss, writ refused,
*There Is nothing In that statute
that would prbteot the Inauaibent or an
ofrIo rrom one who thrrateneato remove
him iron4the 84q and to take possrssloa
or the property appertainingto the of-
ri04. That hatut giVS8 a remedy agalnr
a person who ha& slr@aay usurped, Intruao
Into, and unlawfully holds an 0rrf00, as
the very aesIgnatIonor the prooesdlag
olearly~WlIe8.~ It Im R,procieeblng by
Quo warranto, to be w0a ~agalastoae in
po8eaesIoa or an orrio*, and 04anot be
used by an lnouabent to proteot hla frois
attenwtea usurpationor his 0rti04.r
see also WIllIsms v. Cast~eman,ii8
817 9. w. SW.
.You hare been advised that an injuno
sue to prereat the nam. of an IaeligIble oandl
appearingupon the ballot at the general elrot
uaber as the DemooratlonomIne for the ofrloe
oosoeraours.lves with the qu.stIon of who is
$0 institutethe aroessary prooredIngs.
Although Artlole ii989provides la ha
that *any Interesteaparty, or any tot*PlaaT
Isjunotloathere provided for, the 0880 or All
deofaedby the Comlssian of Appeals Is 19s
0 9. if. (aa) 751, oowtrueu the st4tut4 airr0r
In that OaBe one Braly, the Dl4IntIf
a third man were oandldatesror the orfIc# of
torney. At the .l.otIon It appeared that Bml
the higher& number or votes 048% and the plair
ssoopd largrst auaber. Braly hosevor,was Ix
arr Art1010 8987 to be 4 04adhate for th. orI
trlot attorney, aud the pl4lntIrt,th eleoosd
,/-
Honorable 0. A. Walton, Page b
lnstttutod the neoeseary etepe, as a totor, to proouro
an InJuuotionunder Artfole gQgQ\to prev4nt the name of
Bralp from appearing upon thr ballot at the general eleo-
tion and to prevent hi8 oertiiioetiona8 the Demooratio
ncdlwe ior the offioe of ~dietriotattorney. The Court
stated:
&The petition thorrrore rail6 to thor
that tha plaintiff hue a logal right, dis-
tinot Srom the gwwral pub110 of whioh he
la a member, whioh will be aHooted by the
osrtifioationof Braly a8 the Dsnmretir
nomlneo ior diatriat attornrg, or by the
printing of his naum, aa euoh, on the of-
fioial ballot at the goneral lleotion in
Rovembrber
. The plaintlrr, a8 an indirldual,,
is not rhown to have d juatiolablminterset
in the aatter. fiathererore io not entitled
thie euit unless authorizedto
to llvaintain
40 80 under that prori8loaof artiole 8889
o$ the 8tatut.m now to .benoticed. A por-
tlon of that article provider in erreot that
the diotriot oourt &all hare authority to
ioeue writs ot injunotionat the suit of ‘any
voter,’ to restrain ths plsoing or the name
of an ineligibleoandldate upon the offioial
b&lot at genafal o r a~4oial lleotion.
be th6 true import-of the tatatutory proriaioa
just nferred to, that provision oannot hara
offrot to lnveet the plaintiff, simply ba-
oause he is a votar, with the authority to
;lalntainthis wit. The Conatitutiondoes
not pertit this ‘to be dons. It is 4,+a in
the oaee jus8 oited t&at: ‘,
**It is nroeaearp for the et&e to be
4 party when the action ie for.the benerit
0r the publio at large, though growing out
/I
korable G. A. i’taltera,
Page 6
of 4 party prlmery eleotion. The etatute
oannot oonfer a right upoa private inaim-
uale to hot for all where it Is,shown they
have no interest airrerent rrm irll othera.
“The Oonetltution provide8 that the
oounty attorney shall represent the atate
Fa all ChS40 In the ai8trLot CQurt. By
oth4r oonrtitutional provisioa4 the L4gir-
luture is authorized to impose that duty
on the httornep General, and, in presoribed
oiroumathnoee, upon the dietriot attorney.
Sse State Constitution,art 8, I gll art.
4, a ee. These oouetitutionulprovisione
mark the liznitsof leglnlativeauthority
to prescribe who shall reprileent the etate
4nd oontrol Its lntereat6 In a lawruft in
the district court. The Leg1slature ie
isplledlyrestrained frownoonlerringeuoh
duty and reeponsfbilltyon the individual
oitizen. Maud '1. Terrell, 109 Tex. 97, 200
P. 5. w. 378. Thenplaintiff therefore hae no
authority to naintain thie suit, ae a voter,
independentlyor a public off ioial who,ie
properly clothed with that authority.”
(underscoringours)
Ke my therefore oonolude that any cult provided
for by Article E929 mat be proneouted by,the State.
Ssotion 21 of hrtiole 5 Of the Conetitutionof
Texas, reads, in part, as follower
“, * * . The county,attorney shall
represent the State in all.0484n in the
Uietrlot and lnrerlor courts in their roepeo-
tiv4 ooilntles~ * * ‘.”
In Uaud, County Tvx Colleotor,v. Terrell, State
Comptroll4r,LO9 Tsx. 07, 200 S.W. 375, the court stated;
“. .t4. Thlitinstrument, by Section
21 or Article 6, lo&gee with the county
ettorneye the duty of reyreeentingthe
btate in all 0~544 in the dietriot and
infsrlor courts, with the right in the
i* Leglslutureto regulate by law the mepeo-
.P Honorable G. A. Xalters. Page 7
tlve duties of aiatriot aad oountp attorneys
wh4re a oounty la inoluded in a’aietrlot having
a dlstriot and by deotion 22 of Ar-
attorn4y;
tlole 4 that44 totidy
errits and pleas in the
Supreas Court Is ooufided to the Attorney uen-
oral. * l ***
see al80 5tapls’s v. ljtat.4, 13.2 Tax. 81, 248 S. W,
639 ; Diokeon v. mrloklana, ll4 Tax. 176, 2aa a. 1. 1012.
It ia the of this department and youTax-
opinion .,,
r~epeotfully that you in your ofiioial
aayiisra oapaoity es
oouuty attorney ars authorized to represent the Stats in a
euit for en lnjunotion under rirtiole 2929 or the Revised
Civil 8tatute8, 1926, to prevent the nams of an inelfglble
oandidate for ths office of county attorney in your Oountg
Ron being pla0ed upon the ballot, Voted upon, or 0@rtiii@d
as the Demoaratlo nominee for the oifioe at the goner41 eleo-
tlon in liovember.
IEaoh of ths other puestioue y’ou have presented
P iqr our oonsideration are based upon hypothetloal situations
which may never orisc, and in view of the foregolag advieing
that the rsaedy of injunotfon is 4vaUnble now, their auswer
Is rendered unn00484ary.
Very ‘truly yours
dPlWRNM GWPX#L.OB TXJIS
IDS;RS