@ffice of tip!!ZittotnepQaeneral
fitate of atxas
DAN MORALES
ATTcmNEY
GENERAL June 1s. 1993
Homable Tracey Bright OpinionNo. DM-228
Ector Cuunty Attorney
CountyChrbutqRoom201 Be: whether a county wmmissioner msy
Odessa, Texas 79761 raise an issoe fbr disausion &es the
Wm!Idssi0nersWurthsst8kW6nalwtion
on it and related questions (RQ-204)
Dear Ms. Bright:
You inquire about the prowdures for raising an issue for disatssion at 8 meeting of
the commissionerscourt. YOUstate that the cOmmissionersCourt of&tor County took
rfindvoteonaInendmaltstolnordiMnw wnwming sexually oriented businesses at a
BIwthg 6om which one commissionerwss absent. See genemJ& Local Govt &de oh.
243 (dcipal and WUDQurthority to m&ate location of sexually oriented business).
opponentsof~ 8lndmemwishtohrvethewurt reconsider them. Questions bwe
8CsW011whether this UWterUUybe placed on the qendq or whether the wmmissioners
lMYdiSWSSitWithOUtllWhgitphCCdOtltkrgcnda.
You ask:
(1) Inrsubqwntmsaing,anrCwmriuionar8isemissuefor
diswssionifthe-onersCourtIlaspreviouslyts,kenfinal
actionontbematter7
Thefacttbatthe anwdssionerswurthsstJEQl6ntllwtiononrmendmentstoan
ordiwcedoesnotprevattithmamendhgtbeordimweintbefbtureoren&ngin
discussion that may lead to an amahatt. Se August A. Busch & Co. v. csrfioki, 135
S.W. 244 (Tat. Cii. App. 1911, wtit refd) (commissionerscourt has power to rescind an
ordcrmadeinitr~~~,inrohruvertedrightsuenotimpaired);
Gdliqgswah Cat+ v. h@rs, 35 S.W. 414 (TUL Cii. App. 18%. a0 wit)
conrmistiomrpcorrrtmryrtlaytime~ormodifymolutionKniagcountyjudge’s
~~r~~~olavicqvbenjudgehd~~~~tbutaloy);src~chntv.
Tmant Couq Chiki We&we Unif, 509 S.W.2d 378.381 (Tar. Cii. App.-Fort Worth
1974, no writ) (kgislature may as a general matter repeal any statute at will). The
p. 1183
HonorebleTmcey Bright - Page 2 (OH-228)
wmmissiooers court is abject to the Open Meetiogs Act, ae V.T.C.S. art. 6252-17,
gl(c),uditr~murtw~~withtherequinmmtooftbeopen~Act.
Witten ootke of the ‘dete, hour, place, end subject of each meetit& hld by the
ammirdoaarcolntmustbegivalw~the~hrccordrncewithrectian3Aof
the act arbject to tbe follohg exception:
Tberapdmmtfbrnotice . ..doesnot8ppiytoolattwsaboot
whichspea!&twlinfolmationorrrecituiwofarirtingpolicyis
hmisbediomspoosetominquirymsdertsucbmeetin&wbetber
aachitquiryisaudebyrmembaoftbegenemlpublicorbyr
tlanbmoftbe govamedbody. Anydeliiqdirarrri~or
decisioowitbrespwttotberubjwtrboutwbi&inqobyw8smrde
&eUbelimitedtorproposeltophccsucbsubjectontbeegeoddtbr
ralbsequeHtmeuingofsuchSowrmwntal body for which notice
basbeeopmidedinwolplilocewitbtbisAct.
V.T.C.S. ut. 6252-17. 8 3A(a).l !&ion 3A of the Open Meuings Act allows a wunty
camohsiooatomJEeminquirydmiogtbemeetingrbout~intbmutioooraistiog
policythudoesoot8ppearontbemeetiognotice,buttbewur&maynotdiswsstbe
subjectexwptwitbintbeMrrow limitssetoutillKctioo3A
Inrd~yourquertionlboutPrtboritytoptanrbjectranthc~forr
wtmnissionaswllrlmeetiae,weurumethntJInrbjectsontlleylmdrofthelbating
~rlrorawt~theplblicaotiwofe~providedia -withscuioo3A
of the Open Meetings Act.’ Attorney General Opiioo lM-63 (1983) determined that the
~judgewunotruthorizedtooontroltbewnt~ofthergmdqcvcnthoughr
statute desiwed him the presiding officer ofthe court. Local Gov’t Code 0 81.001(b)
(formerly V.T.C.S. article 2342 (1925)). The opinioo io Hclnsbro v. Neidrhqfer, 83
S.W.2d 685 (Tex. Cii. App.-Beaumont 1935, no writ) suppotts this wnclusion. It held
thatrwuntyjudgewassu&cttorwtitofmadamus wbere&refiuedtorewgoizea
motiondulyproposedandsewndedatr coowimiooerswort~. Tbewultstated
~8countyjudge~rllowthemanbarofthecwrttorubmitmotionrtorvoteof
the court. Xd. rt 685. Attorney Gemal Opinion JM-63 coach&d that the wmmisioners
p. 1184
Honorable Tracey Bright - Page 3 (DH-228)
wurtasawhoiehastheauthoritytodetennheitsownagenda. &eTex.Const.ut.V.
518 M-Y commiuiowrscwrtsblludsepoweruldjurirdictionoverwuoty
hsiness); &n’t code 0 311.013; Cumles v. LouglJin, 214 S.W.2d 451 (Tcx. 1948). It
Jlodltedtht’[e]rchmankrofthtcarrl...murtkparnittedtoplrcewthirlleenda
aoyitanofbisc4msiog.’ AltomeyGamlopinioom4-63u3. Tbus$rwunty
wmmissionerm3yphcermatterontheagendaforrmeeting.
Thiswncblsioodoesnotmedotbatrwmmissiooerswlotuonot~ptr
pro&we fbr phcing items on the gada. The set effkct of any procedure adopted,
howmr,armotbeto~~ermemkrofthecourt~p~mitcmwmig~
sotb~itouybediswssedpublicly. Wbilevoteswwypartiwhrmatt~mrybeoubjwt
to tosjority rule, we aooot condone the implaneotuioo of any procedure that would
effeaively preclude a duly elected reprexntative on tbe wmmissioncrswurt6om8ta
oioimm providiog a public forum for discussionof any partiadar issue.
Youdsoa!k
(3) MayRo&n’sRvlrsofOrdrrkusedtogovall~oninthc
commirsioouscourtoleetiogs?
(4)IfrtrratiKmaykuredtoregulatethcoonductofmectiagq
mostitbefomlauyadoptedastbewotrolliogwdmrityin
cbmmbsiooerscourc,
sections 81.005 and 81.006 of the Local GovammtCdeaddresstbetiw,
loution,mdquonunrequirrmentsofwmmiuioncncourt~.Thccourtirlro
aubjecttotheOpettMeetingsAct,butwebavehmdwstatutesettingout
wmpreknsive procuhs for the wnduct of wmndssioners wurt mectiqs.
TbCW moissiooerswmofrwootybasonlythosepowrcstbatmupmsslyor
bynecersuyimplicrtionIpuaeditbythcconrtitutioa~thertltutcs,butLhrbrord
dkretion in exercising expressly w&red powers. Gmaks, 214 S.W.2d 451; An&rsun
v. Wood, 152 S.W.2d 1084 (Tar. 1941). A wmmissioners court may 8dopt re8aonable
rulestht~coasirtmtwitbrelmntprwirionroft~togovantheoonductofitr
mwtiogs. See gtmcml!y Attorney General Opiiw H-188 (1973). Iftbe coodsd0DCrS
courtwishes~meetingstokw~~rccordingtoRobcrl’sRvlrsojOrdcrorof
those provisions of a treatise that are wnsistent with law, and to require wmpliww with
thorepro~o~~rllmcmbasofthecorut,thewurtmuptfomullyvoteto~optthe
plWiSi00.
p. 1185
Honor&le T~cay Bright - 1’8ge 4 W-228)
SUMMARY
Tkwooniuionerscourtouycoosirnretodiscossmis8uehr
allbsqemeetiogevaltlKnlgbithupmiaulyt8kal6o8l~
OSlit#gldddtb9tOpiCOfdiSWSSiWlUSbWOpropatyOOtiWd.
dharitytoprep8retbe~forr~isvestedi”*
l3imlbiooersoourturwbole,uldnothtbecarntyjod~. An
individwl txmmisdonerm8ypi8ceitemrofhis~singontbc
w- como&sioners wmt my adopt reasonable rules
WllSi!UWtWitbnlcvlntStUOt~UldWUStiMidproviriOBStO
pwa7litsolwdngs. IftbewurtwisbesitsmwtingstobegovaDed
bytbeprovisioosofrtnrtirethatmam8istaltwithlaw,ittmJst
votetofonnrltyadoptthoseprovisiomasitscoattmUiaSattho~.
DAN MORALES
Attomq Omerd of Texas
WILL PRYOR
Fii AssistJnt Anomey oeod
MARYKELLER
DeputyAttomeyG?aenlfortiguion
RENEAHlcKs
State Soticitor
MADELEINE B. JOHNSON
chsir,opioion~
p. 1186