Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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