January9, 1976
The Honorable Ted Butler Opinion No. H-760
Criminal District Attorney
Bexar County He: Polling places for
San Antonio, Texas 70205 the election of county
school trustees.
Dear Mr. Butler:
You have asked two questions concerning the election of
county school trustees in Bexar County, which has a population
in excess of 500,000, according to the last federal census.
You explain that the county has a seven member board of
county school trustees, three of whom are elected from the
county at large. The others are elected singly from the
four commissioners' precincts. Fifteen independent school
districts cover the entire county. There is no common
school district. However, the independent school districts
do not all conduct elections for their district trustees at
the same time. As a consequence, at the time of the regular
elections for county school trustees some of the individual
districts do not hold simultaneous district trustee elections
or designate polling places in those districts which voters
may use to vote for county school trustees. You ask:
Question No. 1: Can an independent
school distr= Folding an election for
school district trustees be required
by the election order of the County
Judge to permit voters, [who are]
otherwise qualified as electors, [and]
who reside in another independent school
district not conducting an election for
school district trustees that day, to
vote a limited ballot for the election
of county school trustees only?
p. 3209
The Honorable Ted Butler - page 2 (H-760)
Question No. 2: Can an independent
school district i;ot holding an election
for school district trustees be required
to hold an election for the regular
election of county school trustees?
Section 11.03 of the Texas Education Code governs the
election of county school trustees. It reads in part:
(a) Elections of county school
trustees or members of the county board
of education and district trustees shall
be held on the first Saturday in April,
except that in counties having a popula-
tion of 500,000 or more, according to
the last preceding federal census, such
elections may be held on any other
Saturday the trustees or board members
may select by official resolution.
(b) Election officers appointed to
hold the election for district trustees
in each school district shall hold the
regular election for county school
trustees or county board members.
. . .
(d) The order for such elections
must be made by the county judge at least
30 days prior to election day and must
designate as voting places within each
common or independent school district the
same places at which votes are cast for
the district trustees.
(e) It shall be no valid objection
that the voters of a commissioners precinct
are required by operation of this section
to cast their ballots at a polling place
outside the commissioners precinct of their
residence.
. . . .
p. 3210
The Honorable Ted Butler - page 3 (H-760)
In our opinion this statute originally contemplates
that elections will be held for district trustees and county
school trustees at the same time , whether on the first
Saturday in April or some other day. Attorney General
Opinion C-40 (19631, interpreting predecessor statutes,
said:
Under these statutes, an election for
county school trustees must be conducted
at the same place and by the same
election officers as an election for
trustees of an independent school district
which is held on the same day.
. . .
In our opinion, the effect of [two of
the statutes] is to make the election of
county school trustees a part of the
election for district trustees, although
these statutes do not require use of a
single ballot form and do not authorize a
complete fusion of duties in conducting
the election and canvassing the returns
as is permitted [by a third statute].
However, section 23.08 of the Texas Education Code
states that
[ellections for trustees of independent
school districts shall be held on the
first Saturday in April, except that in
counties having a population of 500,000
or more the trustees may by official
resolution select any other Saturday.
Attorney General Opinion M-740 (1970) concluded that each
independent school district has the authority under that
section to select any other Saturday by official resolution
of its board, and implied that the changes could be made
whether or not other independent school districts in the
county, or the county school board, made the same change.
p. 3211
The Honorable Ted Butlers- page 4 (H-760)
Although the 64th Legislature enacted sections 2.01b
and 2.01~ of the Texas Election Code to standardize election
dates and authorize joint elections under certain conditions
so that school trustee elections may be conducted on only a
limited number of dates, it is still statutorily possible
for Bexar County local school boards to select dates for
school district trustee elections which differ from the
county school trustee election dates. See also Texas Election
Code, sec. 2.06a and Texas Education Code, sec. 17.95.
We conclude that elections for independent school
district trustees may be held at times different from elections
for county school trustees, though if they are held on the
same day, they must be consolidated. But the circumstance
that the board of trustees of an independent school district
has chosen to hold elections for its trustees on a date
different from that set for the election of county school
trustees does not relieve it of the duty and responsibility
to provide election officers and its regular polling places
for county school trustee elections pursuant to subsections
(b) and (d) of section 17.03 of the Texas Education Code.
See Attorney General Opinion M-645 (1970). Those provisions
Ginly intend that voters in each independent school district
have the opportunity to cast their votes for county school
trustees at polling places located within their particular
school districts. See Attorney General Opinion H-555 (1975).
Accordingly, we answer your first question in the
negative and your second question in the affirmative. See
TaaBfen;.w;;;Iy, 316.S.W.Zd 311 (Tex.Civ.App. -- Amarilx
1958
SUMMARY
Independent school districts not holding
an election for independent school district
trustees on the day set for the election of
county school trustees in counties having a
population in excess of 500,000 are required
to hold county school trustee elections within
p. 3212
. .
The Honorable Ted Butler - page 5 (H-760)
the school district. Independent school
districts holding simultaneous elections for
district trustees on that day cannot be required
to provide voting places for voters from the
school districts not holding such a simultaneous
election.
Jery truly yours,
Attorney General of Texas
APPROVED:
v--
Opinion Camslittee
jwb
p. 3213