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AUSTIN 11. TEXAS
September 28, 1964
Honorable Cecil M. Pruett Opinion No. c- 321
County Attorney
Hutchlson~County R0: In the event that the
Borger, Texas office of County School
supermtenden't:be
abolished by a vote of
the people Under Artfcle
2688e; and a persori'at
the same electloiiis
elMted to llll a
vaaancg cause&by the
death of the echool
superintendent,would-.
it be mandatory that a
salary be pal&to the
elected person, If any,
for the uneXpQxd term
Dear Mr. Pruett: of the deceased?
'.Yourletter'requeetlnga formal opinion of this
office reads ln part as follows:
.
"On the 27th day of August, A.D. 1964,
our County-'SchoolSuperinteiident,Maurice
Wllbert Graves, died. He was‘duly elected
by the people of.thls County and his present
office will continue until 1966. At the
preseiittlme Under--Article26886 Veriion
Annotatd ClVil Statutes, petitiona are
being circulated for the purpose of caking
an election to abolish this office.
election will in all probabllltybe held
wlth the general election ln November,
providing the necessary twenty-five per cent
qualified voters algn this petltlon. It Is
also contemplatedthat some persqn, or
peroons, will file for this elected job,
although it Is the feel-~ by moat of the
people in our aomnnlnltythat the office of
County School~Superintendentwill te
abolished by a vote of the people.
Your question in regard to these facts may be stated
\ , -1533-
Honorable Cecil M. Pruett, page 2 (C-321)
as follows:
"If the offloe Is abblished and, 'lf,'at
the ~sametime; a“person 'Iselected to serve,
i#ould it btimand&tol?y'tUitthe office be
continued an&that a salary be paid to t.he
'per%% &lee&d for the unexpired term of the
deceased?" .,
The mlnliuumcompensatlohbf County &hool Superln-
teridents“has been set by.'theLegislature;Article 2700, Verhon'a
CiViI ,Statutes. The Ibcal county ofSlclals~canndtdeny this
compensationso long . as the office continues to exist.
The relevant Inquiry, therefore,becomes: "When
will the office expire?"
Article 26888 reads ln part as follows:
"sec.1. . .
"(b)..Where the iksjorltyof the qualified
electors approve the abolition of the oSSlce of
county superintendent,the duties.'. .vest ln
the cbunty judge ln ex officio capacity u on
explratlonof the current term.of that,+--
o Ice. . .
"sec. 2 .'.. .not more than one such
electIon,~o abolish the offlce‘of supkirlntendent
or ex officio superintendent may be calleU
? th& lhcumbent. . .
aurlng.any term of office i,
and that not durlnu the year that a reuular -'
tile&ion for the office Is being held." (Empbaaia
added).
The clear and unambiguous intent of these Sections is
to prevent the office of County Superintendentfrom being dls-
continued summarily, and thereby to assure certainty of tenure
for those who seek the office.
In view of the language of Section 1 (b of Article
26888, aseurlng that one who stands for office WI11 serve his
Sull term. and of the general mcheme evldencer,bySection 2 of
Article 2f?88ewhich assures that the office will not be bboliahed
while he seeks election; clearly, the office ln the Instant
case must be continued until the end of the current term of
that office.
Your question is, therefore, answered aSfU?matlvely.
If the office of County School SuperJntendentis abolished
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Honorable Cecil M. Pruett, Page 3 (C- 321)
under Article 26886, and if, at the same t'tie,a person'lti
elei?tedto serve.out the term of the deceased incumbent, a
salary must Abepaid to'the person so elected until the end
of said term. Of'course the person elected County Super-
lntendent must qualify and perform the duties of the office.
If the office of County School Superintendent
is abollsh&d under'Article~'2688e,VeFnon's Civil
Statutes, and if, at the same time, a person is
elected to seiSie^'out
the term"of the deceased
'incumbent;a salary must be pinldto the person
so el&Mxd unt'llthe end of said term. Of
cotirsethe person elected County Superintendent
must qualify and perform the duties of the offtce.
Yours very truly,
WAtJGCNER CAFEi
Attorney General
LC:bk
APPRCVBI):
OPINION COMMITTEE
W.,V.'Geppert,Chairman
Ii.Grady Chandler
Robert Norris
Roy Johnson
Jim Brlacoe
APPROVBD FOR THEATTORNRYGRNERAL
By: Roger Tyler
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