Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

1 . July 29, 1963 /Aha Hon. Walter E. Wilson Opinion No. C- $12 .;. County Attorney Betor County Courthouse Re: Whether a justice of the Odessa, Texas peace may conduct his court in a place other than In his precinct, and ( Dear Mr. Wllaon: related question. Your request for opinion addressed to this office states a8 follows: “The facts in connection with this request are as follows: The Justice of the Peace Precinct lines . in Ector County, Texas, there being four, Intersect and join at the Intersection of 8th Street and Musklngum Street in Odessa, Ector County, Texas. At the present time, the Ector County Courthouae Is under construction; said building to be completed In the early part of 1964. At the present time, the Justice of the Peace offices are located In three of the respective Justices of the Peace In their homea located in the precinct over which they preside, and one Justice of the Peace, Precinct 81, being located In the temporary office building which is located In Precinct #l. It is the desire of the Commlsaion~ra~ Court to change the precinct boundary lines In Ector County, Texas from those ae hereinabove set out and to cause said boundaries to Intersect In the block bounded by Grant Street on the West, Texas Street on the East, Fourth Street on the North, and Third Street on the South, the loqation of the Court- house building here.in Odessa, Ect%r County, Texas. It Is not the deeire nor the Intention of the Ector County Commissioners1 Court to enter an order abollsh- lng the precinct or to declare a vacancy in the offices of the rerpectlve Justices of the Peace, It being the .~. sole lntentfon of the Ector County Commfsafoneral Court to provide a place for the Justices of the Peace to have their office In the Courthouse building proper and a place to hold court, etc.” \ -555- . 1 Hon. Walter E. Wilson, page 2 (C- 112 ) ,: The subsequent correspondence in oonnection with your request also aeks: “Can the Justices of the Peace operate out cif th’e County Courthouse although the precinct bounda- ries do not Qofn at the Courthouse under the aeeump- tion that the County Courthouse 18 by operation of law a portion of each Justice of the Peace Preclnot?” Article 2380of Vernon’s Civil Statutes provides In part that: ”. . 0 "2. Each justice ehall hold the regular term of his court at his office at euch time a8 the oom- miasloners Court may presoz9be.w :(Emphasls added). ?, Your letter indicated that the Commiseionersf Court of Ector County has not previously provided for the juatlces to hold court at any particular place, and that three of,them now hold office in their-respective homee. We have found no authority which would allow,a justice of the peace to maintain his office outside of his ppecinct boundary’ The cat36 law and statutory authoritlea both lead us to believe that the division of the county into precincts and the various duties appurtenant thereto were to be performed by the JustPce in his own precinct. Articles 2377 and 2379 of Vernon"8 Civil Statutes. Article 60a of Vernon’s Code of Criminal Procedureb Stewart v. Sm&lwood, 102 S.W. 159 (Tex.Cfv.App. 1907). I Assuming that th’e Commlsaionere’ Court doe6 change *he prec'inct boundarfea aa~$hey proposei we nou turn to yours primary question for consideration. .~’ Attorney General’s Opinion No. ~~-536(1958) affirmed a, long lfne of opinions on the same question,, and held a8 fol- lows : <.‘: ” “The Commlealoners Court may, at any time, abo~llsh old Justice Precincts and ~redfvlde the county into new precincts. In suah case the Justice8 of the Peace and Con~stables elected fn ‘. a precinct whose boundaries are altered, have ,. no right to cbntinue in ofifce or draw their salaries. The vacancierr created by euch an or- der are regufred to be filled by the Commiselon- er8 Court. -556- 1 . _.,. Hoa. Walter E. Wilson, page 3 CC!- 112 ) Shortly berore the rslsaer ot our opinion No. ~~-536, the Supreme Court rei’used an applioatloa for rrit of error with” the notation “no reversible errors in the case of ChildFe&e CounQ ,~,,’ vi gachse 310 S.W.2d 414 (Tex;Clv.App. 19%; error rei’. n;r.e.) andeer Curiam opinion found at 312 S.W.2d 381 (lgg), the~f Court stated at page 380 as folloue: .The application for writ of error Is re- fused. No reversible error. We approve the holding of the Court of Civil Appeals that changes in preoinct boundaries do not create a vacancy fn the Oific0 of County Comm%esioner or deprive the incumbent o? the right to hold oi- fice for the relralnder of his term, even though by reason of. such changes his residjmy,i; gt ;#;hin the precinct as redeiined. . . .p We interpret this to mean that the Supreme Court agrees with the holding of the Court of Civil Appeals, but not necessarily Mth any other language used. Since the Sachse case, eu ra Involved only the office of County Commissioner, uoot ieel -& a the same principles are applicable to justices of the psace and constables. Under the plain provisions of Section 18 of Article V of the Texas Conetitutlon it Is mandatory that each oounty have iour commlsslonerac precincts; however, fn%he case oi juetlce precinote this ,provislon clearly authorfses the’CommPeiHoner8~ Court to divide the county “from time to tfme for the qonvenlsnce of the people, into precincts not lees than four or more than eight.’ If the prfnclplee of law announced In the Sachs0 case were applicable to the re-division or the elimination o-Ice precincts, then in a county where the C~ieelonere~ Court sought to reduce the number of juetice precincts to a sinfmum of four, the Commiesidnsrea Court’8 order would be of no force and effect if the juetlaee o? the peaoe and constable8 In the juetice precinots in exceee o? four In number could hold their reepeotlve offices for the remainder of the ,tene to which they had been originally elected* In the instant oaee ii the Coaleslonere~ Court of Ector Couatyelkicte to do so, it :may change the boundaries of the various justice precincts, but fn all case8 where the boundaries are altered or changed in any respect, the offices of justice bf the peace and conetable become vacant and must be filled by appointment of the Commissioners~ Court until the next general election. Attorney @en- oral’8 Opinions V-790 (lg@), V-1032 (195C), and ~-536 (1958). -55?- Hon. Walter E. Wilson, page 4 (C- 112 ) SUMMARY The justice of the peace must maintain his office and hold his court within the boundaries * of his precinct. If the commleelbnere~ court’.alters the boun- dary lines of,any justice precltit, a vaoancy exists In the offlC6 of ,justlce of the peace and constable which the court must fill by appointment until the next General Election. Yours very truly, WAOQONER CARR Ap72& Fred D. Ward Assistant FDW:wb:mkh APPROVED: : OPINIONCOMMITTEE W. V. Qeppert, Chairman Pat Bailey Frank Booth Cecil Rotech Howard Mayo APPROVEDFOR TRE ATX’ORNEY GEHXRAL BY: Stanton Stone -558-