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E EYGENERAL
April 3, 1962
Honorable Connell Ashley Opinion NO. w-1296
District Attorney
112th Judicial District Re: Whether a county clerk
Fort Stockton, Texas can establish a sub-
office in a town other
than the county seat
for the purpose of
accomodating voters in
Dear Mr. Ashley: absentee voting.
In your letter you have asked the following question:
“Pecos County is a large county, and
there Is a town located In Pecos County
called Iraan, which is 65 miles from the
county seat of Fort Stockton. The County
Clerk desires to go to Iraan once each
week during the time of absentee balloting
to accept absentee ballots and to distribute
same. The law now provides that absentee
balloting can be permitted in the office
of the County Clerk and the Clerk has asked
me whether if he personally goes to this
town located within the boundaries of this
county, he could establish a sub-station or
sub-office so as to be allowed to accomodate
the voters in that area.”
Article 5.05, Texas Election Code, provides for absentee
voting. Subdivision 1 of Art. 5.05, reads in part as follows:
11. . .
“Absentee voting shall be conducted by two
methods *
the cleik, ~l~f;;~~a~g personal appearance at
(2) voting by mail. All
electors coming wiihin the foregoing provisions
of this subdivision may vote by personal appearance
at the clerk’s office if they are able to make
such appearance within the period for absentee
voting. . . .” (Emphasis added. )
Subsections (a) and (b) under Subdivision 1 of Art. 5.05,
Texas Election Code, prescribes how voters may vote by mail In
the case of sickness or physical disability, and by reason of
Honorable Connell Ashley, Page 2 Opinion NO. m-1296
expected absence from the county on election day, when the
application is postmarked from a point outside the county. The
concluding sentence of Subdivision 1 of Art. 5.05, reads as
follows:
“Electors not coming within (a) or (b)
above who expect to be absent from the county
of their residence on the day of the election
may vote only by personal appearance at the
clerk’s office.“(Fnphasls added.)
Subdivision 3 of Art. 5.05, Texas Election Code, provides
in part as follows:
“At any time not more than twenty (20) days,
nor less than three (3) days, prior to the date
of the election, an elector who is eligible to
vote absentee may do so by making his personal
appearance before the county clerk of the county
of his residence at the office of the clerk and
delivering to such clerk his application afore-
said, whereupon he shall be entitled to receive
from the clerk the following absentee voting
supplies :
“(a) . . .
“(b) . . .
“(c) . . .
“The elector shall then and there, in the office
of the clerk, mark the ballot in the presence of the
clerk. sign his name on the back of the ballot stub,
detach the stub from the ballot, fold the ballot and
place it in the snvelo e marked ‘Ballot Envelope’ and
seal the same. . . .‘I PEmphasis added.)
Thus it is very clear from the statute ‘that absentee voting
will be conducted in the office of the clerk, except where absentee
voting is permitted by mail. Art. 1605, V.C.S., reads in part as
follows:
“The Clerks of the County Courts
. . . shali keep their offices at the county seats
of their respective counties; . . .I’
Article 1605, V.C.S., goes on to authorize the establishment
of a branch office in counties within certain population brackets,
counties containing cities over a certain population, etc., when
authorized by order of the Commissioners Court. But this branch
-..
.
Honorable Connell Ashley, Page 3 ~Opinion No. W-1296
office is for the Assessor and Collector of Taxes. Art. 1605a,
V.C.S., authorizes a county having a city other than the county
seat, such other city having a population of 20,000 or over, to
establish a branch office in such other city. However, among
the offices which are prohibited by Art. 1605a from being located
in the branch office is the office of County Clerk. Art. 1605a-1,
V.C.S., is another statute authorizing a branch'office building,
but it doesnot specifically state what offices shall be located
therein. Art, 1605a-2, V.C.S., authorizes an office building
and/or jail in certain counties, but the offices to be maintained
therein are a branch of the tax assessor-collector's office, a
jail, and a justice court. Art. 1605a-3, V. C.S., authorizes in
certain counties the erection of a building to serve as branch
offices and library of the county, justice of the peace, and city
hall for the town In which It is located.
Other than the statutes named above,we find no authority
for a branch office in towns and cities which are not the county
seat. In none of the statutes do we find specific authority to
locate a branch of the County Clerk's office In another city or
town which is not the county seat. In most of the statutes, a
branch county clerk's office would be prohibited by not being
specifically named, when the statute is specific In which offices
are to be allowed in the sub-station. In one statute the County
Clerk is specifically prohibited from having an office in the
sub-station.
But even if there could be a county clerk's branch office
located at a town other than the county seat, we do not find any
statute with population brackets which would fit Pecos Counts.
According to the Texas Almanac for 1961-1962, the 1960 Federal
Census for Pecos County showed,a vovulation for Pecos Countv of
11,957, that of the county seat, Port Stockton, 6373, Iraan,
1,255, and all towns in the county (except the county seat) with
less than 2,000 each. We have compared these statistics with the
statutes listed above, and find none of the exceptions applicable
to Pecos County.
We hold, therefore, that the County Clerk of Pecos County
has but one office, that being his office at the county seat in
Fort Stockton; that there is no authority for him to open a branch
office or substation anywhere In the county; and that absentee
voting when conducted by personal appearance of the voter before
the clerk and not by mall, must be done only at the county clerk's
office at the county seat. We do feel that the County Clerk of
Pecos County is to be commended for offering to perform this
extra service to the voters in his county, however, it is not lega
for him so to do.
Honorable Connell Ahsley, Page 4 Opinion No. W-1296
SUMMARY
The County Clerk of Pecos County is not
authorized to open a branch office or sub-
station In the county to accomodate absentee
voters. Art. 1605, V.C.S. Absentee voting
conducted by personal appearance of the voter
before the clerk, must be done at the county
clerk's office at the county seat. Art. 5.05,
Texas Election Code.
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
Riley Eugene Fletcher
Assistant
REF:bjh
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE:
W. V. Geppert, Chairman
Elmer McVey
Morgan Nesbitt
Gordon Zuber
Pat Bailey
REVIEWEDFOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.