i%biwary 20,, 1950
Hon. Allan Shivers oplnlon Ho. v-1007.
Qovernor
Austin, Texas Be: The neceselty to appoint
nev directors for the
Rechea River Conservation
District because of H. B.
Dear Siri 467, 51st Legislature.
Your request for an opinion reads in part .as
f ollowsr
“By the Acts of the 44th Legislature of
1935, Page 237, Chapter 361, t&e Sablne-Beches
Conservation Msttiict was created embraclng
certain counties wfthln the watershed of the
Sabine and Be,ches Rivers’and their tributaries,
providing for thirty-two directors of such Ms-
trlct and the authority invested In them as
such, and enumerating the’functlons and duties
of tfiis Mstrlct. By the Acts of the 49th Lsg-
lslature in 1945, the management and control
of the Sablne-Neches Conservation Mstrict was
vested in a Board of Directors of nine members.
By the Acts of the 51st Legislature there vas
detached from the Sabine-Ifeches Conservation
Mstrlct all of the territory contained wlthln
the vatershed of the Sablne River and its trl-
butaries, establishing the Sablne River Authorl-
tY. This Is known as House @ill Ho; 467, Chap-
ter 110. Section 2 of such bill excepted from
the area covered by the Heches River Conserva-
tion Mstrlct all the area presently covered
by the Lover Beches Valley Authority. Section
29 of such bill provides that the territory em-
braced in the Sablne River Authorlty is detach-
ed from the Sabine-Reches Conservation Mstrict
and changes the name of the Sabifie-Reches Con-
servation Mstrlct to the Beches River Conserv-
ation Mstrict, and provides for the Board of
Water sngineers to designate by metes and bounds
the territory embraced within the Sabine River
Authority and the Heches River Conservation Ms-
Hon. Allan Shivers, page 2 (V-1007)
triot on appllaation by the Board of Direotors
of either of said Mstriots.
‘For nw guidance in ,~klng appolntmeuite
to the Board of the Heohes Conservation
Dim-
triot, I would like your opinion as to whether
the dlreotors of the old Sabine-Reches Conser-
vation District are nov and will continue to
be those directors of the Beches River Conser-
vation Mstriot until their terms expire oP
they relinquish their assignment In some other
manner.”
The original Act creating the Sablne-Reches
River Conservation and Reclamation Mstriot la Senate
Bill 361 Acts 44th Leg., R;S. 1935, ch. 97, p. 237.
Section 4 of said act provides in part as followsi
'The management and control of all the
affairs of such dlstriat shall be vested in
the Board of Mreotors, ~onslsting of thirty-
two members,. one member being ohosen from
each county or portion of county, lying
vlthln the iSabine-l?eches Conservation Dis-
trict ‘, as created by this Act, all of whom
shall be freehold property tax payers and
legal voters of such district. . . .”
House Bill 579, Acts 46th Leg;, R.S. 1939, ch.
8, p. 1080, Special Laws, amended the above section
changing the number of directors to We&y-nine and re-
tained the provision requiring them to be ‘legal voters
of such district.”
This section was a aln amended by House Bill
734, Acts 49th Leg., R;S. 1985, oh. 287, p. 456, and now
reads in part as followsr
*The management and control of all the
affairs of such dlstrlct shall be vested In
the Board of Mrectors, consisting of nine
(9) members, all of whom shall be freehold
property taxpayers and legal voters of the
State of Texas.”
House Bill 467, Acts 51st Leg., R.S. 1949, ch.
110, p. 193, vhlch created the Sablne River Authority
and changed the name of the Sabine-Beches Conservation
Hon. Allan Shivers, Pge 3 (v-1007)
Mstrlot to that of lfeohesRiver ConsezwationWstrlot
provides In part as follows:
"Seotlon 1. That Were shall be, and
then 18 hereby oreated a oonservatlonaud
reola8tatlon dlstriot by the nam of Qabine
River Authority' which distrlot Is created
as a governmntal agenay of the State of
Texas, a body politic and corporate, vested
with all of the authority as sUoh.under the
Constitution and laws of th8 State; ; . .
'%eo. 2. The area of the dietriot Is
hereby establlehed to comprise all of that
part of the territory lying tit&In the water-
shed of the Sabine River and its tributary
streams which la situated within the State of
Texas as the same is made aertaio by the
State aontour naps now on flle la the office
of the State Board of Water Engineere . . .
provided further that there is excepted from
the area covered by the Reches River Conser-
vation District, all the area presently cover-
ed by the Lower Heches Valley Authorlty. It
Is the Intent of the Legislature to preserve
the present area and authority of the Lower
Aeches Valley Authority.
'Sec. 29. The territory hereinabove es-
tablished as Sablne River Authority is hereby
detached from the Sablne-Reche5 Conservation
Mstrict which was established by Chapter
366B;ts of the Forty-fourtiLegislature, as
The name of said Sablne-Xeches Con-
servatlk District is helreby ahanged to
'Heches River Conservation Matriot.' Here-
after the territory whiah shall be embraced
within the boundaries of said lleohes River
Conservation Dlstrlet shall be all of that
territory which is situated wlthim the vater-
shed of the Xeches River and its tributaries
as the same is made certain by the State con-
tour maps now on file in the office of the
Board of Water Engineers of the State of
Texas to which maps reference is hereby made
thereof. Upon the request of the Board of
Mreetors of the Iieahes River Conservation
Mstrlct the Board of Water Engineers shall
define such boundaz-leaso that the same m%y
Hon. Allan Shivers, page 4 (V-1007)
bs &pressed ¶S tiltten f%ZlS,~bi the i&es
and bounds of said watePsheU; provided, how-
ever, that the definition of such boundaries
shall not be a condition precedent to the
sxerclse of any power‘ oonfernd W the Aot
creating said Heches River Conaervation,Me-
trlct.*
The.expreas language of Section 29, above,
changes the name %abi.ne-Wechea Conservation Mstrlct'
to "Aeches River Ctiservation Mstrlct'; thle creates
no new entity, but simply gives an existing entxty a
newname. The ellgiblllty requirements for directors
thus remain those above quoted fras House Bill 734,
49th Legislature, and the dlrectors till aontlnue In of-
fice unless there is some defect Inherent in this Stat-
ute which fixes quallficatiaas for directorshipi
Se&Ion 14 of Article XVI of the Constitution
of Texas provldear
"All civil officers shall 'reside within
the State; and all district or county offi-
cers w1thi.n their districts or counties, and
shall keep their offices at such places as
may be required by law; and failure to c-ply
with this condition shall vacate the office
so held.'
In Xaufmar,County Levee 1~. Dlstrlct v. Ha-
tlonal LiLfe 1ns.C 171 SW 26 ~38 t'p Cl A 1943,
error ref.), a cas~'~hereln'i~ was cont%ed &it?ie
superirlsors of the district were disqualified to act be-
cause they were non-residents of such district, ,lt is
stated:
=Although we have no precedent fraz the
courts, yet In qnite a number of Acts, creat-
ing Improvement dlstrlcts under Sec. 59 of Art,
16, the Legislature proceeded in utter dlsre-
gard of Sec. 14 of Art. 16, in prescribing the
place of residence of members of the governing
bodies of such districts; in other words, the
Legislature has consistently acted as though
Sec. 14 of Art. 16 had no application to the
In creating the Brazos River Conser-
%iE?&d Reclamation District in 1929, the
41st Legislature, Lot. and Sp. Laws, 26 Called
d
Hon. Allan Shivers, page 5 (V-1007)
Seas., oI 13, provided for a board OS 21 bz-
rectors, but made no provl5lon as to ths res-
idenoe of the directors* ) . . . but in ereat-
lag the Quadalupe-Blsnco Blvsr Authority in
1933;the 43rd Legislature, 1st Called 9585.
C. 75, provided for a board of nine dlreotors,
prescribing elmply that they should be resi-
dent, freehold property taxpayers ln the
St&tie of Texas. Ylth reference to the Onlf
Water Supply Mstrlat, created by the 44th
Le islature Fn 1935, ci 361, no provi5lon with
re ! erence to the residence of the members of
the board ~55 made, other than that they
should be freehold pro rty taxpayers.in the
State of Texas. The 4r th Leglslaturo, let
Called Sess. c. 414, provided that the Leon
River Flood Control Mstrict, created in
19% (aomposed of ltastland and Callahan Coun-
ties), should have a board of nine m~bers.,
but provided that only five members.should
reside within the district. The 43rd Legis-
lature, 4th Called Sess. c. 7, provided tbat
the Lower Colorado River Authority, composed
of ten counties, should have a board of nine
members, but contained no provl5lon requlrlng
them to reside within the District i . . .Thas
it seems that the Legislature, in prescribing
the r@sldencea of member5 of the goveznlng
bodies of these Improvement districts, acted
without reference to the provlslonli of Sec. 14
of Art. 16. While not binding upon the courts,
the consistent unchalleqed legis~atlve and de-
partmental construction of the Constitution,
extending over a period of ysars, should be
followed by the oourts, unless &mnlfeatly
Wang* American Indemnity Co. v. City of Aus-
tin, 112 Tax 239, 248 246 S.W. 1019; PIumueV.
Marrs, 120 Tex. 383, 40 S.W.26 31, and author-
ities cited* Oox v. Roblson, 105 Tax. 426, 439,
150 S.W.1149.'
The Conservation Mstrlct was created under the
provisionsof Section 59 of Article XVI of the Constltu-
tlon of Texas, and therefore it is our opinion, in view
of the above authority, that Se&ion 14 of Article XVI of
the Constitution of Texas has no application to the place
of residence of members of the Board of Mrectors.
Bon; Allan Shivers,page 6 (.V-1007)
I
In vlev of the ~foregoing authority, and alnoe
there 15 no requlrslllent in the statute that the D&rectors
of the Rechea River Conservation Mstrlct be residents
of such dlstriot, it is our optnlcm that the Board of M-
rectors of the old Sablnedeches Conservation District
are now and shall continue to be the DIrector of Heches
River Conservation Matrict until theic present terms ex-
pire.
SIR4MAHY
H. B. 467, A&a slat Leg., R.9; 199, Oh.
110, p. 193, redefining the boundaries and
changing the name of the %abine-Reohes Cau-
servatlon Mstrict" to mReche5 River Conaerva-
tion Matrict~" did not have the effect of ore-
atlng a new dlatrlct. There being no require-
.atent In the statute vith reference to the IWO-
ldence of the members of the Board of Mrsct?rs
withIn the district, the present members of the
Board &.Mrectors .of the Sabine-Beches Conser-
vation Mstrlct till continue to serve as the
members of th5~Board of Mrectors of ths Reches
River Conservation District until their mesent
terms expire.
v. Rational Ld
iXv. App. 1943
Yours very truly,
PRICE WvIFiL
APPROVED: Attorney General
J. C. Davis, Jr.
County Affalrs Mvislon
Charles D, Wathws
Executive Assistant
BAtm:bh