i-398
RICE DANIEL ~'
Ray 5;.1947
'TORNEY
GENERAL
Hods.M; F. Kieke opinionHO. v-1.84 :
County-Attorney
Lee coiinty -. Re: Thi3effect to be ac-
fflddlags,Texas ootidwd0u1-hwp~tlsm
statute where a *alId
contract is executed
withya teacher; and
thwre'is subsequently
elected a.sohool trus-
...tee who Is within the
.prosoribwdde@88 of
rwlatlonshlp.
Dear Sir: .',
You propound to,us the folloW+g quwstl?ns:
"I have.~beforeme for sol&Ion ihe ,qaws-
tiotiof legality ,6fttiwfollowing~s.ltuatlon
arIaIn& out of one of 'O~I'C&UU~XI
school.dls-
trlcts of Lwe CMnty, Teias; It relates.to.the
validity Of 8school teachers two year bon-
tract, and her contract pay-'underheswmploy-
m6nt; Bi%wfly stated? Almwta Robersoa,.a col-
ored teacher holding a degree was employed on
March 12th 1947 to teach the Doak Springs ~
school for the scholasticperiod and sohool
year of 1947 to 1948-l&r contract wailduly
sl&ued &ad ~exwcutwdbg the threw trustees of
said dlstriet to i?lt;Thomas Hodge-0.B. Thom-
as-George Washington- she had~taught in.sald
school for the school.$ear1946 .to1947.
"Th6 trustees were In no manner related
to Altamwta Robwrson the teacher and were law-
fully authorized to &xwoutw thlsootitract,
which happened to b&'a'two year contract; Such
contract was authorized by the Statute which
provides that teachers may be wlectwd'for a
term of two years-on April 5, 1947, in'ac-
cordancw with law requiring elections for
school trustees to be held wwr the State;.~
qne Timothy Robwrson was elected to take the
Hon. M. F. Klekw - Page 2 V-184
plaaw of Qeo. Washington, a trustee who was
defeated for rw-electlonas trustee for said
district;
"TimothyRoberson will assume office on
May 1st 1947~as tru&tww. Timothy Robwrson
Is the uncle of Altamwta Robe&on's husband,
which would make her a relative within the
second degree by affinity to the newly wlect-
ed trustee Timothy Roberson.
"The Board of Trustees have voted to fla
the pay of the teacher at a sum equaling the
maxlmum sum fixed by the State Department of
Education at Austin, this sum now belsg un-
certain until the Legislaturecompletes the
law as to base pay-rizralaid-and per capita.
'As the matter now 3tands under the laws of
Texas, the teachwr.hasa valid contract with
a valid Board of trustees who have elected
hegoir the year just ahead to teach the
pro-
The following questions arw~~
poundwi to you for clarlflcatlon,to-wit;
"QuestionNb. 1
After a valid contract Is made by the
Boar&of Trustees and the teacher, ana dulg~'
signed and executed, does the electorate or
voters have the power to destroy ix lnvall--.,
date a valid contract between the board.and-.
the teacher by electing a relative of within
the prohibited degree as trustee.
"QuestionNo.IL o
Would ttie destructionof such aontract
be a violation of the Constitutionof the
United States and State of Texas, Bspwclally
Article 1 Section 16 which provides 'no bill
of attainder, 8x post facto-law,retroactive
law or ANY LAW IMPAIRING THISOBLIGATION OF
CONTRACTS be made.'
'QuestionNo. 3
The NeDOtiSm law only Inhibits an offl-
cer from lA?POINTING,VOTtiG FOR OR CORFIRM-
IN%' a relative. In thiscase the relative
has done none of these thlngs;
Article 435 p~ovldws 'no officer or
other person Includedwithin the third prw-
ceding article shall approvw~any account
etc.'
Hon.,M F. Kelkw - Page 3 ~ .:~.~,,
,. .i.,,',
.q-184_,..
:; 41.5
!Thwthird arti~lw.refarr6a-to s.pec~lfl-:
callg relates to any officer whd'Vappoints,
votes for or~conflrms*..,~Nowsince the newly
elected trustee did nwithB+of these things,
would :I$be.l&legal f,or$h6 othe~r,..$wo
mem-
bwrs~6f~thw board to approye.the teachwrs~
voucher? ,. ,'
"9kektl,onNo;.'4 .~ .':~
Would not the teach6r be wntltlwa to,~~'~'
the corn nsatlon and contract salary for the
year 19rT-1948for which she was duly eleot-
ed, and enterwd.intoa.contractwith a valid
and wllglblw board of t'rustews."
:.,
Art,iclw432 of our~Pwna1 Code Is commonly
.>.,.
,aowu aa +hw~-"anti-nepotism
statutw.~ It Is as follows:
: j "I&officer of this State.or any offl-
cer'of tinydistrict,-,county,city, precinct,
school district, or other municipal subdi-,
vision of this State, or any officer or mwm-
ber of,any State, alstrl.ct,county, city,
school district, or other municipal board,
or.jixdgw.ofany court)~.orwatwdby or ~undwr .
authority ;o.fSany
'gwnwrar.orspecl+l law of
this State,~or.anymwmbwr~of the Lwglsla-
or vote for or confirm
ture, sball~~inppdlnt,
the appointment to any office, position,
clerkship, employment or duty, of any per-
son related wlthln the second degree by af-
finity or within the third degree by con-
sanguinity to the person so appointing or
so voting, or to any other member of any
such h&rd, the Legislature,or court of'
which such person so appointing or voting,
may be a member, when the salary, fees, or
compwnsatlonof such appointee Is to be paid
for, directly or~inairectly,out of or from
publlc'f%ndSor fees of .offlceof any kind
or character whatgowver."
You are respectfullyadvised that the election
of the school trustee who Is related within the prohlb-
ltea degree to the teacher who had been previously wm-
ployed for the year 1947-1948,,wouldnotoperate retro-
actively to void the contract.
We hand you herewith copy of Opinion No. O-6330
rendered by this department January 25, 1945, which Is ln
Hon. M. F. Kelke - Page 4
line with our holding herein.
The election bf a~trustew to a board of
school trustees,irhoIs related to a teacher
of such school having a valid wXlstlng con-
tract with the board, does not make vald suoh
contract under Artlale 432 of the Peas1 Code.
Yours very truly
ATTORIiEXGRNERALOFTRXAS
BY
Assistant
0S:wb:jt
ATTORNEYGENEXAL