OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAG,
J
AUETIN
inloilor this
oh',w quote fs?am
VS. D%8tdOt !crU&eeS Of'?rai.rie view cOaanOn sOho DiShriOt
0r
ule&aiityboard
in kranahrr~
HO. 8i .lss 8. '1. Old) 434,. ~tha qtmation the au*oritj 0r
territory rrum d 'oommoh
@hoQ~ diatriat to a ao@3guwa independentaohool dlatrlot.
In that OQ(IOtb# aourt bald uneonrtitutiolul~aadvoid Senate
B$%L 888 Or ihO wr L#trgi~lrb~~4 (AOta~3885,~44th
WS a aomprehengivelau.regu-
mtf0a 0r tSmi,toFj 0r SC~OOI
dlatilata aad supersedingdtl lawa prevloualy etiaoted. The
oourt further held that au& a transfer muat be regulated and
gOWPIMd by Section 2 of AFtlO~le2742? (Ada $929,'4lstLeg.,
la0 Q. 8r, Ch. 3.09,p. 2SB) and Section 1 oi,Artlcle 2742f I
(A&!~~-lQ29,4iat leg., lib OC 8., Qhe 47, page 106), obnatmae@
i$OardOr m~~tbe8 ~OUXIgCOtID~ vs. BUlo@k
APR.,
S&001 Or
~%ifi%aoo% Matrict go. 18, Text (km. 55 9. w. (2d)
8881 Opinion Bo. 04232+ rendered to you OP boaember 11, 194l.
meion2 0r Artiole 2742e and Sscrtion'l0r ma3b
8748s.read respeothely as follows: :i
P--w
. mSec. 2. met on end aft=. the passage 0r
thin Aot the oounty Board 0r &ho01 Trustees in
any county in this,State a+ll have authority
and rull power to oreate GolmwlpWwol Districts,
to subdivide dfstrlota,and to obaqo boundary
lizma 0r onj or all cowton mhool platriota legal-
ly canJmc;under the jurladfotionof the Count7
Board or school Truateea,.aubjeotto the auper-
vision or the District Coti having jurladictiori
over the oounty where the County Board is eppoint-
ed or electdd; prorided that before aq changes
may be mado ImboundaTy llnea of aohool dfktrleta
the truateea 0r the ccapkonSohool Di8trlots af-
feoted ahall be notified to appear before the
county Board ror a heaPlng, and after said hear-
ing, or the date set for said hearing, the County
Board of Trustees may pass such order or orders
as till oerry out the provlalona 0r this Act;
provided, further, that the txwteea of the d&s-
triota rrreoted may appeal fram the deotaion of
the County Board to the District CourLw
Ronorable TE.%. Trlmble# page #S
'Sectloll1. IPeachoountyof thlmstate
the Oounty %oard or Truateea ahall have the au-
tmrity, when duly petitionadu herein provided,
to dakch frac and annex to any school diatrfct
territory oont~llls to the comwn bcumiaryllne
oi the two districts; pFovlded the Bou?b of Trua-~
tees of the Dietriot to which thcenneution Is
to be made approveal by majority vote, the pro-
posed hin8rer 0r terMtory and provided, further,
that where the territory to be detached exceeds
ten per oent (lO$) of the entIre district the
petItion amat be‘aigned by a majority or the
truetees of said tintriot In addition to a ma-
jority or the qmlliied voters of the territory .
: to be d&ached. The ~petltlonshall give the metes
andbounds ottheterritory tobe detached from the
one and added to the other dietriot and amct be
llgued b ya ma jo r ity
o f’
th equalirled voters r e-
aldIng In the said territoryao detaohed;' lJ9on
reoeipt or the cald petition, du3y signed, and
upon notice of the approval of the proposed annex-
.ation by the Board of Tructeea of the dietriot to
which the territory la to be added, the County
Board of Trusteei ahall pass an order tranaferrlng
tha aaId terrltorg'endredefining thc.boundariea
-or the dIatxlota cffeated by said tranal'er,the
uid order to be recorded ln the MInutea or the
county Board 0r Trustees. Provided that no school
district &all be reduoed to an area of leas than
nine square miles.'
'In your letter of request you do not state whether
the board or tructeea of the dIetrict to 8hLah the transfer
la proposed to be made by a majority vote,approves the trenc-
rea For the purposes 0r thla opfn@n we aaauutethat such
appreval,has been given.
You rlll notice that Section 2 of Article 2742c pro-
vides ior a notloe and hearing before any ohnges In the
boundary lines &all be,mede by the county board.‘ The Oom-
mIaalon of Appeals held In the Bullook oaae, cupra, *that
the Leglalature Intended the proviclon for notice and hearing,
Rcnoable T. Y. Trlmble,page #4
aontalned ln Se&ion 8 of Rota00Bill 22U (Article2742e),
to o p er a te
a sa
llmitatlono f t-hlauthcritycc&erred on
the oouuty board by the otb#~ Act (Seetlcm1 cr Artic1.e
274W), co ru u a change in the bCuodu7 lines 0r 8 can-
men school diatrlotfa involvekm (Parenthetic+ineertlona
added). aerhidlJ, the provlalonror noticeand henrlng
chow clearly that the ecu&y board uy exercireits dis-
ontionin&k~~~urja~earillba~de.
aurea~~~q~etion~til~tion241~iC10 27420
clothes tha OOUU~~ board dth dlaeretlonuypcnra. %oro-
over, &than been bald #at t&e oountybcaxd is rested rith
dla~aretlontodetemlne whetherthe,~todetach terrl- .
tory frcm one dla~lct end annex It to anctb, under Section
1 or Artiala 274231chouldbe exercised.
In tha case 0r Reaper rndcpeadentS&ccl District
et al., v* Collln County SchoolTruateer,51 S. %. (2d) 748,
afrlued, 62 a. 1. (2d) 5, the ccuvt made me rollovlngatate- :,
melitr
t
'Itdll be noted that authorityis lodged P-4
in thti b0~d 0r t-t0a8 t0 tw8r
00~~
territory,oontlguouato two achccld5etrlcta,
frcaone to another,underodrtalaeamereted
oondltiona. u~~raI.4, tha i.odging 0r 8dbs~
In any designatedbeard or icnm carries dth it
the right 0r awh baud or r0rr0l t0 bbm.m3
whather a proper once ham arlaeu r0r Uie exercise
ot such power. so, In ae l.lutant cua, ve tank
the oo~nty schcolboard 1s vertedrith a disere-
tlon to detemlne tither t$e pawar givenIt by
aeationahallbe exarclaad lnanygive~~c~~.
Thec leuao ef leotlon 1, declaringthat the
aountybcard0rtruateea Aallpee8 e.a&er
tranaremine aaldterritory,precorlberthe
mumerlnwhlchtheoxntyboard0rtrpr~0i0
tcmakeknomlta fadgmntlnthemtter;that
la, th8tlt mu&be by enorder du.I~~ced and
entered in the mlnutea of the oouuty rcbocltrue-
tree, end doe8 not mean that ell diacmtlcn la t&Len
frw auchtrueteec *en c atntuto~petitlon for en-
nexatlon lc presented."
teoa of LimemorN Qouaty (I*lt of error refused), 59 s. II.
@&8d. The r0xwiw appedra in the epldon 0r tha
'In Qsrecenea to aald authorities,we
hold'that the county board 0r trustees of
3lmaatona County, In noting upon appellanta~
petithi, were lvfe?tedrith.diacretionto
grant.o r r eiur oth ea c meltfth e yml&t do e81
.~propesand just.'
XIIview 0r the torcgolngauthoritiesyou arc reapeot-
fully advlaed that the couuty hoard of school tructees, rhcn
w.pet$tloned to del+ch territoryrrapreither a oonmon or
an IwIependent school.dlat&ct and annex the same to a con-
tlguouo d$atrlots ia misted with dlaoretionto determine uhc-
thar the tragaler ohall * made.
Very truly yours
ATTORREY 0RBRAL 03'TRXA5