Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable R. H. Dent County Attorney Sabine County~ Hemphill, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. Q-4180 Re: Consolidation of common school District. We have received your letter of recent date which we quote in part as follows: "There is a Consolidated Common School Dis- trict‘joined by another Common School District, the latter being joined by a third district of the same kind. These two Common School Districts expect to have an election to consolidate with the first. "The question is, would it be proper to hold both elections in these two districts the ' shameday or should they be held one at the,time; first by the contiguous district and second by the one next to it." Although wa do not have all the facts before us?.'we assume that they are such that the general consolidation statute, Article 2'806,Revised Civil Statutes, is applicable, Article 2806 provides in part as follows: "On the petition of twenty (20) or a major- ity of the legally qualified voters of each of several contiguous common school districts, or contiguous independent school districts, praying for the consolidation of such districts for school purposes, the Cotintg Judge shall issue an order for an election to be held on the same day in each such district. The County Judge shall give notice of the date of such elections by publication of the order in some newspaper published in the county for twenty (20) days prior to the date on Which such elections are ordered, or by posting a notice of such elections in each of the districts, or by both such publications and posted notices. -.- Honorable R.H. Dent, page 2 O-4180 The Commissioners' Court shall at its next meeting canvass the returns of such elections, and if the votes cast In each and all districts show.a majority in each district voting separately in favor of such consolidation, the Court shall declare the school districts consolidated." There are three districts involved here. The first district adjoins the second, and the second district adjoins the third, but the first district 1s separated from the third by the second district. We are, therefore, confronted with the question whether these three districts are contiguous within the mG&hing of the statute. If they are not, then it would be neces- sary first to hold an election to determine whether the first ahd second districts would consolidate, and then if the election carried, to hold a similar election to determine whether the third district would consolidate with the district formed by the first and second districts. "Contiguous" as used in Article 2922a, relating to the grouping of school districts to form rural high school dis- tricts, has been held to mean that the districts nest so touch- one another that all may be included in a common boundary line, without intervening spaces. See Beard v. Marshall, 32'S.W. (2d) 496, Elliot ~Conxnon School District No. 48 v. County Board of School Trustees, 76 S.W. (2d) 786 (Writ dismissed). Miller v. School Trustees of Milam County, 52 S.W. (2d) 806 (Writ Ref.). We are of the oplnlon that such is the meaning to be given to the word "contiguous" as it is used in Article 2806. Any other construction would necessarily require the holding of several elections involving additional expense, delay, and inconvenience. We do not believe that such a construction was intended by the Legislature. It Is,,therefore, the opinion of this department that school districts are contiguous under Article 2806, Revised Civil Statutes, if they touch one another so that all may be included in a common boundary line. Therefore, upon the presen- tation of the petition described In the siatute, the county judge "shall issue an order for an election to be held on the same day I~Ieach such district." The election of course will be held in each of the three districts. Honorable R. H. Dent, page 3 o-4180 Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS By s/George W. Sp&rks George-W. Sparks Assistant GWS:LM:wc APPROVED DEC 4, 1941 s/Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL Approved Opinion Committee By 'S/BWBChairman