The Honorable Joe W. Hayes Opinion No. H-32
County Attorney, Hemphill County
P. 0. Box 613 Rc: Is the at-large method of
Canadian, Tcxaa 79014 electing County Comminaionera
constitutional in light of
Article 5, Section 18 of the
Dear Mr. Hayea: Texar Conrtitution?
You have askedour opinion concerning the election of County
Commirrionera of Hemphill County. Your letter atater that one
precinct in the county containr 85 to 90 per cent of the entire
county population and that, to avoid having to redistrict the county,
the four commiaaionere are elected “at-large” with each voter in
the county having one vote for each commissioner to be elected.
Article 5. $18 of the Constitution of the State of Texas provider,
in part:
“Each county ahall in like manner be divided into
four commissionerr precincts in each of which there
rhall be elected by the qualified voters thereof one
County Commissioner, who shall hold his office for
four year6 and until hia successor shall be alected
and qualified. . . . ” (Emphasis added)
This provision leaves no room for interpretation and it must be
obeyed. There must be one commissioner from each of four precincts,
elected by the voter8 of each precinct.
Your question wa*: “II the at-large method of electing County
Commisrioners constitutional in light of Article 5, Section 18 of the
Texas Constitution? ”
We answer that it is not.
p. 135
The Honorable Joe W. Hayes, page 2 (H-32)
We would also call to your attention the decision in Avery v. Midland
County, 390 U. S. 474, 20 L. Ed. 2d 45, 88 S. Ct. 1114 (1968), holding that
the “one man - one vat:e” rule applied to the election of commissioners
and that it was not permissible for members of the commissioners
court to be apportioned among single-member districts of substantially
unequal population.
SUMMARY
Article 5, 0 18 of the Constitution of the State
of Texas specifically requires that there shall be
four commissioner’s precincts in each county and that
the county commissioners shall each be elected by
the qualified voters of one of those precincts - not
at-large.
Very truly yours,
v Attorney General of Texas
DAVID M,. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 136