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OFFICE OFTHEA-I-TORNEYGENERALOFTEXAS
AUSTIN
June 15. 1939
Honorable Holver 'Williams
Criminel District Attorney
-moo, i’cx5s
uherda you re
lag qy38tloar
eing a member of the Sohoal.
d Sue1 i8 bsught oa oomprtl-
the oorporatioa*s bid 16
a sub8tantie.lmmunt end uhere
ofSlo0r8 of the oorgboratioa and
part or the ~0h001 seerd or the Corpor-
and Is not present when the mat-
ation
ter 118dlsomaed en6 the aoatrno8 roted
on end let by the Gohool Board?*
YOU lMlltiOl& hl’tiQb 378 Qi th@ PtlIld'%?dOWhich
make8 It an oSSua8u Sor cay orsloer of any oounii~~41:ol
any oity or krm, 80 bo0omn peeurrlarfl~tnteroetcd in uay
oantraats made bjr suoh eouuty, ofty, Or town, and dfrnet
.
.I?onornble!!oivny.~IllIc~, June 15, 1939, Paps 2
our attention to the fact that some does not make any rel-
emnce to ofilaera of sob001 dlstrlcts bscoliiq>ints+raoted
111corrtracta;nadeby such dietriots. In the OI~LCof Sohurz
VE. Teller, 74 c:.;:.(2d) 327, the Court of Civil Qpenls
says thht a school truatse is a county orricer. lIowever,it
is unneoeaoaxy for us to antemine whettier u ochool trus-
tae is 8 oounty ol'fiocr,mdrwhether a mohool oontraot is
the equivalent of a oounty contraot nithln thu :Eenoingor
h-tio1~ 57:: of the iwd. Co&, sinan se bellova it clear
thut even In t!:c: ebsenoe of,statuta ?.craontrnct :r:.ich you
nentiol;donnot lneelly he made.
From Llllon on Wnioipsl Cor~orc~~l:mo,5th ?Xtltion,
Volume 2,
paces 1140, 1143 to 1145, end 1148 to 1147, we
qlots em follows:
*lt is a well-satcblis.':ed
nnd salu-
tary doctrine th6t :IC)
W%O lc intrusted
alth the business i)fothero cexot na el-
lowed to make suoh buslnsss an obJaot of
E*niary proSit to himself. t-hi8Nl;i-
does not dejmnd on reasonlnR technioal
in its onamoter, Pad Is not locul In its
appliontion. It is bmabd upon prlnoiplcs
or rceson, of mornllty, nnd or publle pol-
iayi It has ita fourldkhtionin the v6i-y
aonntltutlon or our n&urn, ,forit has au-.
thori:ntlrely been aeolared that a man oan-
not serve two aastern, md l.6 recognized
and er!:oroedwherever a well-regulated sye-
ternof Jurlspnxdenoe tirerails-. .
u/itOOmmorA lBw Ma generally unllex
statuta feat that the ofricer in-
terested did not partiolpato la the pro-
oeedlngs, neoe8aarlly relieves tr:eoon-
traot from its vloe. The rsot tnnt the
latamat OS the OSrenaIne offioer in the
. ‘.
Bonorabls Uol.ieyit'illi~, June 15, 1930, Page 3
Invalid coatraot is lndlraot end is yezy
small is immtarlal . . .
Vontractea with flnw In nhloh a msa-
her of the counoil or other ~uuioipfd offl-
oer 1s 4 partner fall within the prlnolple,
snd th+ interest of$he offlaer th4r4ln
u-111taint aaV such aontraot with lllegrl-
1ty. A m-bar or me oountr counoll or
at&r aunla1Rs.l Klosr Is lntsrest4d in
a 4ontraot 00 **'to ta t It with lllogsl
ItV when the aontraotIs mad4 with e cor-
poration of whloh hs Is an offloer and
under 861~4olrourstanoos with a oorpora-
tlon of whiah he is a stoakbald4r."
us sale In City OS Rdlnburg ~8. XUlls, 89 6.W.
(edI 9% OphiOn by the ColPniSeiOn Or &p3t&t4!
*It Is ~the gw~eral rule that munlcl-
pal oontraots In whloh offlo4rs or sm-
ploV444 of the olty have a personal,peou-.
niary inters& are void.*
Ouoh Is ths ral4 0'1411in the ebmenoe of statute.
stwkton Plumbing k 2upply Co. vs. Oihe$ar, 229 Paalflo lO2O;
Dillon on blunlolpalCo~poratl0ns, 8th Gdltlon,,Vol. 2, auprq
0 R.C.L. 740; 44 C.J. 89 t& 90; So~u11Sl.non Xunlolpal Oar-
poratlons, 2nd Zdltloa, Vol. 2, p. 211, and Vol. S, pi 9111,
The raot that the n~0101p41 ofri04i 1s a &oak-
boldor, or an otfloer in the oorporetion rfth whoa the eon-
traot Is mad4 o0nst:tutes moh an interest ln the oo&raet
a8 ta taint it 1~1th ill@ity in awordanoe wlithtbs above
prlnolplw. Dillon on Nunlaipal Corporntlone, supn;\Yaw-
lln on Runlolpnl Corporations, 2nd Rdltlon, Vol. 2, 9G2l7,
and Vol. 3, p. 943; 44 C.J. 93; annotations on page 1099 in
L.R.A. (Annotated) 1910-c.
Th4 faot that the Punlolpal offloer or trusta 80-
tually tak4s no part In the mtt4r of letting ttm 40ntraat.
lo immatericd. The law//boatampLatdrthat ha ahall sot tia
hluolr to bs plaoed In 8uoh a lltuatlon that ho fool8,'sod
upon to rdraln fnm taking part In 8uoh busln4a8.
110 vhlah h4 84xves is entitled to his notlya 84rrl00; sag
hi8 sllanos or abaenoa .lsVQJsub8tltut4 tharef'0r. Tha fMt
that suoh ooatraot is l&-%n ooakp4tltlrebidding 40~ 810%il-
tar the lltuatlon. Tha l-eat bid Is not always the beat b14
and a aertaln diaorstlon 18 left with publia board! ia tk
. .
.
Ronor4bl4 Xol~4j \~l~lls~. Jun4 15, 1939, i’age 4
letting of contracts on aoanp4tltl~4blddlny. Tha authorl-
tl48 rather uniforrclyforbid the making of euch contracta
u.rderauoh alroumta~o4e. Our 4n4w4r to your ..peotion 10
a negative one,
cRL:lQ
APPBOVZD:
.^.
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion