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The Attorney General of Texas JIM MATTOX April 4, 1986 Attorney General Supreme Court Building HonorableClint ~a&my OpinionNo. JM-466 P. 0. Box 12548 ChailtlUll Austin, TX. 78711.2543 Committeeon Elect:&w Re: Whether a home rule city 5121475-2501 Texas House of Representatives may amend its ~charterwithin Telex 9101674.1387 Telecopier 512I475-0266 P. 0. Box 2910 less than two fears of a pre- Austin,Texas 78769 vious charteramendment 714 Jackson, Suite 700 Dear Representative! Hackney: Dallas, TX. 75202.4506 2141742-8944 You ask the followingquestionabout the frequencywith which a home rule city may amend its charter: 4824 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 El Paso, TX. 799052793 May a home rule city seek to amend its charter 91515334464 on April 5, 1986 whan in fact it had sought to amend and did amend is charter by an election 1001 Texas, Suite 700 held on Ihpril7. 1984? Houston, TX. 77002-3111 7132235886 ArticleXI, swtion 5 of the Texas &stitution, which authorizes home rule for citiesof more than 5,000 inhabitants,providesin part: 608 Broadway, Suite 312 Lubbock, TX. 79401-3479 Citiellhaving more than five thousand (5000) 8OW747.5238 inhabitants may, by a majority vote of the qualifiedvotirs of said city, at ao electionheld for that 'purpose,adopt or amend their charters, 4309 N. Tenth. Suite B McAllen. TX. 78501-1685 subject ':osuch limitationsas may be prescribed 512/682-4547 by the Legislature. . . and provided further, that no c!itycharter shall be altered.amended or repcam-bftener than every two years. (Emphasis 200 Main Plaza. Suite 400 added). San Antonio, TX. 782052797 512l225-4191 Tex. Const. art. XI. 55. Article 1165, V.T.C.S., reiterates the constitutional reqrd.rements quoted above. An Equal OppOrtUnitYI Affirmative Action Employer Section 312.011 of the GovernmentCode, which defines various cormonwords used in.the civil statutes,providesas follows: The Eollowing definitions apply unless a different.meaning is apparentfrom the contextof the statutein which the word appears: . . . . (18) 'Year'means a calendaryear. p. 2134 HonorableClint Hackney - I'age2 (JM-466) Under this statute and judicial constructions,"one year" maam "a calendaryear." Seibertv. Sally, 238 S.W.Zd 266 (Tsx. Civ. App. - Galveston 1951, no A calendaryear is 365 days or 366 in a leap year. Douglas v. Acacia Mutual Life InsuranceCo., 118 S.W.Zd 643 (Tex. Civ. App. - Waco-1938.writ ref'd). Thus, a suit to cancel a life insurancepolicy filed 011February 29, 1936, was filed within one year of the policy's issuance on March 1, 1935.
Id. See alsoMcGaughy v. City of Richardson.599 S.W.Zd 113 (Tex.Tv. App. - Dallas 1980, writ ref'd n-x ("[a] calendarmonth rum from the glveu day in one month to the day of the correspondingnumber in the next mouth"). Attorney General Opinion O-7211 (1946) determinedthe earliest date that a home rule city Icharter electioncould be held followinga charter amendment election held on October 16, 1945. It concluded that another charter amendmentelection could not be held prior to October 16. 1947. In the case you inquireabout, ths home rule city may not hold an electionto amend its charterbefore April 7, 1986. An electionheld prior to that date will be invalid.See Cartledgev. Wortham,
153 S.W. 297(Tex. 1913); Clark v. Stubbs,
131 S.W.2d 663(Tex. Civ.~App. - Austin 1939, no writ);, V. InglesideIndependentSchool District,
220 S.W. 350(Tax. C1v.G: - Fort Worth 1920,writ dism'd);Attorney Gen&al OpinionsMW-380 (1981);V-1109 (1950). It is suggestedthat article 1165, V.T.C.S.,is in conflictwith the statutedesignatingthe dates that electionsmay be held and that these provisionsshouldbe harmonized. Section41.001 of the Election Code providesas follows: (a) Except as otherwiseprovidedby this sub- chapter,each general or specialelectionin this state shall be held on one of the followingdates: (1) the third Saturdayin January; (2) the first Saturdayin April; (3) the secondSaturdayin August;or (4) the first Tuesdayafter the first Monday In November. Election Code 341.001 (art. 2.01 of the formar Election Code). The exceptionsdo not encompass'homerule charteramendmentelections. Article 1165, V.T.C.S.,and section 41.001 of the Election Code are not in conflict. A city can comply with both provisionsby holding the electionon tht!first authorizeddate after the lapse of p. 2135 HonorableClint Aackney - :?age3 (JM-466) two years. Article 1165:,V.T.C.S., does not provide that charter amendment elections be h'cldprecisely two years apart. Moreover, article XI. section 5 of ,theTexas Constitution,which Imposes the tvo-yearrequirement,cauus'tbe amendedby the enactsmutof a statute. See Tex. Const. art. XVII, $1; Mears v. State, 520 S.W.Zd 380 (Tex. %. .App. 1975);AttorneyGeneralOpinionM-874 (1971). Article XI. section 5 of the Texas Constitutionand article 1165, V.T.C.S.. bar the hone rule city in ques~tionfrom holding an election to amend its charterprior to April 7. 1986. SUMMARY ArticleXI, section5 of the Texas Constitution and article 116!i,, V.T.C.S..bar a hone rule city from holding aa election to alter, amend, or repeal its city charter oftener than every two calendaryears. A calendaryear equals 365 days or 366 days in leap year. gzti HATTOX AttorneyGeneralof Texas JACK BIGETOWRR First AssistantAttorneyGeneral MARYKELLER ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral ROBERT GRAY SpecialAssistantAttorneyGeneral RICX GIIPIN Chairmen,OpinionCosmitttre Preparedby Susan L. Garr:lson AssistantAttorneyGeneral p. 2136
Document Info
Docket Number: JM-466
Judges: Jim Mattox
Filed Date: 7/2/1986
Precedential Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2017