Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1986 )


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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 also
    McGaughy 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