Case Information
.
OFtiCE OF,THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ~OF TEXAS AUSTIN ,, .: GROVER SELLERS I A‘rrORNEY OENERAL Honorable B. C. Roosar
County AttOmey
Howard County Bfe; springa, Texas
Dear 3frr Oplnlon BIO. o-e564
Ro: Thor authority oi .th
olrrk Is5
Your reoent letter a t rolloWing hots:
oonmilraioner tion. tlon blank8
Said ed by said party, are B dspartlaent*8 opinion on the follorlng quss
lark*8 authority issue mm blrnh. sued, what ntmbers she11 the olsrk giva ths AeW
3. Do all petition blanks ham to be aooount- au rorl Ii. C. Hooaer, Pago 2
4. Should the party saklng the applioation for petition blanks be required to make an affl- davft etatfnp what beoame of the mtilated pati- tion blanka.
Penal Code, 1925, am amandod, Artiole $65, motion 32, amended Aote oi 1943, 48th Legirlaturo, pago 509, Chapter 325, paragraph 7, deal8 with local option ol&otionr and among other things provldor that;
-+ * l Upon tbo appiioatlon ot any one o r more qwfried voters of my county, pro- jueioe oinob, u6 lnoorporot~d town or elty, the oounty olork of suoh runty mhall iaouo to tho opplloaut a patl*ion to be olrouldttod or applloantr among the qwllrlod voters thoroof 1l@wturor or those quallfiod, votore in ruoh l a’oa aho donire that a l&al option olootlon bo. o&led theroin tho purposo of betermining whether the oalo or alcohollo ,beversges 0r ono or more of the var- iouo typos and alooholio ocntaat shall bo pro- hibited or logalizod althin th+ prmaribsd limits or Jnoor of ouoh oounty, juetieo prooinot orated town or oity. The, petition p10 Issued sha P 1 olom- 1~ rtats the tsauo or imaues to be voted upon In olootionj oaoh suoh petition ahall show the 5uoh issue by oouaty olerk and shall be date vi ita soriellp ntunberod, end oaoh page of suoh petition ahall bear the same date a& serial number, and shall bear the real or the county olork. The ocun- ty olerk shall doliver a8 &my copies o’f raid pati- tion as may be roqujrod by the applloant and casoh OOpy ahall boar the data, number and 5iw1~ on oaoh page CM mqnire8 in the oriplin&l. The county olsrk shall keep a oopy of eaoh euoh p;t,it$ and a raa- ord of the applioanti9 thorefor. la well boar in tind tho petition is
that oonier,re upon the ocm&s8ionora1 oourt Ule juriadiotion t,o order an oleotfon am3 that the oomi881onars* is a 104ll oourt or. rooord. 150 3. #a (21 337. Thus. a petitton Pouell (?laoo Bond Appealr, v. Coart OS Civil in a Option oleo:lon is anal@ua to a ploidln(r In a law ruit and that sld precautionary measuraa ln tbe above statute the proteotive is to sea that the eleotiou isau3 be aoouratelg presented and Honorable H. C. Hooser, Fage 3
to prevsnt fraud and impoaitlon upon thd ao.mlsrlonere~ and prop10 in orlllfli; and OofldlWtinpa an elsotloh. is, therefor@, our opinion that offiolals should and eon adopt any muns th@y think propar to gravont h‘oud In tha oalllng 8hd OOItdUGt~np Of 6 10081 OptlOtl 818QtiOll.
Our statutes provide tor ths subatltutlon or loat reoords and psperpl (R-C.)?. 77) and t&s oourta have held that this relordy Is not exoluslvo but soou~ulstlre end that any other method can be subutituted rould bring about the thut eme i.a. supply auoh lost reoords or papers. The reeult, oourte ham further held that a party dorrlrlng to supply 8uOh lost paporr rbould xaslm affidavit o? tl% loso or drrtruotlon of the papers he seeks to r6iproduos. Houston v. Rlythe, Tsx.SOBj Byden v’. Dunawry, i?9 S; a, 829; Strohmyer v. :Ying, 77 5. ‘if. 977.
%e therefore nnswer your yuoationa as follomr 1. The oounty olz2rk is aruthorlzed to issue new petition
2. Now numbered blenke should be given to the To llluetrets~ if t!m twanty (EO) potftion blank8 party. were rm&ered one to twenty, lnaluslve, and fiftoea of them had baen destroyed, thsn the fifteen mu blankn should be mxnberbd, twenty-one, twenty-two, ato., snd lnoludlhg Ug thirty-five. ft 1s our opinion th8t all petftioa blank8
3. should be scownted and It ia rupgested that reoord or stub of fifteen 1Ost blanks should shaw that the80 petitions 80 nmbnred ham been destroyed and that In lieu thereor the new nmbored petitions havs been handed to the applioant. 4. As a proosutlonary in suegaatsd m88~re
the party mskine:'the sppllostion those blenks patition should nake an affidavit ahorrlnp ahat beosrce or the mtflatsd petition bl8nk8; or that they have bsen lost, II. 0, Rooser, faga 4