Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE AMORf'jEY &N&AL iDF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Senoreble L. 3. Fowler
ccunty Attclrney
raoogdcchoe County
$ae$ochea, Texao
our letter of atat on the ab
la prt, 25 fo
t Xo. 1, ilecogboohee n the Uovelaber eQo- lnot Ho. 1, Wicogdochos be lnducteb.ln the Un:tcd States Imny.
WI 1 l-J c lc~rln~ the office crmto a vmanoy e8 Coneteble of 2reoinot Fro. 1, ?Sco0~cloohe6 CWIty, Tcxdo; If this qucstiox ic an&-&wed In the 2PfiF- mntlve t?xn, &OS the ComlsrAonsre’ .Co:wt have the FQ’MW w&CDT the constLt~~t~on ad Iaxs of this etxte to Ceolr:-e a vaomcy in the oonstzbloo 0ffic0 Of ?recincf x0. 1 8rion~~ochee Couz~ty Texo.o e.nd tiooa the Co;2?L ssionrr;’ C&t under tho’connti!xtion md
.- 322 B&orabl,e L. B. Fowler, Page 2
laws provide that the Comloslcncr$ Court.oan ap- point a otitable man to fill the vsoancf.a
Ve shall eet forth below the pertinent ,conetltu- tlonR1 and Statutory p~OV~SiOn6:
Wounty Judgee, oounty attorneys, oierke of the Cistriot and Ciunty Courts, Justloee of ths
peaoe, oonatables, enf other oountp offlcere, nay be raSiOVed by the J&gee of the District Cmrte
for lncongetenoy, offLcla3. mieoonduct, habitual drmkenneeo, or other cau6co defined by law, upon the cauee thcrofor being set forth ln wltlng ancl tho fIndIng OS Its truth by 8 Jury. * Iirtlcle 6, Geotlon ‘24, Con6tltution of Texas.
Ull. clvll offloers ehall re’oide within ‘the State; and Sll district or county off&era within thelr dlatrlot6 or countIe8, and ehsll keep their OfflCe8 at such plaoee as nay be required by law; and fallure to coolply with thxs oondltlon &all
vawte the office 80 helLi.* Artlol-e 16, Seotion
14, Conetitutlo~ of Texes. @The oourt ahall have pokier to fill mcanales
ln the office of: oounty Jdge, aounty clerk, cherlff, county attorney, county treasurer, county fwvcyor, county hide lnepootor, aeee6eor of Q-see, oolleotor of texea, Juotloes of the peace, oonetables and ‘county superintendent of publio instruction. 6uak osasnoies ahall be filled by a maJorlty Yote .of the megbere of said oourt present and
votln&, and the poroon choeon ahall, hold offloe until the next gcnoral electlon..a S.rtiole
2355, Vernon1 a annot~teb Civil Statuteo.~
*All &trIct nnd aountj”attc&neye, county Jtigos, ooemlssI?nere, clerks of the district
6nd oounty courts end.sIngle olcrks In countlea uhcre one olerk disoharge8 the dutlen of dlatrlot and county. clerk, county treasurer, oherlff, oouny.
tY surveyor, aseemor, .oollootor, constable, cnt- ~ tle and hide Inspector, Justice of the peace e.nd all aounty officera now or hereafter exletlng by authority either of the Conotitutlon or lam, nay bo removed from offloe by the Judge of the dIatrl.ot
: -
323 ~a~r-sb~e L. 8. Fouler, Page 3
Oourt ?or lnoompetenoy, otfioi~l mlscon~uot or be- oozing lntoxloated by drlnklng intoxicating liquor, -6s a beverage., Whether on Out-y or n0t; provided such OfflOer 6hc11 not be removed for beooolng
Intoxl0ated nhen it e.?pearo upon the trip.1 of suoh officer that 6uch lntcxloatlon was produced by
drinking lntoxloating liquors upon the direction and preecrlrtlon of 8 duly lloensed graotlcing' phy6101an of thle State.3' Article 6970, Vernon's /rllr,otated Civil SatUt66.
A6 ve ttnceretand your request three queetlons are *.refentedl (1) toes R veoancy exist ln the offloe of &3tobl.e under the faoto related? (21 Iky the oommlssloners ' cm-t declare the office vroant? (3) .Xay the ooamlsslonere~ ecurt appoint a ner Oonate.ble?
fn Ehlinger o. Rmklng, 9 C. A. 424, 29 6. W. 240, . tbe oourt held t!mt under 5eotlon 24 of Artlole 5 of the Con- 3tltutlon of Texas. the oo!3mle610nerst oourt ha6 no JurlsdLo- tlon to dotermlne whether a county offloer, by ohPAging hi6 rtrldence, ha6 rnooted.hls office; that thl6 Jurl6dLctlon unler the Oonetltutlon Zlee with the dletrlct 00urt. . The Court further h&a thet utile R Judgment of the
Cietrlot oourt deolarlng E w?.c?L".c~ Is not neOeP6arlly a oon- Cltlon precedent to the exerolse of the a93ointive gover by ths c036~issioncpra' cmrt (unc?er &tlole 5, Seotion 23. of the Constitution, &tlcle 2S55, V.A.G.S., 19%) jf a ve0sno3 In fact i?xIets, the, detornin&.tlon @f the p%ti0n of VaczncY.
can be u&do only by a dlstriot COUrt.
Ha&l~on v. 'King (T.C.k 1918) 2Cb S.‘lj. 9531 16 bn 3kiOet ldentAo6.1 cage. In 1916 a~~olknt &mllton "cs :-. .: 6~1~ elected to the offloe of County Attorney, had enWr6d won the duties of hIa office and had a??ointad a dp>uty.
16 1918 he was lnvoluntarlly lnduoted into the Army Of the Uted state6 of hzrlcn; and in Gep.tembPr of the same year the comizelonzrat court declared the offloe of c0Unty tttomoy to be vacant and a:point?d a;?Fsllee King 00UntY 3ttorn0y n0'twj.th0ts~dln;: that s~p?.lant ~nzillton'st deputy or nsalctcnt attorney hsd at all tinr?n dischnrgd (during t33ellcilt’~a absonoo) the duties of the office.
In reversln;i and rcrcandln,z the onse fir further :roo3calng83 the oourt aald: *4 .
yoacrahle L; B. Povler, Page 4
.:
m e 0. Them or\n bbr! nn dnubt of th? correct- tbc neee qf the contsntl-n n&r? bv a-rellent that 003tlli6SiOY1W6' c%lrt +f R omnty in t2?la stnte k.aa no nuthcrrltv c1r 3wpr to remove fro3 office eny oounty otflciel or $0 de&we c yaccncv in env ~1~0% office. but euc:: aut?critv 6eem6 to be vm6a nlone In the dir-triot cwrt, Constituti.on of the Stnte of Texp.6. Art. 5 H __.~~
e4. It 16 grovlded by Eectlon a-;f the 6aae Artlole of the Constituticn, hcvever, that, In o66e of R vacanoy In the offiae of county .attorney, the oos6lasloners’ court of auoh .oounty shall have power to 6qpoint a county attorney until the next general election. Eee 6&6;, Fl!in$Cr v. RP.nkin, 9 Tex. Cio.h?p. ,424, TI-e auectl?n here to be deter- . . . glned la. noi rketker the cotwieslnnere court of Gblne Cwnt* WE cruthwlzod to declare a rnomw In the ~ff’ics of county ttornsv of S*‘oi,ne Countr. but the auestion,
filled bv thnt court bv awolntment Ft the it unG.crtnoX to C?O 60 bv emo!ntlnz $&z the .‘*A6 et&ted above, lt ia alleged by wwellant‘ that he w.t6 e oltieen of Eeblne County, and that he woa only tom~orarlly abeent from tbe oeunty, and that he had never been ‘in Pny manner lmpeaohed by any competent e.uthority, nor hle office deolered vacant by any QU- thorlzed tribunal, end that tbe duties of the office were still being biecher+I by him througi3 his legallly O006titUtea esslatnnt. On the other hanb, the shoulng mnde by agqellee in his anbver van, not that fi>pellant h6d rembved permanently from Sabbine County, but 6lO31)' that he VPO ‘&btbs*nt from the COW?- ‘ty nt the tixe of the aotlcn of tbe oozmle- aloners’ court in deolarlng l&e Offios vncant nna qpolritlng st,pellee thereto, find ttat ep>ellont hsd been BO absent from mid cow- ty since &rch before auoh eotir?n on the phrt of the conaiee~cnera~ court Jn 5qtem- ber following, and that SUOh absence WRB enuse& by the fact th8.t tig~ellant hP.d been Inducted Involuntarily Into the Aroy of the . J : *5 united StiRtee. Thie allegntim of the an6wer
&owed, oi oourse, that qqellant wag actunl-
‘iy abeent from S’abine county at tke tine of
such eation on the pert of ttlo comlsslonero’
court; but 89 to how long such absence would
oontinus wee not shown, n?r wm any fact
alleged in the 8nwer from which the durtt-
tlon oi a?pellmt’s absenoe could be deter&l-
ed, other tkiin tke statement thet he ~8s In the mllltery service of the Unlted Stntea in-
qoluntarlly.
, ,
:: tict,reble L. 8. Fouler, Faea G
.’ such e shovlne; has not beon rcadc by the
oleadlnp in thle ca@e upon vhlck alone the aletrlot Judge acted in dmy!ri? t’.:e tempnr.?ry inJmctlon, and f?r t:‘St reason fe are of t$e opinion t&t, a9 the plesdlnge 6tcod, ap pellant was entitled to the vzlt a9 Frayed for, ar!d thl+t the district J.:P.ge erred lrr dcsy- lng 6PzmU (Unilerccorin~ ours) It 1s our oplnlon t&it unCer tlx? fact9 subrltted to 1;‘ thl9 deportrmt the Co30293ioncra I Cowt of ~~aoopCoohes Cwnty try not declare ti:p.t a vuoancy in the office of Cocst,ablo and / ,fgoint a euwensor to t~he .prcsent incumbent.
ft ia our further opinion that under Seotlsn 24 of
&tlcle !j of the Constitution of Texss and t’rtrcleo 5970, et ce~. , Vernbn’s kmotated Civil Gtstute9, Jurisdiction to deter- mine the matter of wcam?y in the office sf Con6toble 1s veetea in E--e dlstrlct o~wrt. T:.e suit 19 In tf‘e nature, of a quo mrrar!to snd mst be Instituted and oonducted ln the arm of the State of Texas by or uxler the dlrectlon of the oouzty or dl9trlct attorney. State Y. Etarnea (T.C.8.) 246 c M. 424; Ileaves v. %ntc (T.Q.3, I 258 6. Y. 677; Johnson ;: xJO?.Oy (T.C.A. ) 241 %. 9. ~0%
You we fwtker advleed that in n stilt to declare
tr.e offloe of oonetable vacant the one al.Ieged t@ have vacated hle of?ice le.cntltled to a trlQ1 by a Jury upon faot ismes. Stzts Y. O’KCRPR, (C.C.A., 1934) ;y,y ;. Grshaa, 39 l’cx. 1; If upon the trial it is held Vat tke *. (2d)’ 146. Offlb.9 of COilStZble is vaoznt the Comleelonero Court of
aot1r.g pursuant to Article 2355, ‘appoint a new ccnetable to serve until the next fpneral election.