Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
6mAl.m c. Mmm *-RI .-
Eon. Yhoarow Curtis
county Attorney
rrio, Cou.nty
Fmraall, Term
Sir 1 C----J\
nby ruoate his letter of August 4th. of t)ais dapartsmnt upon
essntatlre Sor the 76th 0 t?f&lilty, lllOV8B hi.8 ah IS also in.the 7bth ereby vaaate b5.s offiae? f the Constitution upon sotion 2, whit& reads es followar nate ShEi oonsist of thirty-one all never ba inoraassh above this UB8 or Rs~reee,nlaCfvsls ahall QOll- &y-three menibcra util the first ap- portlogmnt after the adoptlen of this Constitu- tion, when or at any appostlonmant thereafter, nuatber of Rapreeentativsa zany be inoreeo8d by the Lagislature, upon%he ratio of oat aloT0 than one Repmsentattve for every fifteen theueand lnhabitante; provided, the nmbar of Repream2tW tives shall never exaead..one hundred and fifty." *2 Hon. Woodrow Cuxtls, Page 92.
Article ?i, Seotion 7, which reads ea rollowa:
*?fO pernon shall be a ReprtWentatiV8, WI- leee he be a .aitixen 0r the UnIted States,-and, at the tIm8 or hfe election, a qualfrlrd eleator Oi this State, and shall hat8 been a resident of this State two years next preaeding his eleotion, the last year thereof a resident of the distriat for whlah he shall be ohosen, and aball have attained the age of twenty-one year@.* Article 3, Seotion 23, whioh reads as Sollowar
*It any Senator or Representative reaove his reSId8XlO8 irOn the dlstrlat or county for whioh he was cleated, his Office &all thereby beacme vaoant, and the vaoanoy shall be filled as provl'ided In eeatlon 13 of this erticle.w Article 3, Se,otion 25, which reads aa follorsr
-The State eball be dfvlded into Senatorfal Dietriots of aontiguoue~territory aocordlng to the number oS qualified electors, as nearly as may be, and each dlstriot shall be entitled to eleat one Senators and no rIngle county shall be entitled to more than on8 Senator.W Art-tiole 3, Seation 26, whioh reads as follows:
.*The members ot the BOWS of ~epresenktivea shall be appOfiIon8d apong the Several eOMtt46, aacordlng to the nuxaber of population In eaah, es nearly es my be, on a ratio obtsined by dl- viding the population of the State, aa aeoertain- 8d by the most reO8nt United States cenaua, by the number of smmbera of which the F?ouse is ma- gosedt provided, that whenever R 8iqg1e oOWlty has sufflaient population to be entitled to a Repreeentatlre, suoh aounty shall be formed I?- to a separate Representative District, end when two or more aountiee are required to~make up the ratio OS representation, rrueh ,eoimties shall b8 aontiguoue to eaah other, and when my one aounty haa more than suffialent populetion tO be entitled to on8 or"mora.Repreeentativee, mob Repre'aentatIVe or R8pre6entf3tIV8s shall be PP- portioned ,to auah~ oounty, and for any ~lrPlue of population lt may be joined in a Repreeenta- tive Distiiot with any other~coatiguous eOUOtY or oountlea.*
Ron. Foodrow Curtis, pa&e #S.
It will be observed from a ading of all of the above ConetitutIonal provisions upon t 1s subject, that it WB~ contmplated by the brezners of the Constltutlon that, ln i.r
certain Inetancea, a Senator or a Representative might be elected ror e slogle oounty, ii a pertloular county met the population r4quiraenta; Or, that a Senator or a Repre- sentetlve might, on the other hand, be eleoted from the dIstrI.ct compoead of aeveral oountiea.
RxamlnlnS Article 3, Section 25, In the light of this understandiug oi.the other provisions of ArtIcl4 3 of t.h4 ConstItut.,lon, we are impelled to the conclusion that if a State Representative bs elected from a dlatrlct amposed Of several counties lt was Intcmded by th8 frameme of the Constitution that hia offioe be vaaated only b,y.a removal of,hla residence frm the district, and not by nera>y r4- ffiovlug hle resldenos from county to county within the dletrict.
Xn the ae6a aher a district Is composed of ae+eral counties, the Repreaentatlvs Is elected for the district, and not for partloular county. On the other hand, where the alogle county la entitled to,a Repreeentative, of oourse, the Rapreeentatite Ia elected for the county. If It had been intended by the rramers ob the Conatftutlo~ that mere removal rrom one county within the district to another county within the district ahwld vacate.the offlee or State Representative, alearly there would have been no necessity ror inserting the term vdIatrtctn In Art1014 3, Section 23. If that had been the Intent of the'rrainers of the Conetltutloh, we believe they would here stated merely that:
"If any Senator or Repr4eentatlvs r(Mov4 hia residence iron the county tar which he was eleoted, his offlo~ ahall thersby becorne vacant, and the vacancy shell be filled a8 provIded.ln seatlon 13 of this article." '~4 therefore advlee that In our opinion, If'Ur. Smith removes his residenae frm FrIo County, which 1s within tha 76th Dlotrict for whloh he w&s elected, to Atascofm CcuntY; wblch 18 aleo wIthIn the 96th Repreeentatlve District for which he 016s elected, he wilt not thereby vacate hla omoe. *4 IIon. Eoodrow Curtis, ?age $4.
24 wirh to express our appreciation for the helprul disc::csion of th,ie :%tter contained in your r4qU44t.
Yours very truly R'?Z:pbp
~ppRoVEThu6 19, 1939
-.a7-u-J
ATTORNEY GEblERAL OF TEXAS