Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-192 Page: 3 of 5
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The Honorable Jos6 R. Rodriguez - Page 3 (JC-0192)
Subsection 6.412(d) speaks in terms of "eligible to serve" rather than "eligible to be
appointed." When used as an intransitive verb, "serve" means, inter alia, "to perform official duties,
hold office (e.g., as sheriff or M.P., or on a jury)." XV OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 29 (2d ed.
1989). According to the Code Construction Act, "[w]ords in the present tense include the future
tense." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. 311.012(a) (Vernon 1998). Prior opinions of this office, relying
on Phagan v. State, 510 S.W.2d 655 (Tex. Civ. App.-Fort Worth, writ ref'd n.r.e.), have held that,
even when a statute is couched in terms of "eligible for appointment," it imposes a continuing
eligibility requirement. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. H-1065 (1977) at 2; H-578 (1975) at 2. In our
opinion, there can be no doubt that "eligible to serve" requires that a board member retain that
eligibility throughout his tenure. Accordingly, a member of an appraisal review board who, on
June 18, 1999, had served all or part of three terms prior to the term he was then serving, became
ineligible for continued service on the board.
You next ask whether a current member of an appraisal review board who was appointed
prior to June 18, 1999, becomes ineligible to serve if the member appeared before the board for
compensation prior to the effective date of the statute. We have previously determined that, because
subsection (d) does not contain a grandfather clause, it is applicable to all persons serving on the
effective date of that provision's latest amendment, i.e., June 18, 1999. Similarly, since the statutory
language speaks in terms of eligibility to serve, it imposes a continuing requirement. Thus, a
member of the board is ineligible for further service after June 18, 1999, if, prior to that date, he
"ever appeared before the appraisal review board for compensation." TEX. TAX CODE ANN.
6.412(d)(3) (Vernon Supp. 2000).
Your third question is premised on the role of the individual who is the principal focus of
your request. According to the attorney for the El Paso Central Appraisal District ("EPCAD"), the
individual in question was appointed to the Board of Directors of the El Paso Appraisal Review
Board ("EPARB") on March 4, 1999, but was not sworn in until May 21, 1999. You indicate that,
until May 13, 1999, he served as counsel to both the EPCAD and EPARB, providing "legal advice
and representation" to both these entities. Letter from Honorable Jos6 R. Rodriguez, El Paso County
Attorney, to Honorable John Comyn, Attorney General, at 1 (Dec. 15, 1999) (on file with Opinion
Committee). You ask whether his presence as a paid legal adviser to either the EPCAD or the
EPARB constituted an "appearance before the board for compensation" for purposes of the
disqualification of subdivision (3) of subsection 6.412(d). We need not address that matter,
however, because of the circumstances of the appointment of this particular individual require the
conclusion that he was otherwise ineligible to be appointed to the EPARB.
At the time of his appointment, the individual at issue was ineligible to be appointed to the
EPARB pursuant to section 6.413 of the Tax Code, which provides, in relevant part:
(a) An individual is not eligible to be appointed to or to serve on
the appraisal review board established for an appraisal district if the
individual or a business entity in which the individual has a
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-192, text, March 9, 2000; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274501/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.