Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0535 Page: 3 of 7
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The Honorable Homero Ramirez - Page 3
(d) The board of trustees of an independent school district
changing an election date to comply with this section shall adjust the
terms of office of its members to conform to the new election date.
TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 11.0581 (Vernon Supp. 2006) (footnote added).
Subsection 11.0581(a) refers to the uniform election dates set out in chapter 41 of the
Election Code. Section 41.001(a) of the Election Code provides as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, each
general or special election in this state shall be held on one of the
following dates:
(1) the second Saturday in May; or
(2) the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November.
TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 41.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2006). The Election Code further provides that
"[t]he general election for state and county officers shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November in even-numbered years." Id. 41.002 (Vernon 2003). There is no such
express provision for municipal elections, which therefore may be held on either one of the two
uniform election dates set out in section 41.001(a). The Local Government Code provides for the
frequency of municipal elections. Type A and Type B general-law municipalities are required to
conduct annual elections for members of their governing bodies on a uniform election date provided
by Election Code chapter 41. See TEX. Loc. Gov'T CODE ANN. 22.003, 23.023 (Vernon 1999).
Statutes applicable to Type C general-law cities and home-rule cities also require these cities to hold
elections on uniform election dates, but they are silent as to the frequency of elections for members
of the governing body. See id. 24.023(b), 26.042. Such cities will not necessarily hold annual
elections for their governing bodies. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 7; see also TEX. Loc.
Gov'T CODE ANN. 24.023(b), 26.042 (Vernon 1999).
At issue here is a school district's ability to comply with section 11.0581(a) of the Education
Code. A school district with four-year school trustee terms, which must therefore hold biennial
elections, can comply with section 11.0581(a) by conducting elections in November every other year
when the general election for state and county officers is held. See TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN.
11.0581(a) (Vernon Supp. 2006), 11.059(c) (Vernon 2006); TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN.
41.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2006), 41.002 (Vernon 2003). If a municipality located in the school
district elects its governing body biennially in May, the district may comply with section 11.0581(a)
by conducting its elections jointly with the municipality. See TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. 11.0581(a)
(Vernon Supp. 2006), 11.059(c) (Vernon 2006).
But some school districts with three-year trustee terms, which must hold trustee elections
annually, will not be able to hold all trustee elections as ajoint election. See id. 11.059(b) (Vemrnon
2006). As you point out, elections for school trustees with three-year terms will necessarily take(GA-0535)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0535, text, April 4, 2007; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275431/m1/3/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.