Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO88-82 Page: 1 of 2
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THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF' TEX AS
JI MA~nTTOM July 13, 1988
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Mr. Michael Poppell, Manager
Terrell County Water Control and
Improvement District No. 1
P. O. Box 569
Sanderson, Texas 79848 LO-88-82
Dear Mr. Poppell:
Thank you for your letter of June 2, 1988, asking about
the applicability of section 51.0721 of the Water Code to
elections to the Board of Directors of the Terrell County Water
Control and Improvement District No. 1. specifically, you
asked whether the disqualifications listed in section 51.0721
preclude a person not only from holding the office of director
but also from being a candidate for the office.
The short answer is "no." So long as the reason for
disqualification from holding office does not exist at the time
the person becomes a member of the board of directors, the
person is eligible for election and service on the board.
The original section 51.0721 of the Water Code was enacted
in 1973, and contained provisions which disqualified a person
from serving on the board of directors based on specified
circumstances if those circumstances existed within two years
immediately preceding his election (for example, if the person
had been an employee of an attorney for the district). Attorney
General Opinion H-226 (1974) concluded that the provisions of
section 51.0721 that disqualified a person from office based on
previous circumstances were unconstitutional, as violative of
the equal protection guarantees of the United States Constitu-
tion and the Constitution of Texas.
After the issuance of Attorney General Opinion H-226,
the legislature, in Acts 1975, ch. 248, 2, at 601, amended
section 51.0721 to "eliminate 1 ] previous circumstances as
being disabling when they do not exist at the time that a
person would become a member of the board of directors . . ."
Bill analysis, Tex. S.B. 868, 64th Leg. (1975).
Given the plain language of the statute and the legis-
lative history, we see no statutory bar to a person seeking the51 EPlahSII AMAART %I4niT:
.L' 'TINT : t 771 -." 48
352/44$: on 14)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO88-82, text, July 13, 1988; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth276233/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.