Chenault v. Bexar County

747 S.W.2d 400, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 799, 1988 WL 31604
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 20, 1988
DocketNo. 4-87-00300-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 747 S.W.2d 400 (Chenault v. Bexar County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chenault v. Bexar County, 747 S.W.2d 400, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 799, 1988 WL 31604 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinions

OPINION

GERALD T. BISSETT, Assigned Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the 73rd District Court of Bexar County, Texas, which upheld the order of the Commissioners’ Court of Bexar County, Texas, hereinafter called the “Justice Abolition Order,” that abolished three Justice of the Peace positions in Bexar County, Texas. Bill Chenault and Betty Ann Esquivel filed separate suits whereby it was alleged that such Order was void because it violated art. XVI, § 65, of the Texas Constitution. The [402]*402two cases were consolidated and were tried to the court. Judgment which denied the plaintiffs all relief sought by them and held that the Order did not violate the Texas Constitution, was signed on April 13, 1987. Each of the plaintiffs has timely perfected an appeal from the judgment. The appeals were consolidated in this Court. Henceforth Bill Chenault and Betty Ann Esquiv-el, plaintiffs in the trial court, will be referred to as “appellants” or by name, and Bexar County and the Commissioners’ Court of Bexar County, defendants in the trial court, will be referred to as “appel-lees” or as the “Commissioners’ Court.”

Background

On October 29, 1985, the Bexar County Commissioners’ Court passed the “Justice of the Peace/Constable Redistricting Plan ‘19B’ ” which redistricted all of the then current Bexar County Justice of the Peace precincts and created new Justice precinct positions. On December 19, 1985, the Be-xar County Commissioners’ Court passed the Judicial Abolition Order which abolished the place two, justice of the peace positions, in precincts one, two and three, effective December 31, 1986.

This is the second time that the Justice Abolition Order has been before this Court. See McCraw, et al. v. Vickers, 717 S.W.2d 738 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.) and Cowan and McCraw v. The Fourth Court of Appeals, 722 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.1987). This Court in its opinion and judgment denied McCraw and Cowan the right to file a motion for rehearing, pursuant to TEX.R.APP.P. 190. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the original Application for Writ of Error with a special notation, concerning the erroneous reference to TEX.R.APP.P. 190. A Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed, pursuant to the notation of the Court. As a result, the Texas Supreme Court, issued a conditional Order of Mandamus directing this Court to allow McCraw and Cowan the right to file their motion for rehearing, stating that TEX.R.APP.P. 190 applied only to the Supreme Court. McCraw and Cowan then filed a Motion for Rehearing, which was denied by this Court. Thereafter, McCraw and Cowan filed an application for a writ of error in the Texas Supreme Court, which was refused with the notation “no reversible error.”

In McCraw, which should be read in connection with the instant case, the sole issues and theories raised by plaintiffs’ trial pleadings and evidence presented at the trial were: 1) the Bexar County Commissioners’ Court order of December 19, 1985, abolishing the justice of the peace positions violated art. V, § 18(a) of the Texas Constitution; 2) the action by the Commissioners’ Court denied them due process of law; and 3) the action by the Commissioners’ Court was arbitrary and constituted an abuse of discretion. This Court held that the Order complained of by McCraw and Cowan did not violate art. V, § 18(a) of the Texas Constitution; that the appellants were not denied due process of law; and that the action by the Commissioners’ Court in abolishing the justice of the peace positions was not arbitrary and did not constitute an abuse of discretion.

Betty Ann Esquivel and Bill Chenault filed as candidates in the Place 2 positions for Justice of the Peace in Precincts 1 and Precinct 3, respectfully, during the litigation and appeal in McCraw. They did not join, nor were they joined as parties to the litigation involving McCraw and Cowan. The election officials did not remove their names from the ballots for either the primary elections (held in May) or the general election (held in November) of 1986. Ms. Esquival and Mr. Chenault conducted their campaigns without opposition and were “elected” as Justices of the Peace for the Place 2 positions in Precincts 1 and 3.

The Instant Appeal

Ms. Esquivel, in a single point of error, and Mr. Chenault, in his first point of error, contend that the trial court erred in failing to hold that the Justice Abolition Order violated art. XVI, § 65, of the Texas Constitution (the staggered term provision), which requires that a justice of the peace run for the full term of office on a four year cycle from 1954. They say that [403]*403both sought election to a full four year term of office in the general election in November, 1986.

Art. XVI, § 65, Texas Constitution, in the first paragraph provides:

Sec. 65. Staggering Terms of Office— The following officers elected at the General Election in November 1954, and thereafter, shall serve for the full terms provided in this Constitution.

The second paragraph of art. XVI, § 65, Texas Constitution, applies (among other elected officials) to “justices of the peace.”

The fourth paragraph of art. XVI, § 65, Texas Constitution, provides:

In any district, county, or precinct where any of the aforementioned officers is of such a nature that two (2) or more persons hold such office, with the result that candidates file for “Place # 1,” “Place # 2,” etc., the officers elected at the general Election in November, 1954, shall serve for a term of two (2) years if the designation of their office is an uneven number, and for a term of four (4) years if the designation of their office is an even number. Thereafter all such officers shall be elected for the terms provided in this Constitution.

Appellants, in their briefs, argue that if two justices of the peace are elected in a justice precinct, the candidates for Place 2 seek a full term of office in the general election in November 1986, and the candidates for Place 1 seek a full term of office in the general election in November, 1988. They further argue that if only one justice of the peace is to be elected in a justice precinct, that the candidates for that office seek a full term of office in the general election of November, 1986. They reason:

The net effect of the ‘Justice Abolition Order* is that the remaining Justice of the Peace not abolished, to wit: now the ONLY Justice of the Peace in the Justice Precinct, seeks a full term of office in the General Election of November 1988, and no Justice would seek a full term of office in the staggered years, to wit: the General Elections of the November of 1986 and 1990.
If there is only one Justice of the Peace in a Justice Precinct, then the term of office of that Justice of the Peace must comply with the provisions of the SECOND Full Paragraph of art. XVI, § 65, Texas Constitution, and that Justice of the Peace must be elected in the General Election of November 1986.

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Related

Chenault v. Bexar County
782 S.W.2d 206 (Texas Supreme Court, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
747 S.W.2d 400, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 799, 1988 WL 31604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chenault-v-bexar-county-texapp-1988.