Opinion No.

Texas Attorney General Reports·Decided September 13, 1984·Published

Opinion

Honorable Gibson D. (Gib) Lewis Speaker Texas House of Representatives P.O. Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78769

Re: Whether certain public officers and employees may be appointed to the interim State Board of Education

Dear Speaker Lewis:

Your letter requesting an opinion from this office reads in part:

As you know, the Legislative Education Board is . . . review[ing] the qualifications of individuals whose names may be submitted to the governor for appointment to the transitional State Board of Education created by House Bill No. 72 from the recent special session.

Prior to House Bill No. 72, officers and employees of the state or a political subdivision of the state were not eligible to serve on the State Board of Education. Educ. Code § 11.22(b). The legislature eliminated the disqualification on the basis of employment with the state or a political subdivision (article I, Part B, section 2, House Bill No. 72), and specifically provided that the disqualification on the basis of holding an office with the state or a political subdivision of the state does not apply to persons appointed to the transitional board (article I, Part B, section 4(b), House Bill No. 72).

However, we understand that a common law doctrine relating to incompatible offices may prevent some persons from holding their current position and membership on the State Board of Education at the same time, even though those persons are not statutorily ineligible. Specifically, we are concerned about the following categories:

(1) public school professional employees who are certified under state law and State Board of Education rules (this would include teachers, counselors, administrators, and other professional positions);

(2) school district trustees;

(3) junior college faculty and administrators;

(4) junior college trustees;

(5) senior college or university faculty and administrators, particularly those involved in teacher education programs;

(6) senior college or university regents;

(7) regional education service center employees; and

(8) Central Education Agency officers and employees.

As speaker of the house and chairman of the Legislative Education Board, I request your official opinion in regard to the ability of those persons listed above to hold both the listed position and membership on the State Board of Education.

House Bill No. 72 enacted by the second called session of the Sixty-eighth Legislature institutes a number of reforms applicable to the public education system in Texas. Acts 1984, 68th Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 28, at 269. Among the changes: the previously existing, elected State Board of Education is to be abolished and replaced by a transitional board of fifteen members to be appointed after the provision takes effect, i.e., when approval of the United States Department of Justice is obtained. The transitional board members are to serve until a new, elected board takes office on January 1, 1989.

House Bill No. 72, among other things, amends section 11.22 of the Education Code specifying the qualifications for membership on the State Board of Education. Prior to such action, subsection (b) thereof read as follows:

(b) No person shall be eligible for election to or serve on the board if he holds an office with the State of Texas or any political subdivision thereof, or holds employment with or receives any compensation for services from the state or any political subdivision thereof (except retirement benefits paid by the State of Texas or the federal government), or engages in organized public educational activity. (Emphasis added).

House Bill No. 72 changed it to read instead:

No person shall be eligible for election to or serve on the board if he holds an office with the State of Texas or any political subdivision thereof.

Acts 1984, supra, at 279.

The change makes the statute applicable to officers only; the statutory restriction on the eligibility of employees and independent contractors to the board has been dropped. But even with respect to officers, House Bill No. 72 provides in its fourth section, which establishes the interim board, that "Section 11.22(b), Education Code, as amended by this Act, does not apply to a person appointed under this section." Acts 1984, supra, § 4(b), at 282.

It is clear to us that the exemption of interim board members from the strictures of section 11.22(b) of the Education Code was not intended to exempt them from all dual office prohibitions. Restrictions that prevent a person from holding more than one public position or office at the same time may originate in either constitutional, statutory, or common law. See 47 Tex.Jur.2d, Public Officers §§ 27 et seq. (1963). Article III, section 18, of the Texas Constitution, for instance, makes a legislator ineligible to "any office or place, the appointment to which may be made, in whole or in part, by either branch of the Legislature. . . ." The legislature could not exempt interim board members from the article III, section 18 constitutional prohibition, and we ascribe to it no intent to do so. Similarly, we do not believe the legislature intended to exempt them from the common law bar of incompatibility.

The common law doctrine of incompatibility, briefly described, prevents one person from holding two offices if the duties are inconsistent or in conflict, or if one office is subordinate to the other. Thomas v. Abernathy County Line Independent School District, 290 S.W. 152 (Tex.Comm'n App. 1927, judgmt adopted); Kugle v. Glen Rose Independent School District No. 1,50 S.W.2d 375 (Tex.Civ.App.-Waco 1932) rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Pruitt v. Glen Rose Independent School District No. 1,84 S.W.2d 1004 (Tex. 1935). The doctrine has been held to bar a public employee from holding a public office which appoints, supervises, and controls the employee. See Ehlinger v. Clark, 8 S.W.2d 666 (Tex. 1928); Attorney General Letter Advisory No. 114 (1975). It protects the integrity of state institutions by promoting impartial service by public officials.

In Attorney General Letter Advisory No. 56 (1973) this office by implication interpreted section 11.22(b) of the Education Code as a bar to dual office holding that is separate from (and in addition to) the common law bar of incompatibility, stating:

It is our opinion, therefore, that because of the express provisions of § 11.22(b) of the Education Code, and/or the common law doctrine of incompatibility, one person may not serve at the same time as a member of the Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the State Board of Education.

The passage of House Bill No. 72 exhibits no intent that the statute now be construed otherwise.

We think the Letter Advisory No. 56 construction of section 11.22(b) is correct and that the legislature so regarded it. The statute is intended to complement and extend article XVI, section40 of the Texas Constitution, which prohibits dual office holding — but only with respect to offices of emolument.

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