Article XVI, Section 30a of the Texas Constitution

As amended November 2, 1999:

The Legislature may provide by law that the Board of Regents of the State University and boards of trustees or managers of the educational, eleemosynary, and penal institutions of the State, and such boards as have been, or may hereafter be established by law, may be composed of an odd number of three or more members who serve for a term of six (6) years, with one-third, or as near as one-third as possible, of the members of such boards to be elected or appointed every two (2) years in such manner as the Legislature may determine; vacancies in such offices to be filled as may be provided by law, and the Legislature shall enact suitable laws to give effect to this section. The Legislature may provide by law that a board required by this constitution be composed of members of any number divisible by three (3) who serve for a term of six (6) years, with one-third of the members elected or appointed every two (2) years.

Editor Comments

This section, which provides an exception to Article XVI, Section 30(a) for the designated officers, was added in 1912.

It has been amended once. The amendment provided additional flexibility with regard to the size of the subject boards.

The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. GA-21 (2003), opined at length regarding that 1999 amendment.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Lower Colorado River Authority v. McCraw, 83 S.W.2d 629, 634 (Tex. 1935) (citation omitted) ("It is our opinion that the length of the terms of office of the directors of this district is not controlled by section 30 of article 16, supra, but by section 30a of the same article. That section reads as follows: 'Sec. 30a. The Legislature may provide by law that the members of the Board of Regents of the State University and boards of trustees or managers of the educational . . . . It is settled that this constitutional provision refers to state boards. It follows that unless the board of directors of this district can be classed as a state board, the entire act must fall, because the district would be left without a governing body.")

• Cowell v. Ayers, 220 S.W. 764, 766 (Tex. 1920) ("The true and entire effect of section 30a is to enlarge the legislative power over the tenure of certain offices. It was adopted to enable the Legislature to exercise wider discretion over the terms with which it deals. It was never intended to prevent the Legislature from continuing the long-established policy, which called for a renewal of authority at the hands of the people at brief . . . . The exercise of the power of the Legislature to make improving changes in the nonconstitutional agencies of public service in promotion of the general welfare is conducive to good government. The power ought not to be restrained further than the people have plainly ordained.")

• San Antonio I.S.D. v. State ex rel. Dechman, 173 S.W. 525, 527 (Tex.Civ.App.–San Antonio 1915, ref'd) ("The people of Texas became tired of this condition, and sought to destroy it by having an amendment submitted by which the boards would have a longer tenure of office than the Governor who might appoint them, so that they would continue their appointees in office. So the amendment of 1911 . . . . Whether the amendment will accomplish the desired ends, or not, is not the question; reformation in the institutions of the state was the reason for its submission by the Legislature and its adoption by the people. There were no such complaints as to boards of trustees of the free schools of the state.")

Library Resources

• Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (this multi-volume and up-to-date resource is available at all law libraries and many municipal libraries)

• The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (this one-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

• The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (this two-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

Online Resources

• Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (this resource is published and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)

• Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)

• Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)