Paxton, 082019 TXAGO, AGO RQ-30-KP

• Case Date: August 20, 2019
• Court: Texas

Honorable Ken Paxton AGO RQ-30-KP No. RQ-030-KP Texas Attorney General Opinion August 20, 2019           Received Date August 21, 2019           Ms. Sarah W. Langlois Karczewski Bradshaw Spalding Nichols Lamp Langlois Attorney for Harris County Department of Education          Honorable Ken Paxton          Attorney General of Texas          Capital Station          Post Office Box 12548          Austin, Texas 78711 -2548          Re: Request for Opinion concerning applicability of Texas Education Code Section 11.060(d) to Harris County Department of Education and consequences of failing to comply with Section 11.060(d), if applicable          Dear General Paxton:          On behalf of Harris County Department of Education ("HCDE"), a county school district located in Harris County, the Office of the Harris County Attorney is requesting your opinion concerning whether Texas Education Code Section 11.060(d) applies to HCDE.          The issue of the applicability of Section 11.060(d) arises due to a vacancy created on the HCDE Board of Trustees following a trustee's recent resignation from the Board. Specifically, HCDE Trustee Dr. George Moore submitted his resignation on May 15, 2019 "due [to] moving out of the district." See Exhibit A, Resignation of Dr. George P. Moore, Dr. Moore holds Position 1, Precinct 2 on HCDE's Board of Trustees, and his term is set to expire in December 2022.          HCDE is the only remaining functioning county school district in Texas and is permitted to operate under Section 11.301(a) of the Texas Education Code, which provides:

A school district or county system operating under former Education Code Chapter 17 [or] Chapter 18...on May 1, 1995, may continue to operate under the applicable chapter as that chapter existed on that date and under state law generally applicable to school districts that does not conflict with that chapter.

See Tex. Educ. Code § 11.301. In accordance with the requirements of Section 11.301(a), HCDE operates under applicable provisions of former Chapters...