AUSTIN - An opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General today found that one individual may not simultaneously serve as a school board trustee and board member of the irrigation district.
The request for the opinion was submitted by state Rep. Terry Canales, District 40, and sought to know: whether a member of the Board of Trustees of the La Joya Independent School District may simultaneously serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 6.
The AG opinion found that the common-law doctrine of conflicting-loyalties incompatibility prohibits one person from simultaneously holding two offices that would prevent the person from exercising independent and disinterested judgment.
“Because the La Joya Independent School District and the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 6 have taxation authority in overlapping territory, one individual may not simultaneously serve as a school board trustee and irrigation district board member,” the opinion states.
“A court would likely conclude that in qualifying for the second incompatible office of trustee for the School District, the individual does not holdover under article XVI, subsection 17(a).”
Opinion No. JS-0006