Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-6 Page: 5 of 13
This text is part of the collection entitled: Texas Attorney General Opinions and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
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Honorable Chet Brooks - Page 5 (DM-6)
Honorable Tom Uher
counts on February 5, 1991, constitutes a "publication" within the meaning of article III,
section 28, of the constitution. This conclusion is consistent with the principle announced
in Attorney General Opinion MW-350 (1981). There, we concluded that publication of the
1980 census population data was a triggering "publication" under article III, section 28,
notwithstanding the census bureau's having labelled it "provisional" due to pending federal
litigation challenging the validity of the figures. The legend affixed to the just-released
1990 census population totals is the functional equivalent of the "provisional" label the
census bureau used to describe the 1980 census population totals.
We see no reason to depart from the principle announced in that opinion. In fact,
we see very sound reasons, grounded in case law and the underlying purposes of article III,
section 28, for adhering to it.
A POST-SESSION CENSUS ADJUSTMENT WOULD BE ANOTHER "PUBLICATION,"
TRIGGERING, IF CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES ARE PRESENT, THE REDISTRICTING DUTIES OF
THE LRB FIRST ON AN INTERIM BASIS AND, IN THE NEXT REGULAR SESSION, THE
LEGISLATURE AND LATER, IF NEEDED, THE LRB
The foregoing conclusion that release of the provisional population counts is
nonetheless a publication under the constitution does not preclude there being another
publication of the population counts if an adjustment is made. In considering this
possibility, we will assume that the second publication date of the 1990 census would be
after the current regular session.' Assuming that the department does not make its
adjustment decision until the last day, that date would be July 15, 1991. Would the release
by the department of adjusted population counts constitute yet another "publication" under
article IiM, section 28, of the constitution? We conclude that it would.
We already have explained the uniqueness of the 1990 census. The Bureau of the
Census has noted that a statistical adjustment of the count would be "for the first time in
the history of the Census." 54 Fed. Reg. 51004 (1989). In the past, as exemplified in some
of the references in Holcomb v. Spikes, the Bureau of the Census has made corrections to
its published census figures. These corrections, however, were not premised on the
gathering of new enumeration data. In 1990, in unique circumstances, the Bureau of the
Census, under federal court order, has undertaken a new round of data gathering through
1 Nothing in the stipulation prevents the adjustment decision from being made before the end of the
current regular session of the legislature. Such an action is not anticipated, but, if it occurs, the Mauzy principle
means that the triggering event will have occurred during the current regular session.p. 29
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-6, text, February 27, 1991; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth273813/m1/5/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.