Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0361 Page: 2 of 8
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The Honorable Tim R. Taylor - Page 2
(2) the duties and functions placed on the county clerk by [the
Election Code];
(3) the duties and functions relating to elections that are placed
on the county clerk by statutes outside [the Election Code], subject to
Section 31.044 [of the Election Code]; and
(4) the duties and functions placed on the administrator under
Sections 31.044 and 31.045 [of the Election Code].
Id. 31.043. Section 31.044, referred to in subsection (3) above, divides certain duties between the
county clerk and the administrator. See id. 31.044; see also 1 TEX. ADMIN. CODE 81.9 (West
2004) (Office of the Secretary of State, Duties of Elections Administrator). For instance, in addition
to some of the county clerk's tasks listed previously, the county elections administrator must supply
the county clerk with information on election matters for the commissioners court. TEX. ELEC.
CODE ANN. 31.044 (Vernon 2003); see 1 TEX. ADMIN. CODE ANN. 81.9 (West 2004) (Office of
the Secretary of State, Duties of Elections Administrator) (dividing county clerk's duties assigned
by statutes other than the Election Code). The county elections administrator also must appoint co-
judges, co-alternate judges, and clerks for each precinct from lists supplied by county party chairs.
See 1 TEX. ADMIN. CODE 81.148(a) (West 2004) (Office of the Secretary of State, Appointment
of Various Election Officials).
In addition, the county elections administrator has certain contracting authority. But see
Krier v. Navarro, 952 S.W.2d 25, 30 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1997, writ denied) (finding that the
evidence presented showed that the Bexar County elections administrator did not have independent
contracting authority). The administrator "may contract with the governing body of a political
subdivision situated wholly or partly in the county... to perform election services," and the contract
need not be submitted to the commissioners court for approval. TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. 31.092(a),
(c) (Vernon 2003); see id. 31.094 (stating that under an election services contract a county
elections administrator may "perform or [] supervise ... any or all of the corresponding duties and
functions that the [administrator] performs in connection with a countywide election ordered by a
county authority"). The money that a county elections administrator receives under an election
services contract with a political subdivision is "deposited in a separate fund in the county treasury"
and is not subject to the commissioners court's budgeting or appropriation process. Id. 31.100(a);
see id. 31.100(g) (prohibiting a commissioners court from considering the election services
contract fund in adopting the county budget for the county elections administrator's office).
"[C]laims against the fund shall be audited and approved in the same manner as other claims against
the county," however. Id. 31.100(a). Under an election services contract, a county elections
administrator may contract with third persons for election services and supplies and pay the third
person's claims for election expenses. See id. 31.098(a).
A county elections administrator is appointed not by the commissioners court but by a county
election commission (a "commission"), which is initially formed to appoint the county elections
administrator. See id. 31.031(a), .032, .043. The commission has other duties related to the(GA-0361)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0361, text, September 30, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275257/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.