Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0450

October 23, 2023
The Honorable Matthew A. Mills
Hood County Attorney
1200 West Pearl Street
Granbury, Texas 76048
Opinion No. KP-0450
Re: Authority of the Hood County Development District No. 1 to add an additional member
to its board of directors under Local Government Code chapter 383 (RQ-0002-AC)
Dear Mr. Mills:
You ask whether Local Government Code chapter 383 authorizes the board of Hood
County Development District No. 1 (“the District”) to appoint a sixth director. 1 You tell us that
the District’s board of directors believes Local Government Code subsection 383.048(d) allows
such an appointment despite the statement in Local Government Code subsection 383.041(a) that
the District is to be governed by a board of five directors. Request Letter at 1; TEX. LOC. GOV’T
CODE § 383.041(a). In particular, you tell us that “[t]he District’s position is that the reference [in
subsection 383.048(d)] to appointing another director allows them to add one member to the board,
raising the total from five to six.” Request Letter at 1.
Your question requires us to consider several provisions in chapter 383, which provides for
county development districts. See generally TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE §§ 383.001–.123. Subsection
383.041(a) states that “[a] district is governed by a board of five directors appointed by the
commissioners court of the county in which the district is located.” Id. § 383.041(a). Section
383.047 directs the board’s members to “organize by electing a president, a vice president, a
secretary, and any other officer the board considers necessary.” Id. § 383.047. Subsection
383.048(b) sets forth the duties of the president and vice president, while subsection 383.048(c)
establishes the secretary’s duties. Id. § 383.048(b), (c). Subsection 383.048(d), the provision at
issue in your request, provides that the “board may appoint another director, the general manager,
or an employee as assistant or deputy secretary to assist the secretary.” Id. § 383.048(d).
Courts “interpret statutes by looking to their plain language and construing the text in light
of the statute as a whole.” City of Austin v. Quinlan, 669 S.W.3d 813, 821 (Tex. 2023). By its plain
1
See Letter from Honorable Matthew A. Mills, Hood Cnty. Att’y, to Off. of the Provisional Att’y Gen. Angela
Colmenero at 1–2 (July 31, 2023), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/request-files/request/
2023/RQ0002AC.pdf (“Request Letter”).
The Honorable Matthew A. Mills - Page 2
text, subsection 383.048(d) merely delineates the pool of individuals from which the assistant or
deputy secretary may be drawn: “another director, the general manager, or an employee . . . .” TEX.
LOC. GOV’T CODE § 383.048(d). Read in context, the phrase “another director” refers to a director
other than the director that is serving as the secretary. The provision cannot be construed as
independent authority for the District to add an additional board member, especially in light of
subsection 383.041(a), which identifies the number of board members as five. 2 Accordingly, a
court would likely conclude that subsection 383.048(d) does not allow the District’s board to
appoint a sixth director.
2
Other aspects of Local Government Code chapter 383 also support this conclusion. See, e.g., TEX. LOC.
GOV’T CODE §§ 383.041(a) (providing that directors must be “appointed by the commissioners court”), 383.048(a)
(“Three directors constitute a quorum and a concurrence of three is sufficient in any matter relating to the business of
the district.”), 383.064 (providing that district expenditures “must be signed by at least three directors”).
The Honorable Matthew A. Mills - Page 3
S U M M A R Y
Local Government Code section 383.041 provides that a
county development district is governed by a board of five directors.
Local Government Code subsection 383.048(d) establishes who
may serve as a board’s assistant or deputy secretary. A court would
likely conclude that subsection 383.048(d) does not authorize a
county development district to add a sixth director to its board.
Very truly yours,
KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas
BRENT WEBSTER
First Assistant Attorney General
LESLEY FRENCH
Chief of Staff
D. FORREST BRUMBAUGH
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
AUSTIN KINGHORN
Chair, Opinion Committee
J. AARON BARNES
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee