Abe Fortas

“ Only the city population will be represented, and the rural areas will be eliminated from a voice in the county government to which they must look for essential services. With all respect, I submit that this is a destructive result. It kills the very value which it purports to serve. Texas should have a chance to devise a scheme which, within wide tolerance, eliminates the gross underrepresentation of the city, but at the same time provides an adequate, effective voice for the nonurban, as well as the urban, areas and peoples. ”

“ But unless we are ready to adopt the position that the Federal Constitution forbids a State from taxing city dwellers to aid their rural neighbors, the fact that city dwellers pay most taxes should not determine the composition of the county governing body. We should not use tax impact as the sole or controlling basis for vote distribution. ”

“ In sum, the Commissioners Court's functions and powers are quite limited, and they are defined and restricted so that their primary and preponderant impact is on the rural areas and residents. The extent of its impact on the city is quite limited. To the extent that there is direct impact on the city, the relevant powers, in important respects, are placed in the hands of officials elected on a one man, one vote basis. ”

“ It is apparent that the city people have much more control over the county government than the election of the Commissioners Court would indicate. Many of the county functions which most concern the city, for example, tax assessment and collection, are under the jurisdiction of officials elected by the county at large. ”

“ Indeed, viewed in terms of the realities of rights and powers, it appears that the city residents have the power to elect the officials who are most important to them, and the rural residents have the electoral power with respect to the Commissioners Court which exercises powers in which they are primarily interested. ”

“ This view may prove to be troublesome, but we are not bound to anticipate either that the Commissioners Court will not property do the job or that Texas will not otherwise put its house in order in Midland County.↑ Reynolds v. Sims did not put the Equal Protection Clause to a radical or new use. Its holding is in the mainstream of our equal protection cases. Our cases hold that people who stand in the same relationship to their government cannot be treated differently by that government. ”

“ It would be to treat them as if they were, somehow, less than people.↑ 'Since legislatures are responsible for enacting laws by which all citizens are to be governed, they should be bodies which are collectively responsive to the popular will. ”

“ Commentators on Texas local government have noted this lack of control by the Commissioners Court. See e.g., MacCorkle 344-345; McCleskey 307, 310; Benton 369.↑ Article VIII, § 14; Art. V, § 21; Art. V, § 23; Art. XVI, § 44; Art. V, § 20; and Art. XVI, § 44, of the Texas Constitution respectively.↑ Article V, §§ 15, 18, of the Texas Constitution.↑ For a description of county officials generally and of their functions, see McCleskey 306-310, MacCorkle 335-339, and Patterson 390-392. For a listing of county officials who are elected see U.S. Dept. ”