This is my day for offbeat civil queries. Constable is deceased; term roughly half completed. Are the commissioners REQUIRED to fill the office or may they wait through the term? I'm not seeing a requirement in my quick run through the books...

Lisa
Going from memory, I had a similar situation years ago where a constable ran and was elected on the platform he would resign if elected, therefore, leaving the office vacant....he won and resigned and (best I remember) I could not find a requirement that the vacancy be filled....no one ever approached the Court asking to fill the position so it remained vacant....That was several years ago, so take that with a grain of salt.

The wording of the statute is "may". There is no time limit on when they must do so, so it may very well be that they don't do so until quite a while later. LGC 87.041

If there was a chief (or only) deputy, that person carries out the duties pursuant to the applicatble Gov't Code provisions, until the appointment or election and qualfication of a new constable. That is true even if it is a long time...Gov't Code 601.002

Thanks! No deputy...or anyone else...and the elected had been ill nearly a year undergoing treatment in another part of the state....

Have a look at AG Op. No. JC-140 (1999). Spoiler alert: They don't have to fill the vacancy.

Thank you!!