82R684 DRH-D
By: Howard of Travis H.B. No. 553
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the nonpartisan election of members to the State Board
of Education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7.101(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Members of the board are elected at biennial general
elections held in compliance with the Election Code. A candidate's
name for the board may appear on the ballot only as an independent
candidate and Chapter 142, Election Code, applies to a candidate
for the board.
SECTION 2. Section 1.005, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
(9) "Independent candidate" means a candidate in a
nonpartisan election or a candidate in a partisan election who is
not the nominee of a political party. The term includes a candidate
for the State Board of Education.
SECTION 3. Sections 52.092(a) and (d), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) For an election at which offices regularly filled at the
general election for state and county officers are to appear on the
ballot, the offices shall be listed in the following order:
(1) offices of the federal government;
(2) certain offices of the state government:
(A) statewide offices;
(B) partisan district offices;
(3) offices of the county government:
(A) county offices;
(B) precinct offices;
(4) nonpartisan election for the office of member,
State Board of Education.
(d) Partisan district [District] offices of the state
government shall be listed in the following order:
(1) [member, State Board of Education;
[(2)] state senator;
(2) [(3)] state representative;
(3) [(4)] chief justice, court of appeals;
(4) [(5)] justice, court of appeals;
(5) [(6)] district judge;
(6) [(7)] criminal district judge;
(7) [(8)] family district judge;
(8) [(9)] district attorney;
(9) [(10)] criminal district attorney.
SECTION 4. Section 142.001, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 142.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter
applies to:
(1) an independent candidate for an office that is to
be voted on at the general election for state and county officers
except the offices of president and vice-president of the United
States; and
(2) any candidate for the State Board of Education.
SECTION 5. Section 142.004, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [An]
application must, in addition to complying with Section 141.031, be
accompanied by a petition that satisfies the requirements
prescribed by Section 141.062.
(c) An application for the office of member, State Board of
Education, may be accompanied by a filing fee in the amount of $300
in lieu of the petition required by Subsection (b).
SECTION 6. Section 142.009, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 142.009. PETITION TO BE CIRCULATED AFTER PRIMARY. (a)
A signature on a candidate's petition is invalid if the signer:
(1) signed the petition on or before general primary
election day or, if a runoff primary is held for the office sought
by the candidate, on or before runoff primary election day; or
(2) voted in the general or runoff primary election of
a political party that made a nomination, at either primary, for the
office sought by the candidate.
(b) This section does not apply to a petition for an
application for the office of member, State Board of Education.
SECTION 7. Chapter 161, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 161.0031 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.0031. NOMINATION FOR STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
PROHIBITED. A political party may not make a nomination for the
office of State Board of Education.
SECTION 8. Section 172.024(a), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The filing fee for a candidate for nomination in the
general primary election is as follows:
(1) United States senator$5,000
(2) office elected statewide, except United States
senator3,750
(3) United States representative3,125
(4) state senator1,250
(5) state representative750
(6) [member, State Board of Education300
[(7)] chief justice or justice, court of appeals,
other than a justice specified by Subdivision (7) [(8)]1,875
(7) [(8)] chief justice or justice of a court of
appeals that serves a court of appeals district in which a
county with a population of more than 750,000 is wholly or partly
situated2,500
(8) [(9)] district judge or judge specified by Section
52.092(d) for which this schedule does not otherwise prescribe a
fee1,500
(9) [(10)] district or criminal district judge of a
court in a judicial district wholly contained in a county with a
population of more than 850,0002,500
(10) [(11)] judge, statutory county court, other than a
judge specified by Subdivision (11) [(12)]1,500
(11) [(12)] judge of a statutory county court in a
county with a population of more than 850,0002,500
(12) [(13)] district attorney, criminal district
attorney, or county attorney performing the duties of a district
attorney1,250
(13) [(14)] county commissioner, district clerk,
county clerk, sheriff, county tax assessor-collector, county
treasurer, or judge, constitutional county court:
(A) county with a population of 200,000 or
more1,250
(B) county with a population of under
200,000750
(14) [(15)] justice of the peace or constable:
(A) county with a population of 200,000 or
more1,000
(B) county with a population of under
200,000375
(15) [(16)] county surveyor75
(16) [(17)] office of the county government for which
this schedule does not otherwise prescribe a fee750
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.