Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB3015 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Moody (Senate Sponsor - Rodriguez) H.B. No. 3015
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 2013;
3	3	May 10, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on State
4	4	Affairs; May 20, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:
5	5	Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 20, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to a recall election for officials of certain general-law
11	11	municipalities.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Local Government Code, is amended by
14	14	adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
15	15	SUBCHAPTER C. REMOVAL OF MEMBER OF GOVERNING BODY OF CERTAIN
16	16	GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITIES FOLLOWING ELECTION
17	17	Sec. 21.101. REMOVAL BY RECALL ELECTION AUTHORIZED. A
18	18	member of the governing body of a general-law municipality with a
19	19	population of less than 5,000 located in a county that borders the
20	20	United Mexican States and has a population of more than 800,000 may
21	21	be removed from office through a recall election initiated by
22	22	petition as provided by this subchapter.
23	23	Sec. 21.102. PETITION. (a) Before circulating a petition,
24	24	a notice of intent to circulate a petition must be filed with the
25	25	municipal clerk. A notice of intent to circulate a petition may not
26	26	be filed before the 180th day after the date the officer whose
27	27	removal is sought:
28	28	(1) was elected; or
29	29	(2) was subject to an unsuccessful recall election.
30	30	(b) After notice is filed under Subsection (a), a petition
31	31	may be circulated. Each page of the petition must legibly and
32	32	conspicuously:
33	33	(1) be titled "Recall Petition";
34	34	(2) state that the petition seeks to initiate a recall
35	35	election to remove a member of the governing body;
36	36	(3) state the full name and title of the member whose
37	37	removal is sought; and
38	38	(4) state the reasons for seeking removal.
39	39	(c) For a signature to be valid, it must:
40	40	(1) comply with the requirements of Section 277.002,
41	41	Election Code; and
42	42	(2) be the signature of a registered voter in the
43	43	territory that elected the member whose removal is sought.
44	44	(d) At least one signer of the petition must swear before a
45	45	notary public or other person authorized to administer oaths that
46	46	each signature on the petition was made by the person whose
47	47	signature it purports to be, and that oath must be memorialized on
48	48	the petition.
49	49	(e) A petition is valid if:
50	50	(1) the petition complies with the requirements of
51	51	Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section and Chapter 277,
52	52	Election Code;
53	53	(2) the total number of valid signatures on the
54	54	petition equals at least 50 percent of the total number of votes
55	55	cast in the most recent election of the member whose removal is
56	56	sought that was not a runoff election; and
57	57	(3) the petition is filed with the municipal clerk not
58	58	later than the 30th day after the date of the filing of notice under
59	59	Subsection (a).
60	60	Sec. 21.103. REVIEW OF PETITION. (a) Not later than the
61	61	10th day after the date a petition is filed, the municipal clerk
62	62	shall review the petition and determine whether the petition is
63	63	valid.
64	64	(b) If the municipal clerk determines the petition is valid,
65	65	the clerk shall attach a certificate to the petition stating that
66	66	the petition is valid and submit the petition and certificate to the
67	67	governing body of the municipality as soon as practicable. If the
68	68	clerk determines that the petition is not valid:
69	69	(1) the clerk shall attach a certificate to the
70	70	petition stating the facts supporting the determination that the
71	71	petition is not valid;
72	72	(2) the clerk shall notify the person who filed the
73	73	petition of the clerk's determination;
74	74	(3) the petition may be amended or supplemented and
75	75	resubmitted not later than the 10th day after the date of the
76	76	certification under Subdivision (1); and
77	77	(4) the clerk shall return the petition to the person
78	78	who filed it.
79	79	(c) The municipal clerk shall determine the validity of a
80	80	petition resubmitted under Subsection (b)(3) in the same manner as
81	81	the original submission except that if the clerk determines the
82	82	petition is not valid the petition may not be further amended or
83	83	supplemented and the recall election is not held.
84	84	Sec. 21.104. ELECTION. (a) Unless the member who is the
85	85	target of the petition resigns before the sixth day after the date a
86	86	petition and certificate are delivered to the governing body of the
87	87	municipality, the governing body shall order that a recall election
88	88	be held on the first uniform election date that occurs 78 days after
89	89	the date of the order.
90	90	(b) The ballot for a recall election shall be printed to
91	91	permit voting for or against the proposition: "The removal of (name
92	92	of the member of the governing body) from the governing body of
93	93	(name of the municipality)".
94	94	(c) If less than a majority of the votes received at the
95	95	recall election are in favor of removal of the member of the
96	96	governing body named on the ballot, the member remains in office.
97	97	If a majority of the votes received are in favor of the removal of
98	98	the member, the governing body shall immediately declare the
99	99	member's office vacant and the vacancy shall be filled in the manner
100	100	prescribed by law for filling a vacancy on the governing body. A
101	101	member removed by recall may not be appointed to fill the vacancy
102	102	and may not be a candidate in any election called to fill the
103	103	vacancy.
104	104	Sec. 21.105. CLERK. In this subchapter, a municipal clerk
105	105	includes a municipal secretary or any other officer of the
106	106	municipality who performs the duties of a municipal clerk or
107	107	secretary.
108	108	SECTION 2. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Local
109	109	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
110	110	SUBCHAPTER B. JUDICIAL REMOVAL OF MEMBER OF GOVERNING BODY OF
111	111	GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY
112	112	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
113	113	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
114	114	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
115	115	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
116	116	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
117	117	* * * * *