By: Toth, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Creighton) H.B. No. 1495
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2019;
May 10, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 19, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorization for the creation of a county ethics
commission in certain counties and to authorizing counties to adopt
a code of ethics for their commissioners courts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be cited as the J D Lambright
Local Government Ethics Reform Act.
SECTION 2. Section 161.001, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 161.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter
applies only to:
(1) a county that:
(A) [(1)] has a population of 800,000 or more;
(B) [(2)] is located on the international
border; and
(C) [(3)] before September 1, 2009, had a county
ethics board appointed by the commissioners court;
(2) a county that:
(A) has a population of 425,000 or more;
(B) is adjacent to a county with a population of
3.3 million or more; and
(C) contains a portion of the San Jacinto River;
and
(3) a county that has a population of less than 40,000
that is adjacent to a county with a population of more than 3.3
million.
SECTION 3. Section 161.002(8), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(8) "County public servant" means a person elected,
selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of
the following, even if the person has not yet qualified for or
assumed the duties of office:
(A) a county officer or county employee;
(B) a person appointed by the commissioners court
or a county officer to a position on one of the following, whether
the position is compensated or not:
(i) an authority, board, bureau,
commission, committee, council, department, district, division, or
office of the county; or
(ii) a multi-jurisdictional board;
(C) an attorney at law or notary public when
participating in the performance of a governmental function; or
(D) [a candidate for nomination or election to an
elected county office; or
[(E)] a person who is performing a governmental
function under a claim of right although the person is not legally
qualified or authorized to do so.
SECTION 4. Chapter 170, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 170.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 170.002. CODE OF ETHICS FOR CERTAIN COMMISSIONERS
COURTS. (a) This section applies to a county that has a population
of less than 40,000 that is adjacent to a county with a population
of more than 3.3 million.
(b) The commissioners court of a county subject to this
section may adopt by order a code of ethics that provides standards
of conduct for members of the commissioners court.
(c) If a commissioners court of a county subject to this
section adopts a code of ethics under this section, the code of
ethics must require each member of the commissioners court to file a
conflicts disclosure statement that is in addition to the statement
required by Section 176.003.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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