H.B. No. 831
AN ACT
relating to the residency requirement to be eligible for public
office.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.001, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and (a-3) to read as follows:
(a-1) For purposes of satisfying the continuous residency
requirement of Subsection (a)(5), a person who claims an intent to
return to a residence after a temporary absence may establish that
intent only if the person:
(1) has made a reasonable and substantive attempt to
effectuate that intent; and
(2) has a legal right and the practical ability to
return to the residence.
(a-2) Subsection (a-1) does not apply to a person displaced
from the person's residence due to a declared local, state, or
national disaster.
(a-3) The authority with whom an application for a place on
a general primary election ballot is filed under Section 172.022
shall, to the extent permitted by law, use Subsections (a) and (a-1)
in determining whether a candidate meets the residency requirements
for a public elective office.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a candidate in an
election held on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 831 was passed by the House on May 8,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 6, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 831 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor