By: Guillen H.B. No. 4555
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a person running for office that has been convicted of a
felony.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.001, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 141.001. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
(a) To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed
to, a public elective office in this state, a person must:
(1) be a United States citizen;
(2) be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the
term to be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as
applicable;
(3) have not been determined by a final judgment of a
court exercising probate jurisdiction to be:
(A) totally mentally incapacitated; or
(B) partially mentally incapacitated without the
right to vote;
(4) have not been finally convicted of a felony from
which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from
the resulting disabilities, and before filing as a candidate must;
(A) provide proof that they have been pardoned,
or
(B) been released from the resulting
disabilities;
(5) have resided continuously in the state for 12
months and in the territory from which the office is elected for six
months immediately preceding the following date:
(A) for a candidate whose name is to appear on a
general primary election ballot, the date of the regular filing
deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the ballot;
(B) for an independent candidate, the date of the
regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place
on the ballot;
(C) for a write-in candidate, the date of the
election at which the candidate's name is written in;
(D) for a party nominee who is nominated by any
method other than by primary election, the date the nomination is
made; and
(E) for an appointee to an office, the date the
appointment is made;
(6) on the date described by Subdivision (5), be
registered to vote in the territory from which the office is
elected; and
(7) satisfy any other eligibility requirements
prescribed by law for the office.
(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.
(b) A statute outside this code supersedes Subsection (a) to
the extent of any conflict.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an office for which the
federal or state constitution or a statute outside this code
prescribes exclusive eligibility requirements.
(d) Subsection (a)(6) does not apply to a member of the
governing body of a district created under Section 52(b)(1) or (2),
Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
(a-4) A person filing as a candidate under subsection (a)
that has been convicted of a felony and fails to acknowledge on any
election filing form they were convicted of a felony is an offense
punishable under Section 37.10 of the Penal Code.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.