H.B. No. 4555
AN ACT
relating to an application for a place on a ballot filed by a person
convicted of a felony and to the general requirements of an
application for a place on a ballot; decreasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.031, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that
is required by this code must:
(1) be in writing;
(2) be signed and sworn to before a person authorized
to administer oaths in this state by the candidate and indicate the
date that the candidate swears to the application;
(3) be timely filed with the appropriate authority;
and
(4) include:
(A) the candidate's name;
(B) the candidate's occupation;
(C) the office sought, including any place number
or other distinguishing number;
(D) an indication of whether the office sought is
to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and
another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have
place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;
(E) a statement that the candidate is a United
States citizen;
(F) a statement that the candidate has not been
determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate
jurisdiction to be:
(i) totally mentally incapacitated; or
(ii) partially mentally incapacitated
without the right to vote;
(G) an indication [a statement] that the
candidate has either not been finally convicted of a felony or if so
convicted [from which the candidate] has [not] been pardoned or
otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
(H) the candidate's date of birth;
(I) the candidate's residence address or, if the
residence has no address, the address at which the candidate
receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
candidate's residence;
(J) the candidate's length of continuous
residence in the state and in the territory from which the office
sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the
application;
(K) the statement: "I, __________, of __________
County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of __________,
swear that I will support and defend the constitution and laws of
the United States and of the State of Texas";
(L) a statement that the candidate is aware of
the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code; and
(M) a public mailing address at which the
candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's
campaign, if available, and an electronic mail address at which the
candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's
campaign, if available.
(a-1) A person who has been convicted of a felony shall
include in the application proof that the person is eligible for
public office under Section 141.001(a)(4).
SECTION 2. Section 141.039, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 141.039. OFFICIAL APPLICATION FORM. In addition to
the other statements and spaces for entering information that
appear on an officially prescribed form for an application for a
place on the ballot, each official form for an application that a
candidate is required to file under this code must include:
(1) a space for indicating the form in which the
candidate's name is to appear on the ballot;
(2) a space for the candidate's public mailing
address;
(3) spaces for the candidate's home and office
telephone numbers and e-mail address at which the candidate
receives correspondence relating to the candidate's campaign;
[and]
(4) a statement informing candidates that the
furnishing of the telephone numbers is optional;
(5) a statement informing candidates that knowingly
providing false information on the application under Section
141.031(a)(4)(G) constitutes a Class B misdemeanor; and
(6) a statement informing candidates that a candidate
who indicates under Section 141.031(a)(4)(G) that the candidate has
been convicted of a felony must comply with the requirements of
Section 141.031(a-1).
SECTION 3. Section 37.10(c), Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (5) to read as
follows:
(c)(1) Except as provided by Subdivisions (2), (3), [and]
(4), and (5), and by Subsection (d), an offense under this section
is a Class A misdemeanor unless the actor's intent is to defraud or
harm another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
(5) An offense under this section is a Class B
misdemeanor if the governmental record is an application for a
place on the ballot under Section 141.031, Election Code, and the
actor knowingly provides false information under Subsection
(a)(4)(G) of that section.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies to an
application for a place on the ballot filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application for a place on the
ballot filed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
law in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4555 was passed by the House on May
14, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 4, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 4555 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 1,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4555 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor