89R4008 JDK-D By: Menéndez, et al. S.B. No. 142 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to registration powers of volunteer deputy registrars. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 13.031, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: (f) A volunteer deputy registrar appointed under this section may serve as a volunteer deputy registrar throughout the state regardless of which county appointed the deputy registrar. The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures to implement this subsection. SECTION 2. Section 13.033(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) If a person is to be appointed, the registrar shall prepare a certificate of appointment in duplicate containing: (1) the date of appointment; (2) the statement: "I, ____________, Voter Registrar for ____________ County, do hereby appoint ____________ as a volunteer deputy registrar [for ____________ County]."; (3) the person's residence address; (4) the person's voter registration number, if any; (5) a statement that the term of the appointment expires December 31 of an even-numbered year; and (6) a statement that the appointment terminates on the person's final conviction for an offense for failure to deliver a registration application and may terminate on the registrar's determination that the person failed to adequately review a registration application, intentionally destroyed or physically altered a registration application, or engaged in any other activity that conflicts with the responsibilities of a volunteer deputy registrar under this chapter. SECTION 3. Section 13.037(a), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) A person may not receive compensation from any [the] county for service as a volunteer deputy registrar unless compensation is authorized by the commissioners court of that county. SECTION 4. Section 13.038, Election Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 13.038. POWERS GENERALLY. (a) A volunteer deputy registrar may distribute voter registration application forms throughout the county and receive registration applications submitted to the deputy in person. (b) A volunteer deputy registrar may distribute a voter registration application in the form prescribed by the secretary of state under Section 31.002 throughout the state and receive an application in that form submitted to the deputy in person, regardless of the county in which the application was printed. (c) The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures to implement this section. SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.