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House Bill 677 |
House Author: Hartnett |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Wentworth |
House Bill 677 amends the Government Code to require the Texas Ethics Commission to adopt rules prescribing procedures for investigating and resolving technical and clerical violations of laws within the commission's jurisdiction. For lobbyist registrations and reports, the bill requires the commission to consider clerical violations to include obvious typographical errors and authorizes a registrant to correct such errors without penalty. The bill requires an individual, to be eligible to file a sworn complaint with the commission, to be a resident of Texas or own real property in Texas and requires a copy of one of the specified identification documents to be attached to the complaint. The bill provides that a complainant is liable for the respondent's attorney's fees and costs incurred in defending against the complaint if the commission determines that a violation has not occurred and the complaint was filed after the 30th day before an election, the respondent is a candidate in the election, and the complaint alleges a violation other than a technical or clerical violation.