By: Zbranek H.B. No. 2853
73R6946 MI-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the terms of the directors of the Trinity Bay
1-3 Conservation District.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2, Chapter 282, Acts of the 51st
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1949 (Article 8280-135, Vernon's
1-7 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 2. (a) The management and control of said District is
1-9 hereby vested in a Board of Directors, which Board shall be
1-10 composed of five (5) persons, all of whom shall be residents of and
1-11 freehold property taxpayers in said District.
1-12 (b) The District shall hold an election in the District to
1-13 elect directors on the third Saturday in January in each
1-14 odd-numbered year <The members of the first Board of Directors
1-15 shall be appointed by the Commissioners Court of Chambers County as
1-16 soon as practicable after the passage of this Act. Two (2) of the
1-17 directors shall be designated to hold office until the second
1-18 Tuesday in January next following their appointment and three (3)
1-19 shall be designated to hold office until the second Tuesday in
1-20 January of the second year next after their appointment, at which
1-21 times their successors shall be elected and the term of office of
1-22 all elected directors shall be two (2) years, two (2) being elected
1-23 one (1) year and three (3) the next in continuing sequence>.
1-24 (c) The directors shall provide for the holding of all
2-1 elections, and at the time of ordering an election shall appoint
2-2 officers to hold same, consisting of a presiding judge, an
2-3 assistant judge, and such clerks as may by them be deemed necessary
2-4 for each precinct, and shall designate the polling places, and
2-5 shall provide for notice to be given of such election. The notice
2-6 shall state the purpose of the election, the polling places, and
2-7 the date of the election. Such notice shall be published once a
2-8 week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
2-9 circulation within the District, the first of which publications
2-10 shall be at least twenty-one (21) days prior to the election. The
2-11 General Election Laws of Texas shall apply to all elections in the
2-12 District except where in conflict with this Act.
2-13 (d) As soon as practicable after their appointment by the
2-14 Commissioners Court and prior to calling the first annual election,
2-15 the first appointed Board of Directors shall divide the District
2-16 into five (5) election precincts, numbered from one to five (1 to
2-17 5), both inclusive. The positions of the candidates on the ballot
2-18 for director shall likewise be numbered and no person shall be a
2-19 candidate for any position except that of his own residence. At
2-20 director's elections, each voter shall vote in the precinct of his
2-21 residence and shall be entitled to vote only for the election of
2-22 the director from his own precinct. The candidate receiving the
2-23 highest number of votes for each position shall be elected. Any
2-24 resident qualified voter and freeholder of any precinct may secure
2-25 a place on the ballot for director from his precinct by filing an
2-26 application in writing with the secretary of the Board of Directors
2-27 at least thirty (30) days prior to the date fixed for the election.
3-1 Returns of such election shall be made to the Board of
3-2 Directors, who shall canvass the returns and declare the results
3-3 thereof.
3-4 (e) Directors serve staggered four-year terms.
3-5 (f) A vacancy in the office of director shall be filled by
3-6 appointment of the Board of Directors until the next election for
3-7 directors. If the position is not scheduled to be filled at the
3-8 election, the person elected to fill the position shall serve only
3-9 for the remainder of the unexpired term.
3-10 (g) Each director shall take and subscribe an oath of office
3-11 with conditions therein as provided by law for members of the
3-12 County Commissioners Court and enter into a good and sufficient
3-13 bond in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) payable to the
3-14 District, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties
3-15 as such director. The premium for all official bonds may be paid
3-16 by the District. The bonds of the first Board of Directors shall
3-17 be approved by the County Judge of Chambers County and the bonds of
3-18 all directors thereafter elected shall be approved by the Board of
3-19 Directors.
3-20 (h) All officers, agents and employees of the District who
3-21 shall be charged with the collection, custody or payment of any
3-22 funds of the District, shall give bond conditioned on the faithful
3-23 performance of their duties, and a true accounting of all funds and
3-24 property of the District coming into their respective hands, each
3-25 of which bonds shall be in the form and amount and with a surety
3-26 (which shall be a surety company authorized to do business in the
3-27 State of Texas) approved by the Board of Directors of the District,
4-1 and the premiums of such bonds shall be paid by the District.
4-2 SECTION 2. (a) This Act does not affect the terms of
4-3 directors of the Trinity Bay Conservation District elected before
4-4 the effective date of this Act.
4-5 (b) Notwithstanding the change made by Section 1 of this
4-6 Act, the Trinity Bay Conservation District shall hold an election
4-7 in the district on the third Saturday in January 1994 to elect
4-8 directors for Precinct Numbers 1 and 3. The two directors elected
4-9 at that election shall serve three-year terms.
4-10 (c) The directors elected for Precinct Numbers 2, 4, and 5
4-11 at the election to be held in 1995 and all directors elected at
4-12 subsequent elections shall serve four-year terms.
4-13 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-14 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.