BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1927

By: Herrero

County Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that while a county judge is required to fill a vacancy in the office of county commissioner, there is no deadline by which the vacancy must be filled. There are concerns that a county commissioners court could be left without adequate representation for an indefinite period of time. C.S.H.B. 1927 seeks to address this issue by imposing a deadline by which a county judge must fill such a vacancy for certain counties.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1927 amends the Local Government Code to set the 60th day after the date a vacancy occurs in the office of county commissioner in a county with a population of more than 300,000 as the deadline by which the county judge must appoint an applicable person to fill the vacancy until the next general election. The bill requires the commissioners court of the county to make such an appointment by majority vote if the county judge does not fill the vacancy before the 61st day after the date the vacancy occurred.

C.S.H.B. 1927 applies only to a vacancy in the office of county commissioner that occurs on or after the bill's effective date and provides for the filling of a vacancy in a county to which the bill's provisions apply that occurred and has not been filled before such date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1927 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute does not include a provision setting the deadline by which a county judge must fill a vacancy in the office of county commissioner in any county as the 30th day after the date the vacancy occurs. The substitute includes provisions that instead set the deadline by which a county judge must fill a vacancy in the office of county commissioner in a county with a population of more than 300,000 as the 60th day after the date the vacancy occurs and that require the commissioners court of such a county to fill the vacancy by majority vote if the county judge does not fill the vacancy before the 61st day after the date the vacancy occurred.