86R5953 ATP-D

By: Fallon S.B. No. 466

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility of persons finally convicted of a felony to run for certain public offices.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 141.001(a), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, a public elective office in this state, a person must:

(1) be a United States citizen;

(2) be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as applicable;

(3) have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be:

(A) totally mentally incapacitated; or

(B) partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote;

(4) have not been finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned [or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities];

(5) have resided continuously in the state for 12 months and in the territory from which the office is elected for six months immediately preceding the following date:

(A) for a candidate whose name is to appear on a general primary election ballot, the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the ballot;

(B) for an independent candidate, the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the ballot;

(C) for a write-in candidate, the date of the election at which the candidate's name is written in;

(D) for a party nominee who is nominated by any method other than by primary election, the date the nomination is made; and

(E) for an appointee to an office, the date the appointment is made;

(6) on the date described by Subdivision (5), be registered to vote in the territory from which the office is elected; and

(7) satisfy any other eligibility requirements prescribed by law for the office.

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to the eligibility requirements for a candidate or officer whose term of office will begin on or after the effective date of this Act. The eligibility requirements for a candidate or officer whose term of office will begin before the effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.