88R2794 MLH-D
 
  By: Dutton H.B. No. 941
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility requirements for public office for persons
  finally convicted of a felony.
         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 by a court of competent jurisdiction;
               (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.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.