88R23344 MCF-D
 
  By: Thompson of Brazoria H.B. No. 1775
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the oversight and election of board members for certain
  emergency services districts.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 775.024(c) and (h), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  If the boards do not make the appointments before the
  31st day after the date the boards adopted the joint order:
               (1)  for a consolidated district to which Section
  775.0345, [or] 775.035, or 775.353 does not apply, the
  commissioners court shall appoint five commissioners to the board
  of the consolidated district; or
               (2)  for a consolidated district to which Section
  775.0345, [or] 775.035, or 775.353 does apply, the board of the
  consolidated district is initially composed of the two
  commissioners from each existing board who have served the longest
  terms.
         (h)  For a consolidated district to which Section 775.0345,
  [or] 775.035, or 775.353 applies, the initial commissioners of the
  consolidated district serve until the next available uniform
  election date after the date the joint order is adopted and that
  allows sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law.
  After an election is held under Section 775.0345, [or] 775.035, or
  775.353:
               (1)  the two commissioners who receive the fewest votes
  of the elected commissioners serve terms ending on December 31 of
  the second year following the year in which the election is held;
  and
               (2)  the remaining elected commissioners serve terms
  ending on December 31 of the fourth year following the year in which
  the election is held.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 775.034, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 775.034.  APPOINTMENT OF BOARD IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS
  [DISTRICT] LOCATED WHOLLY IN ONE COUNTY.
         SECTION 3.  Section 775.034(h), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (h)  This section does not apply to a district to which
  Section 775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county:
               (1)  with a population of more than three million;
               (2)  with a population of more than 200,000 that
  borders Lake Palestine; or
               (3)  with a population of less than 200,000 that
  borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 775.0445(b) and (d), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  This section applies only to a district to which Section
  775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county:
               (1)  with a population of more than three million;
               (2)  with a population of more than 200,000 that
  borders Lake Palestine; or
               (3)  with a population of less than 200,000 that
  borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
         (d)  A person appointed under this section must be eligible
  to serve under Section 775.0345 or 775.353, as applicable.
         SECTION 5.  Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended
  by adding Subchapter L to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER L.  COMMISSIONERS COURT OVERSIGHT AND ELECTION OF BOARD
  IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
         Sec. 775.351.  APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
  to a district that is located wholly in one county with a population
  of more than 200,000.  This subchapter does not apply to a district
  described by Section 775.0345(a) or 775.302(a).
         Sec. 775.352.  CHOICE OF OVERSIGHT OPTION. (a)  After a
  district is created and initial emergency services commissioners
  are appointed under Section 775.034, the commissioners court of the
  county in which the district is located shall choose whether:
               (1)  the board will be elected in the manner provided by
  Section 775.353; or
               (2)  the commissioners court will approve the annual
  budget and tax rate of the district in the manner provided by
  Section 775.354.
         (b)  A commissioners court that initially chooses to approve
  district budgets and tax rates under Subsection (a)(2) may at any
  time instead choose to require that the board of the district be
  elected under Subsection (a)(1).  A commissioners court that
  chooses to require that a district's board be elected under
  Subsection (a)(1) may not approve the district's budgets and tax
  rates under Subsection (a)(2).
         Sec. 775.353.  ELECTION OF BOARD. (a)  This section applies
  only to a district required to have an elected board under Section
  775.352.
         (b)  The governing body of a district consists of a
  five-person board of emergency services commissioners elected at
  large from the district as prescribed by this section.  Emergency
  services commissioners serve staggered four-year terms.
         (c)  To be eligible to be a candidate for emergency services
  commissioner, a person must be at least 18 years of age and a
  resident of the district.
         (d)  A candidate for emergency services commissioner on an
  initial elected board must give the voter registrar of the county a
  sworn notice of the candidate's intention to run for office. The
  notice must state the person's name, age, and address and state that
  the person is serving notice of intent to run for emergency services
  commissioner. On receipt of the notice, the voter registrar of the
  county shall have the candidate's name placed on the ballot.
         (e)  The voter registrar of the county shall appoint an
  election judge to certify the results of the election.
         (f)  After the election is held, the voter registrar or
  deputy registrar of the county shall prepare a sworn statement of
  the election costs incurred by the county. The statement shall be
  given to the newly elected board, which shall order the appropriate
  official to reimburse the county for the county's election costs.
         (g)  The initial emergency services commissioners' terms of
  office begin 30 days after canvassing of the election results.  The
  two commissioners who received the fewest votes serve a term that
  expires on January 1 of the third year following the year in which
  the election was held. The other emergency services commissioners
  serve terms that expire on January 1 of the fifth year following the
  year in which the election was held.
         (h)  After the commissioners court requires the district's
  board to be elected under Section 775.352, the county judge shall
  order an election to be held in the district to elect the initial
  emergency services commissioners on the next November uniform
  election date under Section 41.001, Election Code, held in an
  even-numbered year.  After the initial election, the board shall
  hold the general election for the appropriate number of
  commissioners in each even-numbered year on the November uniform
  election date under Section 41.001, Election Code.  An election
  under this subsection shall be held jointly with the county under
  Chapter 271, Election Code.
         (i)  Subchapter C, Chapter 146, Election Code, applies to a
  write-in candidate for emergency services commissioner under this
  section in the same manner it applies to a write-in candidate for a
  city office under that subchapter.
         Sec. 775.354.  BUDGET AND TAX RATE APPROVAL.  (a)  This
  section applies only to a district the annual budget and tax rate of
  which are required to be approved by the commissioners court of the
  county in which the district is located under Section 775.352.
         (b)  The commissioners court shall adopt a schedule for the
  district to submit to the county for final approval the district's
  annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and recommended
  tax rate.
         (c)  The schedule must take into account requirements of this
  chapter, Chapter 26, Tax Code, and Section 21, Article VIII, Texas
  Constitution, applicable to adopting a district tax rate, and must
  provide a reasonable amount of time for the commissioners court to
  review the submissions required by Subsection (d).
         (d)  In accordance with the schedule adopted under this
  section, the board shall submit to the commissioners court the
  district's annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and
  recommended tax rate.
         (e)  If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a
  budget submitted under this section before the 31st day after the
  date the budget is submitted, the commissioners court is considered
  to have approved the budget.
         (f)  If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a tax
  rate recommended under this section before the 31st day after the
  date the recommended tax rate is submitted, the commissioners court
  is considered to have approved the recommended tax rate.
         (g)  If a commissioners court denies the annual budget
  submitted under Subsection (d), the district may not make
  expenditures under that budget except for an obligation incurred
  before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the budget was
  submitted.
         (h)  If a commissioners court denies the tax rate submitted
  under Subsection (d), the district may not impose the tax at a rate
  greater than that imposed in the fiscal year preceding the one for
  which the tax rate was submitted.
         SECTION 6.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, but not later than January 1, 2024, the commissioners
  court of a county in which an emergency services district created
  before the effective date of this Act and to which Section 775.352,
  Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies is located
  shall choose whether the board of emergency services commissioners
  will be elected or the commissioners court will approve the annual
  budget and tax rate as required by Section 775.352, Health and
  Safety Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 7.  This Act does not prohibit a person who is a
  member of a board of emergency services commissioners on the
  effective date of this Act and who was appointed under Section
  775.034, Health and Safety Code, from running for election to the
  board if the person has the qualifications required for a member
  under Section 775.353, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.