By: Vasut H.B. No. 2694

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the election, terms, and resignation of the board of commissioners of the Brazoria Drainage District No. 4.

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

SECTION 1. Section 7, Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) The district is managed by a board of three commissioners as provided by Chapter 56, Water Code, and each holds an elected office designated as Place No. 1, Place No. 2, or Place No. 3. The board shall call and hold elections for the appropriate number of commissioners on the uniform election date in May [November] of each [oven] odd-numbered year. The [Notwithstanding Section 56.063, Water Code, the] commissioners serve staggered four-year terms, each beginning June [January] 1 of the year [following] of the commissioner's election and continuing until the commissioner's successor in office is elected and has qualified.

(a-1) If a commissioner announces the commissioner's candidacy, or in fact becomes a candidate, in any general, special, or primary election for any office of profit or trust under the laws of this State or the United States other than the office of commissioner for the district, at any time when the unexpired term of office then held shall exceed one year and 30 days, such announcement or candidacy shall constitute an automatic resignation of the office of the commissioner.

(f) A vacancy in a commissioner's office or other board office shall be filled by appointment by the remaining commissioners if less than 290 days remain before the date of the next regular election of one or more commissioners. [If the commissioners do not agree on an appointment before the 61st day after the date the vacancy occurs, the commissioners shall call and hold a special election to fill the office before the 121st day after the date the vacancy occurs].

SECTION 2. Sections 7(b), (c), (d), (e), and (i), Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, are repealed.

SECTION 3. (a) The Brazoria Drainage District No. 4 shall hold the first election to elect commissioners for Place No. 1 and Place No. 2 as described by Section 7(a), Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, as amended by this Act, on the uniform election date in May 2029.

(b) The Brazoria Drainage District No. 4 shall hold the first election to elect the commissioner for Place No. 3 as described by Section 7(a), Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, as amended by this Act, on the uniform election date in May 2027.

(c) The terms of the commissioners for Place No. 1 and Place No. 2 serving on the board of commissioners of the Brazoria Drainage District No. 4 on the effective date of this Act expire on the later of May 31, 2029, or the date the commissioners elected under Subsection (a) of this section have qualified.

(d) The term of the commissioner for Place No. 3 serving on the board of commissioners of the Brazoria Drainage District No. 4 immediately before the date of the election held under Subsection (b) of this section expires on the later of May 31, 2027, or the date the commissioner elected under that subsection has qualified.

SECTION 4. (a) The legal notice of the intention to introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313, Government Code.

(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives within the required time.

(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled and accomplished.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.