Bill Text: TX HB2118 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the eligibility of persons finally convicted of certain criminal offenses for public elective office.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-06 - Referred to Elections [HB2118 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB2118-Introduced.html

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86R10961 ADM-D
By: Pacheco H.B. No. 2118

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of persons finally convicted of certain
criminal offenses for public elective office.
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, unless pardoned
or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities, of a:
(A) felony [from which the person has not been
pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities]; or
(B) Class A misdemeanor or Class B misdemeanor in
the five years immediately preceding the following date:
(i) 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;
(ii) for an independent candidate, the date
of the regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a
place on the ballot;
(iii) for a write-in candidate, the date of
the election at which the candidate's name is written in;
(iv) for a party nominee who is nominated by
any method other than by primary election, the date the nomination
is made; and
(v) for an appointee to an office, the date
the appointment is made;
(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.