Texas Statutes § 141.001 Eligibility Requirements for Public Office
Statute Text
(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.
(a-1)
For purposes of satisfying the continuous residency requirement of Subsection (a)(5), a person who claims an intent to return to a residence after a temporary absence may establish that intent only if the person:
(1)
has made a reasonable and substantive attempt to effectuate that intent; and
(2)
has a legal right and the practical ability to return to the residence.
(a-2)
Subsection (a-1) does not apply to a person displaced from the person's residence due to a declared local, state, or national disaster.
(a-3)
The authority with whom an application for a place on a general primary election ballot is filed under Section 172.022 shall, to the extent permitted by law, use Subsections (a) and (a-1) in determining whether a candidate meets the residency requirements for a public elective office.
(b)
A statute outside this code supersedes Subsection (a) to the extent of any conflict.
(c)
Subsection (a) does not apply to an office for which the federal or state constitution or a statute outside this code prescribes exclusive eligibility requirements.
(d)
Subsection (a)(6) does not apply to a member of the governing body of a district created under Section 52(b)(1) or (2), Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
History
Amended by
Acts
2019
,
Amended by
Acts
2015
,
Amended by Acts 2007 , 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 614 , Sec. 28 , eff. 9/1/2007 .
Acts 1985 , 69th Leg., ch. 211 , Sec. 1, eff. 1/1/1986 .
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