CHAPTER 21. GENERAL PROVISIONS AFFECTING GOVERNING BODY OF MUNICIPALITY
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 2. ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
SUBTITLE B. MUNICIPAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 21. GENERAL PROVISIONS AFFECTING GOVERNING BODY OF
MUNICIPALITY
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 21.001. ELECTION OF ALDERMEN BY PLACE SYSTEM IN GENERAL-LAW
MUNICIPALITY. (a) The governing body of a general-law
municipality that is not divided into wards and that elects its
aldermen at large may provide by ordinance for the election of
aldermen under a place system.
(b) The ordinance must be enacted before the 60th day before the
date of the first regular municipal election of aldermen under a
place system.
(c) As soon as possible after the place system ordinance is
enacted, the governing body shall assign place numbers to each
alderman's office.
(d) When incumbent aldermen's terms of office expire, any
candidate for the office of alderman shall file an application
for a specific place on the governing body, such as "Alderman,
Place No. 1."
(e) The ballot for an election under the place system must show
each office of alderman as a separate office designated by place
number.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 21.002. REFERENCES TO MUNICIPAL GOVERNING BODY AND TO
MEMBERS OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNING BODY. A reference in this code or
another statute:
(1) to a member of the governing body of a municipality includes
each member of that body regardless of the name, including
alderman, commissioner, or council member, used by a statute,
municipal charter, or municipal ordinance to refer to the member;
or
(2) to the governing body of a municipality includes a municipal
governing body regardless of the name, including board of
aldermen, city commission, or city council, used by a statute,
municipal charter, or municipal ordinance to refer to the
governing body.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 402, Sec. 1(b), eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
Sec. 21.003. MEMBERS OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNING BODIES MAY
VOLUNTEER. A member of the governing body of a municipality may
serve as a volunteer for an organization that protects the
health, safety, or welfare of the municipality regardless of
whether the organization is funded or supported in whole or part
by the municipality if the governing body adopts a resolution
allowing members of the governing body to perform service of that
nature.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 42, Sec. 2, eff. May 3, 2001.
Renumbered from Local Government Code Sec. 21.002 by Acts 2003,
78th Leg., ch. 1275, Sec. 2(104), eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
SUBCHAPTER B. REMOVAL OF MEMBER OF GOVERNING BODY OF GENERAL-LAW
MUNICIPALITY
Sec. 21.021. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only to a
general-law municipality.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.022. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "District attorney" includes a criminal district attorney.
(2) "Incompetency" means:
(A) gross ignorance of official duties;
(B) gross carelessness in the discharge of official duties; or
(C) inability or unfitness to promptly and properly discharge
official duties because of a serious mental or physical defect
that did not exist at the time of the officer's election.
(3) "Officer" means the mayor or another member of the governing
body of a municipality.
(4) "Official misconduct" means intentional unlawful behavior
relating to official duties by an officer entrusted with the
administration of justice or the execution of the law. The term
includes an intentional or corrupt failure, refusal, or neglect
of an officer to perform a duty imposed on the officer by law.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.023. REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. The district judge may remove
an officer of the municipality from office as provided by this
subchapter.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.024. NO REMOVAL BEFORE ACTION. An officer may not be
removed under this subchapter for an act the officer committed
before election to office if the act was a matter of public
record or otherwise known to the voters.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 402, Sec. 2, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 21.025. GENERAL GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) An officer may
be removed from office for:
(1) incompetency;
(2) official misconduct; or
(3) intoxication on or off duty caused by drinking an alcoholic
beverage.
(b) Intoxication is not a ground for removal if it appears at
the trial that the intoxication was caused by drinking an
alcoholic beverage on the direction and prescription of a
licensed physician practicing in this state.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.026. PETITION FOR REMOVAL. (a) A proceeding for the
removal of an officer is begun by filing a written petition for
removal in a district court of the county in which the officer
resides.
(b) Any resident of the municipality who has lived for at least
six months in the municipality and who is not currently under
indictment in the county in which the municipality is located may
file the petition. At least one of the parties who files the
petition must swear to it at or before the filing.
(c) The petition must be addressed to the district judge of the
court in which it is filed. The petition must specify the grounds
alleged for the removal of the officer in plain and intelligible
language and must cite the time and place of the occurrence of
each act alleged as a ground for removal with as much certainty
as the nature of the case permits.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.027. CITATION OF OFFICER. (a) After a petition for
removal is filed, the person filing the petition shall apply to
the district judge in writing for an order requiring a citation
and a certified copy of the petition to be served on the officer.
(b) If the application for the order is made during the term of
the court, action may not be taken on the petition until the
order is granted and entered in the minutes of the court. If the
application is made to the judge during the vacation of the
court, the judge shall indicate on the petition the action taken
and shall have the action entered in the minutes of the court at
the next term.
(c) If the judge refuses to issue the order for citation, the
petition shall be dismissed at the cost of the person filing the
petition. The person may not take an appeal from the judge's
decision or apply for a writ of mandamus. If the judge grants the
order for citation, the clerk shall issue the citation with a
certified copy of the petition. The judge shall require the
person filing the petition to post security for costs in the
manner provided for other cases.
(d) The citation shall order the officer to appear and answer
the petition on a date, fixed by the judge, after the fifth day
after the date the citation is served. The time is computed as it
is in other suits. Disposition of this action by the district
court shall take precedence over other civil matters on the
court's docket.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.028. BOND. (a) The judge shall require the person
filing the petition to execute a bond, with at least two good and
sufficient sureties, in an amount fixed by the judge and
conditioned as required by the judge. The bond shall be used to
pay damages and costs to the officer if the grounds for removal
are found at trial to be insufficient or untrue. The officer must
serve written notice on the person who filed the petition and
that person's bondsman not later than the 90th day after the date
the bond is executed, stating that the officer intends to hold
them liable on the bond and stating the grounds for that
liability.
(b) If the final judgment establishes the officer's right to the
office, the person filing the petition shall pay the officer an
amount determined by the judge as appropriate to compensate the
officer for the damages suffered as a result of the removal
action.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.029. TRIAL. (a) An officer shall have the right to
trial by jury.
(b) The trial for the removal of an officer and the proceedings
connected with the trial shall be conducted as much as possible
in accordance with the rules and practice of the court in other
civil cases, in the name of the State of Texas, and on the
relation of the person filing the petition.
(c) In a removal case, the judge may not submit special issues
to the jury. Under a proper charge applicable to the facts of the
case, the judge shall instruct the jury to find from the evidence
whether the grounds for removal alleged in the petition are true.
If the petition alleges more than one ground for removal, the
jury shall indicate in the verdict which grounds are sustained by
the evidence and which are not sustained.
(d) The district attorney shall represent the state in a
proceeding for the removal of an officer.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.030. APPEAL. (a) Either party to a removal action may
appeal the final judgment to the court of appeals in the manner
provided for other civil cases. The officer is not required to
post an appeal bond but may be required to post a bond for costs.
(b) An appeal of a removal action takes precedence over the
ordinary business of the court of appeals and shall be decided
with all convenient dispatch. If the trial court judgment is not
set aside or suspended, the court of appeals shall issue its
mandate in the case not later than the fifth day after the date
the court renders its judgment.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 21.031. REMOVAL BY CRIMINAL CONVICTION. (a) The
conviction of an officer for any felony or for a misdemeanor
involving official misconduct operates as an immediate removal
from office.
(b) The court rendering judgment in the case shall include in
the judgment an order removing the officer.
(c) If the removed officer appeals the judgment, the appeal
supersedes the order of removal unless the court that renders the
judgment finds that it is in the public interest to suspend the
removed officer pending the appeal. If the court finds that the
public interest requires suspension, the court shall suspend the
removed officer as provided by this subchapter.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 402, Sec. 3, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 21.032. REELECTION PROHIBITED FOR CERTAIN PERIOD. An
officer removed under this subchapter is not eligible for
reelection to the same office before the second anniversary of
the date of the removal.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.