LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
SUBTITLE B. MUNICIPAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 21. GENERAL PROVISIONS AFFECTING GOVERNING BODY OF
MUNICIPALITY
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
§ 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, § 1(b), eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
§ 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, § 2, eff. May 3, 2001.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 21.002 by Acts
2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1275, § 2(104), eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
SUBCHAPTER B. REMOVAL OF MEMBER OF GOVERNING BODY OF GENERAL-LAW
MUNICIPALITY
§ 21.021. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a general-law municipality.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1567, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 402, § 2, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 402, § 3, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
§ 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, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
