By: Toth H.B. No. 143
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a requirement that an election for a member of a board
of trustees of an independent school district is partisan.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 11.055, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
       (c)  An application filed under this section must state the
political party with which the candidate is aligned or, if the
candidate is not aligned with a party, state that fact.
       SECTION 2.  Section 11.0581(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
       (a)  An election for trustees of an independent school
district shall be held on the same date as the general election for
state and county officers[:
             [(1)  the election for the members of the governing
body of a municipality located in the school district;
             [(2)  the general election for state and county
officers;
             [(3)  the election for the members of the governing
body of a hospital district, if the school district:
                   [(A)  is wholly or partly located in a county with
a population of less than 40,000 that is adjacent to a county with a
population of more than three million; and
                   [(B)  held its election for trustees jointly with
the election for the members of the governing body of the hospital
district before May 2007; or
             [(4)  the election for the members of the governing
board of a public junior college district in which the school
district is wholly or partly located].
       SECTION 3.  Section 11.059, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 11.059.  TERMS. (a) A trustee of an independent school
district serves a term of [three or] four years.
       (b)  [Elections for trustees with three-year terms shall be
held annually. The terms of one-third of the trustees, or as near
to one-third as possible, expire each year.
       [(c)]  Elections for trustees [with four-year terms] shall
be held biennially. The terms of one-half of the trustees, or as
near to one-half as possible, expire every two years.
       (c) [(d)]  A board policy must state the schedule on which
specific terms expire.
       SECTION 4.  Section 11.065(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       (a)  Sections 11.052(g) and (h) [and Sections 11.059(a) and
(b)] do not apply to the board of trustees of a school district if:
             (1)  the district's central administrative office is
located in a county with a population of more than two million; and
             (2)  the district's student enrollment is more than
125,000 and less than 200,000.
       SECTION 5.  Section 41.0052, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
       (a-2)  The governing body of an independent school district
that holds its general election for officers on a date other than
the date of the general election for state and county officers
shall, not later than December 31, 2023, change the date on which
the governing body holds its general election for officers to that
date. This subsection expires January 1, 2027.
       SECTION 6.  Section 144.001, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 144.001.  APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), this [This] chapter applies to a
candidate for an office of a political subdivision other than a city
or county.
       (b)  This chapter does not apply to a candidate for a member
of the board of trustees of an independent school district.
       SECTION 7.  Section 172.001, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 172.001.  NOMINATING BY PRIMARY ELECTION REQUIRED.
Except as otherwise provided by this code, a political party's
nominees in the general election for members of the board of
trustees of an independent school district, offices of state and
county government, and offices of the United States Congress must
be nominated by primary election, held as provided

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 11.055, Education Code 11.0581, Education Code 11.059, Education Code 11.065, Election Code 41.0052, Election Code 144.001, Election Code 172.001, Election Code 172.002, Election Code 172.024, Election Code 172.025, Election Code 181.002, Election Code 181.0311, Election Code 181.032, Election Code 181.061, Education Code 11.054 (Election Code 181, Education Code 11, Election Code 41, Election Code 144, Election Code 172)