2005 Texas Local Government Code CHAPTER 73. LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT

LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

CHAPTER 73. LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT

SUBCHAPTER A. COUNTY SEAT IN NEWLY ORGANIZED COUNTY


	§ 73.001. ELECTION REQUIREMENT.  If a new county is 
organized, the county judge who conducts the election for officers 
for the new county shall order an election for the location of the 
county seat.  The election shall be conducted in the same manner as 
an election for county officers.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    


	§ 73.002. VOTE REQUIRED FOR LOCATION.  The location that 
receives the majority of votes cast in the election is the county 
seat.  However, a county seat first established in a newly organized 
county may not be located more than five miles from the geographic 
center of the county unless at least two-thirds of the voters voting 
in the election on the subject vote for the site.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    

SUBCHAPTER B. RELOCATION OF COUNTY SEATS


	§ 73.011. APPLICATION FOR RELOCATION ELECTION.  (a) The 
county judge of a county shall order an election on the question of 
the relocation of the county seat of the county if an application 
for the relocation election is made by at least 100 resident 
freeholders and qualified voters of the county.  However:
		(1)  if the county seat has been established in the same 
location for more than 10 years but for 40 years or less and the 
county has 350 or more voters, to be determined by the number of 
votes cast in the county in the most recent general election, at 
least 200 resident freeholders and qualified voters must make the 
application;  or
		(2)  if the county has 150 or fewer qualified voters or 
if the county seat has been established in the same location for 
more than 40 years, a majority of the resident freeholders and 
qualified voters of the county, as determined by the county judge 
from the county assessment rolls, must make the application.
	(b)  If the county judge fails, refuses, or is unable to 
perform a duty imposed on the judge by this section, that duty may 
be performed by any two county commissioners of the county.
	(c)  An order under this section must be in writing and 
entered in the minutes of the commissioners court.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    


	§ 73.012. DESIGNATION OF GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF 
COUNTY.  (a) On notification by a county judge that a proposition 
to relocate the county seat has been submitted to the people of the 
county or that it is desirable that the center of the county be 
designated, before the relocation of the county seat, the 
commissioner of the General Land Office shall designate the 
geographic center of the county based on the maps, surveys, and 
other information on file in the General Land Office.  The 
commissioner shall certify the center to the county judge.
	(b)  The county judge shall enter the commissioner's 
designation in the county deed records.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    


	§ 73.013. ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.  (a) A relocation 
election must be held on the first election date that is authorized 
by Chapter 41, Election Code, and that occurs after the 30th day 
after the date of the order.
	(b)  The election shall be ordered to be held in each voting 
precinct in the county and shall be held, insofar as possible, in 
the same manner as an election for county officers.  The ballot 
shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the 
proposition:  "Moving the county seat from ____________________ 
(name of the place) to ____________________ (name of the place)."
	(c)  The requirements of this subsection are in addition to 
those imposed by Article IX, Section 2, of the Texas Constitution 
relating to the number of votes that are necessary to move a county 
seat in certain cases.  A two-thirds vote of the voters voting at 
the election is required to move a county seat located:
		(1)  more than five miles from the geographic center of 
the county to another site more than five miles from the center;  or
		(2)  within five miles of the geographic center of the 
county to another site within five miles of the center.
	(d)  The geographic center of the county shall be determined 
by a certificate from the commissioner of the General Land Office.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    


	§ 73.014. ELECTION RESULTS;  RELOCATION OF COUNTY 
SEAT.  (a) Within 10 days after the date the relocation election is 
held, the officers who conduct the election shall bring the 
election returns to the county judge or the county commissioners 
who ordered the election.
	(b)  The county judge or county commissioners shall tabulate 
the returns and declare the result.
	(c)  In the records of the commissioners court, the county 
judge or county commissioners shall enter the result of the 
election, the name of the original site of the county seat, and the 
name of the new site if the election results in relocation.
	(d)  A certified copy of the entry shall be recorded in the 
county deed records.
	(e)  After the entry is made, a county seat that is changed by 
the election is relocated to the new site.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.                    


	§ 73.015. SUBSEQUENT RELOCATION.  After an election for 
the location or removal of a county seat has been held and the 
question settled, an application for another relocation of the 
county seat may not be submitted within 10 years after the date of 
the last election.  However, an application may be submitted and a 
relocation election held within two years after the date of the last 
election to move a county seat from a site more than five miles from 
a railroad operating as a common carrier to a site on a railroad.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.