2005 Texas Local Government Code CHAPTER 87. REMOVAL OF COUNTY OFFICERS FROM OFFICE; FILLING OF VACANCIES

LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

CHAPTER 87. REMOVAL OF COUNTY OFFICERS FROM OFFICE;  FILLING OF 
VACANCIES

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS


	§ 87.001. NO REMOVAL FOR PRIOR ACTION.  An officer may not 
be removed under this chapter for an act the officer committed 
before election to office.

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

SUBCHAPTER B. REMOVAL BY PETITION AND TRIAL


	§ 87.011. 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 those 
duties;  or              
			(C)  unfitness or inability to promptly and 
properly discharge official duties because of a serious physical or 
mental defect that did not exist at the time of the officer's 
election.
		(3)  "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.

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


	§ 87.012. OFFICERS SUBJECT TO REMOVAL.  The district 
judge may, under this subchapter, remove from office:
		(1)  a district attorney;                                                     
		(2)  a county attorney;                                                       
		(3)  a county judge;                                                          
		(4)  a county commissioner;                                                   
		(5)  a county clerk;                                                          
		(6)  a district clerk;                                                        
		(7)  a district and county clerk;                                             
		(8)  a county treasurer;                                                      
		(9)  a sheriff;                                                               
		(10)  a county surveyor;                                                      
		(11)  a county tax assessor-collector;                                        
		(12)  a constable;                                                            
		(13)  an inspector of hides and animals;                                      
		(14)  a justice of the peace;  and                                            
		(15)  a county officer, not otherwise named by this 
section, whose office is created under the constitution or other 
law of this state.

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


	§ 87.013. GENERAL GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL.  (a) An officer 
may be removed 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.

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


	§ 87.014. GROUNDS:  FAILURE TO GIVE BOND.  A county 
officer who is required by law to give an official bond may be 
removed under this subchapter if the officer:
		(1)  fails to execute the bond within the time 
prescribed by law;  or       
		(2)  does not give a new bond, or an additional bond or 
security, if required by law to do so.

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


	§ 87.015. 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.  However, a proceeding for the removal of a district 
attorney is begun by filing a written petition in a district court 
of:
		(1)  the county in which the attorney resides;  or                            
		(2)  the county where the alleged cause of removal 
occurred, if that county is in the attorney's judicial district.
	(b)  Any resident of this state who has lived for at least six 
months in the county in which the petition is to be filed and who is 
not currently under indictment in the county 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 set forth 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.

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


	§ 87.016. 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 or writ of error from 
the judge's decision.  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.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended 
by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 563, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.


	§ 87.017. SUSPENSION PENDING TRIAL;  TEMPORARY 
APPOINTEE.  (a) After the issuance of the order requiring citation 
of the officer, the district judge may temporarily suspend the 
officer and may appoint another person to perform the duties of the 
office.
	(b)  The judge may not suspend the officer until the person 
appointed to serve executes 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 suspended officer if the grounds for 
removal are found at trial to be insufficient or untrue.  In an 
action to recover on the bond it is necessary to allege and prove 
that the temporary appointee actively aided and instigated the 
filing and prosecution of the removal action.  The suspended 
officer must also serve written notice on the temporary appointee 
and the appointee's bondsman, within 90 days 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.
	(c)  If the final judgment establishes the officer's right to 
the office, the county shall pay the officer from the general fund 
of the county an amount equal to the compensation received by the 
temporary appointee.

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


	§ 87.018. TRIAL.  (a) Officers may be removed only 
following a trial by jury.
	(b)  The trial for 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 county attorney shall represent the state in a 
proceeding for the removal of an officer except as otherwise 
provided by Subsection (e) or (f).
	(e)  In a proceeding to remove a county attorney from office, 
the district attorney shall represent the state.  If the county does 
not have a district attorney, the county attorney from an adjoining 
county, as selected by the commissioners court of the county in 
which the proceeding is pending, shall represent the state.
	(f)  In a proceeding to remove the county attorney or 
district attorney from office, the county attorney from an 
adjoining county, as selected by the commissioners court of the 
county in which the proceeding is pending, shall represent the 
state if the attorney who would otherwise represent the state under 
this section is also the subject of a pending removal proceeding.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended 
by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 563, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.


	§ 87.019. 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.  If the officer has not been 
suspended from office, 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 within five days after the date the court renders its 
judgment.

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

SUBCHAPTER C. REMOVAL BY CRIMINAL CONVICTION


	§ 87.031. IMMEDIATE REMOVAL.  (a) The conviction of a 
county officer by a petit jury for any felony or for a misdemeanor 
involving official misconduct operates as an immediate removal from 
office of that officer.
	(b)  The court rendering judgment in such a case shall 
include an order removing the officer in the judgment.

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


	§ 87.032. APPEAL;  SUSPENSION.  If the 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 officer pending the appeal.  If the court 
finds that the public interest requires suspension, the court shall 
suspend the officer as provided by this subchapter.

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

SUBCHAPTER D. FILLING OF VACANCIES


	§ 87.041. VACANCIES FILLED BY APPOINTMENT OF 
COMMISSIONERS COURT.  (a) The commissioners court of a county may 
fill a vacancy in the office of:
		(1)  county judge;                                                            
		(2)  county clerk;                                                            
		(3)  district and county clerk;                                               
		(4)  sheriff;                                                                 
		(5)  county attorney;                                                         
		(6)  county treasurer;                                                        
		(7)  county surveyor;                                                         
		(8)  inspector of hides and animals;                                          
		(9)  county tax assessor-collector;                                           
		(10)  justice of the peace;  or                                               
		(11)  constable.                                                              
	(b)  The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy by a 
majority vote of the members of the court who are present and 
voting.
	(c)  The person appointed by the commissioners court to fill 
the vacancy shall hold office until the next general election.

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


	§ 87.042. COUNTY COMMISSIONER VACANCY.  If a vacancy 
occurs in the office of county commissioner, the county judge shall 
appoint a suitable resident of the precinct in which the vacancy 
exists to fill the vacancy until the next general election.

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


	§ 87.043. TEMPORARY ABSENCE IN OFFICE OF COUNTY JUDGE IN 
CERTAIN COUNTIES.  (a) In a county with a population of less than 
150,000, a temporary absence occurs in the office of county judge 
if:
		(1)  the county judge is located outside the county for 
30 consecutive full days as a direct result of:
			(A)  being a reservist or a member of the national 
guard who was ordered to duty under the authority of federal law;
			(B)  enlisting in the armed forces or the national 
guard as a volunteer;  or
			(C)  being inducted into the armed forces under 
federal draft laws;  and   
		(2)  the commissioners court determines in writing that 
the absence prevents the county judge from satisfactorily 
discharging the duties of the office.
	(b)  If a temporary absence exists in the office of county 
judge, before the 30th day after the date the absence begins, the 
absent county judge may appoint a resident of the county to fill the 
office until the next term of that office or until the temporary 
absence ends, whichever event occurs first.  If the absent county 
judge does not appoint a resident of the county within the 30-day 
period, the commissioners court shall appoint a resident of the 
county to fill the office until the next term of that office or 
until the temporary absence ends, whichever event occurs first.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 447, § 1, eff. June 11, 1991.