2009 Texas Code
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 2. ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
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.