Sec. 31.165. DIVISION OF CERTAIN DUTIES BETWEEN OFFICER AND ADMINISTRATOR

(a) With respect to meetings of the governing body of a participating entity, including meetings at which the only business conducted pertains to elections, the officer of the participating entity formerly required to conduct elections shall perform the officer's regularly prescribed duties in giving notice of and preparing the agenda for the meetings, attending the meetings and making a record of the proceedings, preparing and maintaining the minutes of the governing body, and filing and preserving copies of the governing body's orders, except as provided by Subsection (b). The joint elections administrator shall cooperate with the officer in supplying information on election matters that are to be brought before the governing body and shall attend or be represented at the meetings of the governing body at which election matters are considered. The officer shall furnish the administrator with a copy of each order of the governing body that pertains to or affects an election, and the administrator shall maintain the copies on file.

(b) The joint elections administrator is responsible for providing the clerical assistance needed by the governing body in canvassing precinct election returns. The administrator shall maintain the official file of the governing body's tabulation of election results, and the officer need not maintain a file of copies of the tabulations.

(c) In an election on a measure in which the governing body is the final canvassing authority, if a statute requires the officer to record an order of the governing body in its minutes declaring whether the measure carried or failed, the officer shall perform that duty. A copy of the order shall also be filed in the office of the joint elections administrator. If a statute requires the officer to certify the result of the election to some other authority, the officer shall perform that duty.

(d) If a statute provides for the ordering of an election on a measure by the governing body, the presiding officer of that body, or another authority of the entity on submission of a petition requesting the election, the joint elections administrator shall perform the duties that the statute places on the participating entity's officer in connection with filing the petition, determining its validity, and any other matters preceding the ordering of the election.

(e) If a statute prescribing the procedure for creating a political subdivision provides for the ordering of an election by a participating entity as a step in the creation process, the joint elections administrator shall perform the duties that the statute places on an officer of that entity in connection with matters preceding the entry of the order on whether the election will be ordered, including the filing of a petition for the creation, the holding of any hearing on the proposal, the filing of any report or other document that is a step in the procedure, and the taking of any appeal from the order on whether the election is to be ordered. If the holding of an election ordered by a participating entity is not one of the steps in the creation process, the entity's officer shall perform the duties placed on that officer in connection with the creation of a political subdivision.

(f) If a statute provides that the return of an election notice for an election ordered by a participating entity is to be recorded in the minutes of the governing body of the entity, the return shall be filed in the office of the joint elections administrator.

(g) The county clerk is the proper officer to receive and post copies of proposed constitutional amendments under Section 1, Article XVII, Texas Constitution. However, the secretary of state shall also send a copy of each proposed amendment to the joint elections administrator for the administrator's information.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 148 , Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.