H.B. No. 4555
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to an application for a place on a ballot filed by a person
  convicted of a felony and to the general requirements of an
  application for a place on a ballot; decreasing a criminal penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 141.031, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that
  is required by this code must:
               (1)  be in writing;
               (2)  be signed and sworn to before a person authorized
  to administer oaths in this state by the candidate and indicate the
  date that the candidate swears to the application;
               (3)  be timely filed with the appropriate authority;
  and
               (4)  include:
                     (A)  the candidate's name;
                     (B)  the candidate's occupation;
                     (C)  the office sought, including any place number
  or other distinguishing number;
                     (D)  an indication of whether the office sought is
  to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and
  another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have
  place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;
                     (E)  a statement that the candidate is a United
  States citizen;
                     (F)  a statement that the candidate has not been
  determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate
  jurisdiction to be:
                           (i)  totally mentally incapacitated; or
                           (ii)  partially mentally incapacitated
  without the right to vote;
                     (G)  an indication [a statement] that the
  candidate has either not been finally convicted of a felony or if so
  convicted [from which the candidate] has [not] been pardoned or
  otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
                     (H)  the candidate's date of birth;
                     (I)  the candidate's residence address or, if the
  residence has no address, the address at which the candidate
  receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
  candidate's residence;
                     (J)  the candidate's length of continuous
  residence in the state and in the territory from which the office
  sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the
  application;
                     (K)  the statement: "I, __________, of __________
  County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of __________,
  swear that I will support and defend the constitution and laws of
  the United States and of the State of Texas";
                     (L)  a statement that the candidate is aware of
  the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code; and
                     (M)  a public mailing address at which the
  candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's
  campaign, if available, and an electronic mail address at which the
  candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's
  campaign, if available.
         (a-1)  A person who has been convicted of a felony shall
  include in the application proof that the person is eligible for
  public office under Section 141.001(a)(4).
         SECTION 2.  Section 141.039, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 141.039.  OFFICIAL APPLICATION FORM. In addition to
  the other statements and spaces for entering information that
  appear on an officially prescribed form for an application for a
  place on the ballot, each official form for an application that a
  candidate is required to file under this code must include:
               (1)  a space for indicating the form in which the
  candidate's name is to appear on the ballot;
               (2)  a space for the candidate's public mailing
  address;
               (3)  spaces for the candidate's home and office
  telephone numbers and e-mail address at which the candidate
  receives correspondence relating to the candidate's campaign;
  [and]
               (4)  a statement informing candidates that the
  furnishing of the telephone numbers is optional;
               (5)  a statement informing candidates that knowingly
  providing false information on the application under Section
  141.031(a)(4)(G) constitutes a Class B misdemeanor; and
               (6)  a statement informing candidates that a candidate
  who indicates under Section 141.031(a)(4)(G) that the candidate has
  been convicted of a felony must comply with the requirements of
  Section 141.031(a-1).
         SECTION 3.  Section 37.10(c), Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (5) to read as
  follows:
         (c)(1)  Except as provided by Subdivisions (2), (3), [and]
  (4), and (5), and by Subsection (d), an offense under this section
  is a Class A misdemeanor unless the actor's intent is to defraud or
  harm another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
               (5)  An offense under this section is a Class B
  misdemeanor if the governmental record is an application for a
  place on the ballot under Section 141.031, Election Code, and the
  actor knowingly provides false information under Subsection
  (a)(4)(G) of that section.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies to an
  application for a place on the ballot filed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. An application for a place on the
  ballot filed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
  law in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former
  law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 4555 was passed by the House on May
  14, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 4, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 4555 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 147, Nays 1,
  1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 4555 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor