DEPARTMENT: City Clerk
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Leticia M. Vacek
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Residency verification in municipal elections
SUMMARY:
Councilman John Courage filed a Council Consideration Request (CCR) requesting that staff investigate and make recommendations regarding methods of documenting proof of residency for candidates filing for municipal elections.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On July 28, 2017, Councilman John Courage filed a Council Consideration Request (CCR) requesting that staff investigate and make recommendations regarding methods of verifying the residency of candidates filing to run in a municipal election. The CCR from Councilman Courage suggested "utility bills, or any other form of documentation deemed appropriate" be collected by the City Clerk in order to "provide a substantial amount of assurance that the candidate in question resided in the district."
The City Charter, Article II, Section 4 requires that candidates for office reside within the boundaries of a council district for at least 6 months prior to filing as a candidate. Concerns have arisen about the method of disputing a candidate's residency. Currently, the Texas Election Code Sec. 141.032 provides that local authority (the City Clerk) "shall review [an] application to determine whether it complies with the requirements as to form, content, and procedure." Through case law, it has been established that the City Clerk does not have the ability to deny an application for candidacy based on questions regarding residency. Instead, residency of a candidate is a question of fact to be determined in state courts. As such, the Office of the City Clerk does not have legal authority to investigate a candidate's residency nor to deny an application based on lack of proper residency documentation.
ISSUE:
The CCR from Councilman Courage suggests that the City Clerk accept certain documents when a candidate files for office. Though the City Clerk doe...
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