LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

TITLE 3. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

SUBTITLE A. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES

CHAPTER 73. LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT

SUBCHAPTER A. COUNTY SEAT IN NEWLY ORGANIZED COUNTY

Sec. 73.001.  ELECTION REQUIREMENT.  If a new county is organized, the county judge who conducts the election for officers for the new county shall order an election for the location of the county seat.  The election shall be conducted in the same manner as an election for county officers.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 73.002.  VOTE REQUIRED FOR LOCATION.  The location that receives the majority of votes cast in the election is the county seat.  However, a county seat first established in a newly organized county may not be located more than five miles from the geographic center of the county unless at least two-thirds of the voters voting in the election on the subject vote for the site.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

SUBCHAPTER B. RELOCATION OF COUNTY SEATS

Sec. 73.011.  APPLICATION FOR RELOCATION ELECTION.  (a)  The county judge of a county shall order an election on the question of the relocation of the county seat of the county if an application for the relocation election is made by at least 100 resident freeholders and qualified voters of the county.  However:
(1)  if the county seat has been established in the same location for more than 10 years but for 40 years or less and the county has 350 or more voters, to be determined by the number of votes cast in the county in the most recent general election, at least 200 resident freeholders and qualified voters must make the application;  or
(2)  if the county has 150 or fewer qualified voters or if the county seat has been established in the same location for more than 40 years, a majority of the resident freeholders and qualified voters of the county, as determined by the county judge from the county assessment rolls, must make the application.
(b)  If the county judge fails, refuses, or is unable to perform a duty imposed on the judge by this section, that duty may be performed by any two county commissioners of the county.
(c)  An order under this section must be in writing and entered in the minutes of the commissioners court.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 73.012.  DESIGNATION OF GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF COUNTY.  (a)  On notification by a county judge that a proposition to relocate the county seat has been submitted to the people of the county or that it is desirable that the center of the county be designated, before the relocation of the county seat, the commissioner of the General Land Office shall designate the geographic center of the county based on the maps, surveys, and other information on file in the General Land Office.  The commissioner shall certify the center to the county judge.
(b)  The county judge shall enter the commissioner's designation in the county deed records.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 73.013.  ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  A relocation election must be held on the first election date that is authorized by Chapter 41, Election Code, and that occurs after the 30th day after the date of the order.
(b)  The election shall be ordered to be held in each voting precinct in the county and shall be held, insofar as possible, in the same manner as an election for county officers.  The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the proposition:  "Moving the county seat from ____________________ (name of the place) to ____________________ (name of the place)."
(c)  The requirements of this subsection are in addition to those imposed by Article IX, Section 2, of the Texas Constitution relating to the number of votes that are necessary to move a county seat in certain cases.  A two-thirds vote of the voters voting at the election is required to move a county seat located:
(1)  more than five miles from the geographic center of the county to another site more than five miles from the center;  or
(2)  within five miles of the geographic center of the county to another site within five miles of the center.
(d)  The geographic center of the county shall be determined by a certificate from the commissioner of the General Land Office.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 73.014.  ELECTION RESULTS;  RELOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT.  (a)  Within 10 days after the date the relocation election is held, the officers who conduct the election shall bring the election returns to the county judge or the county commissioners who ordered the election.
(b)  The county judge or county commissioners shall tabulate the returns and declare the result.
(c)  In the records of the commissioners court, the county judge or county commissioners shall enter the result of the election, the name of the original site of the county seat, and the name of the new site if the election results in relocation.
(d)  A certified copy of the entry shall be recorded in the county deed records.
(e)  After the entry is made, a county seat that is changed by the election is relocated to the new site.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 73.015.  SUBSEQUENT RELOCATION.  After an election for the location or removal of a county seat has been held and the question settled, an application for another relocation of the county seat may not be submitted within 10 years after the date of the last election.  However, an application may be submitted and a relocation election held within two years after the date of the last election to move a county seat from a site more than five miles from a railroad operating as a common carrier to a site on a railroad.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.