Texas Local Government Code 120.002 – Election Required
(a) Except as provided by § 120.003, a county shall hold an election in accordance with this chapter if the county adopts a budget for a fiscal year that, compared to the budget adopted by the county for the preceding fiscal year:
(1) reduces for a law enforcement agency, excluding a 9-1-1 call center, with primary responsibility for policing, criminal investigation, and answering calls for service:
(A) for a fiscal year in which the overall amount of the budget is equal to or greater than the amount for the preceding fiscal year, the appropriation to the agency;
(B) for a fiscal year in which the overall amount of the budget is less than the amount for the preceding fiscal year, the appropriation to the agency as a percentage of the total budget;
(C) as applicable:
(i) if the county has not declined in population since the preceding fiscal year, the number of peace officer positions, excluding detention officer positions; or
(ii) if the county has declined in population since the preceding fiscal year, the number of peace officer positions, excluding detention officer positions, the law enforcement agency is authorized to employ per 1,000 county residents; or
(D) the amount of funding per peace officer for the recruitment and training of new peace officers to fill vacant and new peace officer positions in the agency; or
(2) reallocates funding or resources to another law enforcement agency.
(b) A county may not implement a proposed reduction or reallocation described by Subsection (a) until the county receives voter approval for the proposed reduction or reallocation at an election held for that purpose. The county may, at any time, order the election to be held on the 30th day after the date the county orders the election. § 41.001, Election Code, does not apply to an election under this subsection.
Terms Used In Texas Local Government Code 120.002
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) For purposes of this section, a county budget does not include:
(1) a one-time extraordinary expense, as determined by the comptroller, that is outside the normal costs of operating a law enforcement agency, including purchasing a fleet of law enforcement vehicles or constructing an additional training academy;
(2) revenues used to repay voter-approved bonded indebtedness incurred for a law enforcement purpose;
(3) detention officer compensation; or
(4) a donation or state or federal grant to the county’s law enforcement agency.