The secretary of state must classify certain election-related duties by rule and provide copies of those rules to specified officials; in some urgent cases, the secretary may use a faster emergency rule process.
Sec. 31.166. CLASSIFICATION OF DUTIES BY SECRETARY OF STATE. (a) The secretary of state shall adopt rules consistent with Sections 31.164 and 31.165 that classify the duties and functions placed on the officers of the participating entities by statutes outside this code according to whether they are to be performed by the joint elections administrator or by the officer. (b) If the joint elections administrator or officer of a participating entity is uncertain as to which person should perform a duty or function that the secretary of state has not classified, the person shall request the secretary to classify that duty or function, and the secretary shall comply with the request as soon as practicable. (c) The secretary of state shall deliver a copy of each rule proposed under this section to the joint elections administrator and to the officer of each participating entity in this state not later than the fifth day after the date notice of the proposal is published in the Texas Register and shall deliver a copy of each adopted rule to those persons not later than the fifth day after the date the certified copy of the rule is filed in the secretary's office. Failure to comply with this subsection does not affect the validity of a rule. (d) On receiving notice of the creation of the position of joint elections administrator for a county, the secretary of state shall deliver to the county clerk a current set of the rules adopted under this section. On receiving notice of the initial appointment of the administrator, the secretary shall deliver a set of the rules to the administrator. (e) The secretary of state may, on 30 days' notice, adopt a rule classifying a duty or function if the rule is needed in a shorter time than provided by the regular rulemaking process. The rule is considered an emergency rule for purposes of Chapter 2001, Government Code. The secretary is not required to give notice of the proposed rule under Subsection (c), but the secretary must give notice of the rule's adoption under that subsection. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 148 (S.B. 493), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.