County officers, justices of the peace, and certain candidates must file the required financial statement on time; the county clerk may grant limited extensions and may adopt electronic-filing rules.
Sec. 159.004. FILING DATES; TIMELINESS OF FILING. (a) A county officer or justice of the peace shall file the financial statement required by this subchapter within the time prescribed by Section 572.026, Government Code. A candidate for office as a county officer or justice of the peace shall file the financial statement required by this subchapter within the time prescribed by Section 572.027, Government Code. (b) Except as provided in Subsection (e), the timeliness of the filing is governed by Section 572.029, Government Code. (c) A county officer or justice of the peace may request the county clerk to grant an extension of time of not more than 60 days for filing the statement. The county clerk shall grant the request if it is received before the filing deadline or if a timely filing or request for extension is prevented because of physical or mental incapacity. The county clerk may not grant more than one extension to a person in one year except for good cause shown. (d) The county clerk may not grant an extension to a candidate for office as a county officer or justice of the peace. (e) A person is considered to have timely filed a financial statement under this subchapter if: (1) the statement is personally delivered not later than 5 p.m. of the last day for filing the statement; or (2) the county clerk with whom the statement is required to be filed has adopted rules and procedures to provide for the electronic filing of the statement and the statement is electronically filed in accordance with those rules and procedures not later than midnight of the last day for filing the statement. (f) A county clerk may adopt rules and procedures under this section relating only to the manner in which a person must electronically file a financial statement and the required format of an electronically filed statement. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1134, Sec. 18, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 480 (H.B. 2468), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2007. Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 894 (H.B. 1035), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2013.