High school principals or their designees must serve as county deputy registrars, and high school deputy registrars have limited powers to handle voter registration forms and applications for students and employees.
Sec. 13.046. HIGH SCHOOL DEPUTY REGISTRARS. (a) Each principal of a public or private high school or the principal's designee shall serve as a deputy registrar for the county in which the school is located. (b) In this code, "high school deputy registrar" means a deputy registrar serving under this section. (c) A high school deputy registrar may distribute registration application forms to and receive registration applications submitted to the deputy in person from students and employees of the school only. (d) At least twice each school year, a high school deputy registrar shall distribute an officially prescribed registration application form to each student who is or will be 18 years of age or older during that year, subject to rules prescribed by the secretary of state. (e) Each application form distributed under this section must be accompanied by a notice informing the student or employee that the application may be submitted in person or by mail to the voter registrar of the county in which the applicant resides or in person to a high school deputy registrar or volunteer deputy registrar for delivery to the voter registrar of the county in which the applicant resides. (f) Except as provided by this subsection, Sections 13.039, 13.041, and 13.042 apply to the submission and delivery of registration applications under this section, and for that purpose, "volunteer deputy registrar" in those sections includes a high school deputy registrar. A high school deputy registrar may review an application for completeness out of the applicant's presence. A deputy may deliver a group of applications to the registrar by mail in an envelope or package, and, for the purpose of determining compliance with the delivery deadline, an application delivered by mail is considered to be delivered at the time of its receipt by the registrar. (g) A high school deputy registrar commits an offense if the deputy fails to comply with Section 13.042. An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor unless the deputy's failure to comply is intentional, in which case the offense is a Class A misdemeanor. (h) The secretary of state shall prescribe any additional procedures necessary to implement this section. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 279, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 797, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.