GENERAL CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS/ELIGIBILITY

According to the Texas Election Code, an individual is eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, a Texas school board if the individual:

1. is a United States citizen.

2. is 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as applicable.

3. has not been determined by final judgement of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

4. has not been finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.

5. has resided continuously in the state for 12 months and in the territory from which the office is elected for six months immediately preceding the following date:  

   • for an independent candidate, the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the ballot.

   • for a write-in candidate, the date of the election at which the candidate's name is written in.

   • for an appointee to an office, the date the appointment is made.                                                               

6. is registered to vote in the territory from which the office is elected on the date described at item 5 above and

7. satisfies any other eligibility requirements prescribed by law for the office.

Tex. Elec. Code 141.001

The Texas Education Code adds eligibility requirements for a person to serve on a school board. A person is ineligible to serve on a school board if the person has been convicted of a felony or solicitation of prostitution under Texas Penal Code section 43.021. Tex. Educ. Code 11.066. Thus, a person who has been convicted of a felony may not serve on a school board regardless of whether the person has been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.