A person may not be elected trustee of an independent school district unless the person is a qualified voter.  A “Qualified Voter” means a person who: 

• Is 18 years of age or older
• Is a United States citizen
• Is a resident of Texas
• Is a registered voter in the same area that the office will be elected
• Has not been determined to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction
• Has not been finally convicted of a felony
  • See also Atty. Gen. Op. LO 96-114 (1996) (concluding that caveat at Election Code 11.002 does not mitigate blanket prohibition in Election Code 141.001, above at Eligibility)

Election Code 1.020, 11.002, 141.001(a); Gov’t Code 601.009; Brown v. Patterson, 609 S.W.2d 287 (Tex. Civ. App.—Dallas 1980, no writ); Education Code 11.061(b)

See the Board Member Eligibility PDF (BBA Legal) for a printable version.

A person may not be elected as a trustee unless the person has continuously resided in the state for at least 12 months. They must also reside for at least 6 months in the territory in which the office resides before the following date:

• Independent candidate: The date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate's application for a place on the ballot.
• Write-in candidate: The election date at which the candidate's name is written in.
• Appointee to an office: The date the appointment is made.

Defining residence

“Residence” means domicile, one’s home and fixed place of habitation to which one intends to return after any temporary absence.

• One does not lose one’s residence status by leaving to go to another place for temporary purposes only.
• A person does not acquire a residence in a place to which the person has come for temporary purposes only and without the intention of making that place the person's home.

Residence shall be determined in accordance with the common-law rules, as enunciated by the courts of this state, except as otherwise provided by the Election Code. 

Election Code 1.015, Tex. Const. Art. XVI, Sec. 14

Single-Member Districts

A candidate for board member representing a single-member district must be a resident of the district the candidate seeks to represent. 

Note: The issue of whether a candidate has satisfied residency requirements should be judicially determined. 

Education Code 11.052(g); State v. Fischer, 769 S.W.2d 619 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1989, writ dism’d w.o.j)

See the Board Member Eligibility PDF (BBA Legal) for a printable version.

A person is ineligible to serve as a member of the board of a district if the person has been convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.

A person may not run for office if they have been convicted of an offense under Penal Code 43.02(b) (regarding prostitution). 

Education Code 11.066

See the Board Member Eligibility PDF (BBA Legal) for a printable version.