1. (a) During any calendar year in which the term of office of a public school district member, institution of higher education member, or retiree member of the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) expires, TRS will conduct an election between March 15 and April 30 to select the nominees to be considered by the governor for appointment to the position.
2. (b) Public school district members of the system who are currently employed by a public school district may have their names listed on the official ballot as candidates for nomination to a public school district position by filing an official petition bearing the signature, printed or typed name, first five digits of the member's current residential zip code, and last four digits of the member's Social Security number of 250 members of the retirement system whose most recent credited service is or was performed for a public school district. Institution of higher education members of the system who are currently employed by an institution of higher education may have their names listed on the official ballot as candidates for nomination to the institution of higher education position by filing an official petition bearing the signature, printed or typed name, first five digits of the member's current residential zip code, and last four digits of the member's Social Security number of 250 members whose most recent credited service is or was performed for an institution of higher education. Retirees may have their names listed on the official ballot as candidates for nomination to the retiree position by filing an official petition bearing the signature, printed or typed name, first five digits of the retiree's current residential zip code, and last four digits of the retiree's Social Security number of 250 retirees of the system. Official petition forms shall be available from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, 1000 Red River Street, Austin, Texas 78701-2698. Official petitions must be filed by January 15 of the calendar year in which the election is to be held. A qualified public school district member, institution of higher education member, or retiree may sign more than one candidate's petition as long as they are eligible to vote in the election of the candidate or candidates for whom they are signing.
3. (c) Upon verification of petitions by the system or its designated agent, the names of qualified candidates shall be represented on the ballot. The system may designate an agent to implement and to monitor the ballot process. Balloting may be conducted by printed ballot or in combination with electronic balloting. Upon request by a qualified voter, the system or its designated agent shall provide the voter a printed ballot containing a space for write-in candidates. Voting instructions shall be mailed on or before March 15 of the year in which the election is held to the last known home address of each active member or retiree. To be counted, a printed ballot must be completed and returned to the system or its designated agent by April 30 of the year in which the election is held and in accordance with the instructions printed on the ballot. To be counted, an electronic ballot must be completed and submitted to the system or its designated agent by April 30 of the year in which the election is held and in accordance with the instructions contained in the electronic voting format. The executive director shall cause the ballots to be counted. Names of the candidates for each position receiving the three highest number of votes shall be certified by the executive director to the governor.
4. (d) When a vacancy in a public school district position, institution of higher education position, or retiree position occurs for a reason other than the expiration of a term of office, the board of trustees may conduct an election at any time they determine appropriate. The board of trustees shall establish deadlines for filing petitions, the date of mailing ballots, the date for returning ballots, and any other necessary details related to the election process.
5. (e) When more than one public school district member position on the board of trustees is being contested at the same election, each candidate shall specify on his or her petition which position he or she is seeking by indicating expiration date of the term of office sought. Petitions which fail to specify shall be returned to the candidates for completion if time permits. Failure to designate a specific position by the deadline shall disqualify the candidate. When more than one position is contested at the same election, a person may be a candidate for only one of the positions.

6. (f) Terms of board members run for six years and expire August 31. Terms expire on the following dates and every six years thereafter:

   1. (1) Public school district appointment, Place One, August 31, 2013.
   2. (2) Gubernatorial appointment, Place One, August 31, 2013.
   3. (3) State Board of Education appointment, Place One, August 31, 2013.
   4. (4) Public School district appointment, Place Two, August 31, 2015.
   5. (5) Gubernatorial appointment, Place Two, August 31, 2015.
   6. (6) State Board of Education appointment, Place Two, August 31, 2015.
   7. (7) Higher Education appointment, August 31, 2011.
   8. (8) Retiree appointment, August 31, 2011.
   9. (9) Gubernatorial appointment, Place Three, August 31, 2011.
7. (g) A vacancy in the office of a trustee shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner that the office was previously filled.

Source Note:The provisions of this §23.5 adopted to be effective June 30, 1977, 2 TexReg 2496; amended to be effective April 2, 1979, 4 TexReg 954; amended to be effective April 3, 1981, 6 TexReg 1001; amended to be effective December 1, 1989, 14 TexReg 4919; amended to be effective October 19, 1994, 19 TexReg 8040; amended to be effective June 6, 1999, 24 TexReg 4246; amended to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2091; amended to be effective April 26, 2006, 31 TexReg 3387; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1078; amended to be effective January 17, 2011, 36 TexReg 145.