Tex. Elec. Code § 253.157 · Subchapter F. JUDICIAL CAMPAIGN FAIRNESS ACT
LIMIT ON CONTRIBUTION BY GENERAL-PURPOSE COMMITTEES.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) Repealed by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 17(2), eff. June 2, 2019.
(a-1) A judicial candidate or officeholder may not knowingly accept political contributions from a general-purpose committee that, in the aggregate, exceed the contribution limits prescribed by this subsection in connection with an election in which the judicial candidate's name appears on the ballot. The contribution limits under this subsection are:
(1) for a statewide judicial office, $25,000; or
(2) for any other judicial office, $5,000.
(a-2) In addition to the contribution limits imposed on each contribution in Subsection (a-1), a judicial candidate or officeholder may not accept a political contribution in excess of $50 from a general-purpose committee if the contribution, when aggregated with all political contributions from all general-purpose committees in connection with an election, would exceed:
(1) for a statewide judicial office, $300,000;
(2) for the office of chief justice or justice, court of appeals:
(A) $75,000, if the population of the judicial district is more than one million; or
(B) $52,500, if the population of the judicial district is one million or less; or
(3) for an office other than an office included under Subdivision (1) or (2):
(A) $52,500, if the population of the judicial district is more than one million;
(B) $30,000, if the population of the judicial district is 250,000 to one million; or
(C) $15,000, if the population of the judicial district is less than 250,000.
(b) A person who receives a political contribution that violates this section shall return the contribution to the contributor not later than the later of:
(1) the last day of the reporting period in which the contribution is received; or
(2) the fifth day after the date the contribution is received.
(c) A person who violates this section is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed three times the amount of the political contributions accepted in violation of this section.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 17(2), eff. June 2, 2019.
(e) Repealed by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 17(2), eff. June 2, 2019.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 763, Sec. 1, eff. June 16, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 552, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 5.16, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1096, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 5, eff. June 2, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 6, eff. June 2, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 384 (H.B. 3233), Sec. 17(2), eff. June 2, 2019.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/EL/htm/EL.253.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 e99cf1deb4afe85baa2995b1e1412d57d8d4b9857bdf077fa75b6ae60dd43ab9
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Elec. Code § 253.157. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Election Code
- Tex. Elec. Code § 253.1601CONTRIBUTION TO CERTAIN COMMITTEES CONSIDERED CONTRIBUTION TO CANDIDATE OR OFFICEHOLDER.Printed as Sections 253.155 and 253.157
- Tex. Elec. Code § 253.1621APPLICATION OF CONTRIBUTION AND REIMBURSEMENT LIMITS TO CERTAIN CANDIDATES.Printed as Section 253.155 or 253.157 | Sections 253.155 and 253.157
- Tex. Elec. Code § 253.171CONTRIBUTION FROM OR DIRECT CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE BY POLITICAL PARTY.Printed as Section 253.155 or 253.157
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.