ARTICLE III. INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL

Sec. 3.01. Power of Initiative.
The initiative power may be used to enact a new ordinance, or to repeal or amend sections of current ordinances, except that such power shall not extend to the budget, or capital program or any ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of taxes or salaries of city officials or employees. Any initiative ordinance or amendment may be submitted to the council by a petition signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least thirty (30) percent of those voting the last regular city election. If the council fails to adopt an ordinance or amendment so proposed, then the voters shall have the power to adopt or reject it at a city election.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.02. Power of Referendum.
The electors shall have the power to approve or reject any ordinance passed by the council, or submitted by the council to a vote of the electors, except in case of bond ordinances, ordinances making the annual tax levy and matters relating to salaries of city employees, such power being known as the referendum. Ordinances submitted to the council by initiative petition and passed by the council without change shall be subject to the referendum in the same manner as other ordinances. Within forty-five (45) days after the enactment by the council of any ordinance which is subject to a referendum, a petition signed by qualified electors of the city equal in number to at least thirty (30) percent of the electors voting in the last regular municipal election may be filed with the city secretary requesting that any such ordinance be either repealed by the council or submitted to a vote of the electors.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.03. Form of Petition; Committee of Petitioners.
All petitions circulating for purposes of an initiative or referendum shall be uniform in size and style. Each copy of an initiative or referendum petition shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance, or the ordinance petitioned for referendum and names and addresses of the same five (5) electors, who, as a committee of the petitioners, shall be regarded as responsible for the circulation and filing of the petition. The signatures to an initiative or referendum petition need not be appended to a single copy of the petition. Each signer of any copy of such petition shall sign his name and his name only in ink or indelible pencil and shall indicate after his name his place of residence by street and number, or other description sufficient to identify the place. Attached to each copy of such petition, there shall be an affidavit of the circulator thereof that he, and he only personally circulated the foregoing copy of such petition, that it bears a stated number of signatures, that all signatures appended thereto were made in his presence and that he believes them to be the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.04. Filing, Examination and Certification of Petitions.
All copies of a petition comprising an initiative or referendum petition shall be assembled and filed with the city secretary as one instrument. Within thirty (30) days after a petition is filed, the city secretary shall determine that each copy of the petition has a proper statement of the circulator and whether the petition is signed by a sufficient number of qualified electors. The city secretary shall declare any copy of the petition entirely invalid which does not have attached thereto an affidavit signed by the circulator thereof. If a copy of the petition is found to be signed by more persons than the number of signatures certified by the circulator, the last signature in excess of the number certified shall be disregarded. If a copy of a petition is found to be signed by fewer than the number certified, the signatures shall be accepted unless void on other grounds. After completing his examination of the petition, the city secretary shall certify the results thereof to the council at its next regular meeting. If the city secretary shall certify that the petition is insufficient, the city secretary shall set forth in the certificate the particulars in which it is defective and shall at once notify the committee of the petitioners of his findings.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.05. Amendments.
An initiative or referendum petition may be amended once if the city secretary declares there are insufficient signatures at any time within ten (10) days after the notification of insufficiency has been sent by the city secretary, by filing a supplementary petition as provided in case of an original petition. The city secretary shall, within five (5) days after such an amendment is filed, examine the amended petition, and if the petition be still insufficient, he shall file his certificate to that effect in his office and notify the committee of the petitioner of his findings and no further action shall be had on such insufficient petition. The findings of the insufficiency of a petition shall not be prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose, provided that any petition for initiative or referendum shall be filed within the time provided by Section 3.02.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.06. Effect of Certification of Referendum Petition.
When a referendum petition has been certified as sufficient by the city secretary, the ordinance specified in the petition shall not go into effect, or further action thereunder shall be suspended if it shall have gone into effect, until and unless approved by the electors.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.07. Consideration by Council and Submission to Electors.
When the council receives an authorized initiative petition certified by the city secretary to be sufficient, the council shall either:
(a) Pass the initiated ordinance without amendment within sixty (60) days after the date of the certification to the council; or
(b) Submit said initiated ordinance without amendment to a vote of the qualified voters of the city at a regular or special election to be held within ninety (90) days after the date of the certification to the council; provided, however, that when a regular city election is to be held within one hundred twenty (120) days, but less than sixty (60) days, after the final council vote on the initiated ordinance, such ordinance shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the city at such regular election; or
(c) At such election submit to a vote of the qualified voters of the city such initiated ordinance without amendment, and an alternative ordinance on the same subject proposed by the council. When the council receives an authorized referendum petition certified by the city secretary to be sufficient, the council shall reconsider the referred ordinance, and if upon such reconsideration such ordinance is not repealed, it shall be submitted to the voters at a regular or special election to be held not more than ninety (90) days after the date of the certification to the council. Provided, however, that when a regular city election is to be held within one hundred twenty (120) days, but not less than sixty (60) days, after the final council vote on the referred ordinance, such ordinance shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the city at such regular election. Special elections on initiated or referred ordinances shall not be held more frequently than once each six (6) months, and no ordinance on the same subject as an initiated ordinance which has been defeated at any election may be initiated by the voters within two (2) years from the date of such election.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.08. Form of Ballot for Initiated and Referred Ordinances.
The ballot used in voting upon initiated or referred ordinances shall state the caption of the ordinance and below the caption shall set forth on separate lines the words, "For the Ordinance" and "Against the Ordinance."
Where an initiated ordinance and an alternative ordinance proposed by the council are submitted, the ballot shall state the captions of each ordinance, clearly designating them "Ordinance No. 1" and "Ordinance No. 2", respectively, and shall set forth below the captions on separate lines the words "For Ordinance No. 1", "For Ordinance No. 2," and "Against Both Ordinances." Where an initiated ordinance and an alternative ordinance as submitted, each voter shall vote "For" only one ordinance or "Against Both Ordinances," and a vote for one ordinance shall be counted as a vote against the other ordinance. Any number of ordinances may be voted on at the same election in accordance with the provisions of this article. If a majority of the votes cast is in favor of a submitted ordinance, it shall thereupon be effective as an ordinance of the city. An ordinance so adopted may be repealed or amended at any time after the expiration of two (2) years by a two-thirds [vote] of the council. A referred ordinance which is not approved by a majority of the votes cast shall be deemed thereupon repealed.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.09. Results of Election.
If a majority of the electors vote in favor of a proposed initiative ordinance, it shall thereupon be an initiative ordinance of the city. A referred ordinance which is not approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon shall thereupon be deemed repealed. If conflicting ordinances are approved by the electors at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.10. Repealing Ordinances.
Initiative and referendum ordinances adopted or approved by the electors may be amended or repealed by the council as in the case of other ordinances, provided however, that no ordinance adopted at the polls under the initiative shall be amended or repealed by the council within six (6) months of the adoption of said ordinance; and no ordinance repealed at the polls under the referendum shall be re-enacted by the council within six (6) months of the repeal of said ordinance.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.11. Recall; General.
The mayor or any other member of the council may be removed from office by recall.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.12. Recall Procedure.
Any elector of the city may make and file with the city secretary an affidavit containing the name and names of the official or officials whose removal is sought and a statement of the grounds for removal. The city secretary shall provide to the elector making such affidavit, copies of petition blanks. The city secretary shall keep a sufficient number of such printed petition blanks on hand for distribution. Such blanks when issued by the city secretary shall bear his signature and be addressed to the council, and shall be numbered, dated, and indicate the name of the official(s) whose removal is sought. The city secretary shall enter in a record to be kept in his office the name of the elector to whom the petition blanks were issued and the number issued to said person.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.13. Recall Petitions.
The recall petition must be returned and filed with the city secretary within thirty (30) days after the filing of the affidavit required by this article. The petition must conform to the requirements of this article. It must be signed by at least twenty-five (25) percent of the qualified voters of the city for the recall of the mayor or any council member elected at-large, or twenty-five (25) percent of the qualified voters in the district for the recall of a council member elected from that district. No petition papers shall be accepted as part of the petition unless it bears the signature of the city secretary as required in this article.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.14. Recall Election.
The city secretary shall examine the recall petition and if he finds it sufficient, he shall within five (5) days submit it to the council with his certificate to that effect and notify the official sought to be recalled of such action. If the official whose removal is sought does not resign within five (5) days after such notice, the council shall thereupon order and fix a date for holding a recall election. Any such election shall be held not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days after the petition has been presented to the council or if more than sixty (60) days, at the earliest date allowed by law; however, such election may be held at the same time as any municipal election held within such period.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.15. Ballots in Recall Election.
There shall be printed with respect to each person whose removal is sought the question "Shall (name of person) Be Removed From the Office (name of office) By Recall?" Immediately below each such question there shall be printed the following propositions, in the order indicated:"For the Recall of (name of person)" and "Against the Recall of (name of person)."
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.16. Results of Recall Election.
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be against the recall of any official named on the ballot, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term. If a majority of the votes cast at such an election be for the recall of any official named on the ballot, he shall, regardless of any technical defects in the recall petition, be deemed removed from office and the vacancy shall be filled as provided in Article II, Section 2.06 of this Charter. An elected official thus removed shall not be appointed to succeed himself. Should all members of the council be recalled at the same time, one of the district judges of Ft. Bend County shall order a special election, to be held at the earliest date allowed by law.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.17. Limitations on Recall.
No recall petition shall be filed against an elected official within six (6) months after he takes office. Following an unsuccessful recall effort, the same official shall not be subjected to another recall petition for a period of six (6) months.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)

Sec. 3.18. District Judge May Order Election.
Should the council fail or refuse to order any of the elections as provided for in this article, when all the requirements for such elections have been complied with by the petitioning electors in conformity with this article, then it shall be the duty of any one of the district judges of Ft. Bend County, Texas, upon proper application being made therefor by any elector of the city to order such elections and to enforce the carrying into effect of the provisions of this article.
(Ord. No. 1178, § 1, 6-15-99)