The powers of initiative and referendum are hereby reserved to the electors of the city. The provisions of the election law of the State of Texas, as they currently exist or may hereafter be amended or superseded, shall govern the exercise of the powers of initiative and referendum under this charter.
A. 
Initiative. The qualified voters of the city shall have the power to propose ordinances to the city council and, if the council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt or reject said ordinance at a city election, provided that such power shall not extend to the budget, or capital program or any ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of taxes, user fees or salaries of city officers or employees.
Such initiative power may be used to enact a new ordinance or to repeal or amend sections of an existing ordinance.
B. 
Referendum: The qualified voters of the city shall have the power to require reconsideration by the city council of any adopted ordinance and, if the council fails to repeal any ordinance so reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a city election, provided that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program or any properly enacted emergency ordinance, ordinance relating to appropriation of money or levying of taxes or ordinance relating to the control of armed or violent insurrection, revolt, rebellion or riot.
Any ten (10) qualified voters may begin initiative or referendum proceedings by filing with the city secretary an affidavit stating they constitute the petitioners’ committee and will be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form; stating their names and addresses and specifying the address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and setting out in full the proposed initiative ordinance or the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
Immediately after the affidavit of the petitioners’ committee is filed, the city secretary shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the petitioners’ committee.
After the affidavit of the petitioners’ committee has been filed, the ordinance sought to be amended or repealed shall not be repealed, or amended or re-enacted by the city council unless:
A. 
The action taken by the city council is that which the petition requests, or
B. 
The petition has not been filed within the prescribed time limit, or
C. 
There is a final determination of the insufficiency of the petition, or
D. 
The petition is withdrawn by the petitioners’ committees, or
E. 
One year has elapsed since the city council or voter action has been taken on the petition, or
F. 
The ordinance sought to be amended or repealed relates to the control of insurrection or riot.
(a) 
Number of signatures. Initiative and referendum petitions must be signed by currently qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least ten percent (10%) of the current registered voters.
(b) 
Form and Content: All papers of petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as one instrument for filing. To be certified, each signature shall be the same as the name of a voter appearing on the current certified list of voter registrations, shall have been personally signed by such voter in ink, and shall be followed by the address of the person signing. Petitions shall contain or have attached thereto throughout their circulation the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
(c) 
Affidavit of Circulator: When filed, each paper of the petition shall have attached to it an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof stating that she/he personally circulated the paper, the number of signatures thereon, that all the signatures were affixed in her/his presence, that she/he believes them to be the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and that each signer had an opportunity before signing to read the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
(d) 
Time for Filing Petitions: Referendum petitions must be initiated within thirty (30) days after adoption by the city council of the ordinance sought to be reconsidered. Initiative petitions must be filed within thirty (30) days after issuance of the appropriate petition blanks to the petitioners’ committee. Additional time as specified in Section 10.04(e), shall be allowed for amending petitions.
(a) 
Certificate of city secretary: Within ten (10) working days after the petition is filed, the city secretary shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall immediately upon completion of certification send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners’ committee by registered mail.
(b) 
Sufficient Petition, Final Determination: If the petition is certified sufficient, the city secretary shall present the certificate to the city council at the next regularly scheduled council meeting and the certificate shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(c) 
Insufficient Petition, Final Determination: If a petition is certified insufficient, and the petitioners’ committee does not elect to amend or request council review under sub-sections (d) and (e) of this section within the time required, the city secretary shall present a certificate to the city council at the next regularly scheduled council meeting which shall be a final determination of the sufficiency of the petition.
(d) 
Insufficient Petition, Appeal: If a petition has been certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee does not file notice of intention to amend it as in Section 10.04(e), the committee may, within two working days after receiving the copy of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the city council. The city council shall review the certificate at its next meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the Council’s determination shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(e) 
Insufficient Petition, Amending: A petition certified insufficient for lack of required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the petitioners’ committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the city secretary within two (2) working days after receiving the copy of her/his certificate, and files a supplementary petition with additional names within two weeks after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of Sections 10.03(b) and (c).
Within five (5) working days after an amended petition is filed, the city secretary shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended and shall within twenty-four (24) hours send a copy of such certificate to the petitioners’ committee by registered mail as in the case of an original petition. The final determination as to the sufficiency of an amended petition shall be determined in the same manner as prescribed for original petitions in Sections 10.04(b), (c) and (d), and no petition, once amended, may be amended again.
(f) 
Court Review; New Petition: A final determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to review in a county court of record and higher. A final determination of insufficiency, even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition of the same purpose.
When a referendum petition is filed with the city secretary, the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
(a) 
there is a final determination of insufficiency of the petition, or
(b) 
the petitioner’s committee withdraws the petition, or
(c) 
the council repeals the ordinance, or
(d) 
the vote of the people in a referendum election determines whether the ordinance sought to be repealed is repealed or is sustained and the election results are certified by the election officials.
All action previously taken under such ordinance or resolution shall be suspended and its legality or validity determined by the final disposition of the referendum petition.
(a) 
Action by Council: The city council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner prescribed for enacting ordinances or reconsider the referred ordinance by voting its repeal. Within sixty (60) days after the date the initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined sufficient the city council shall either (1) adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance, or (2) repeal a referred ordinance, or (3) call an election on the proposed or referred ordinance, said election to be held not later than thirty (30) days from the date called.
(b) 
Submission to Voters: The vote of the city on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held not later than thirty (30) days from the date called by council, except that when a regular city election is to be held within one hundred twenty (120) days, but not less than thirty (30) days, after the final council vote, the vote on the ordinance shall be held at the same time as the regular city election.
Copies of the proposed or referred ordinance shall be made available at the polls and shall also be made available at the city secretary’s office for fifteen (15) days immediately preceding the election and shall be posted at the regular posting places for fifteen (15) days immediately preceding the election.
(c) 
Withdrawal of Petitions: An initiative or referendum petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the twentieth (20th) day preceding the day scheduled for a vote of the city by filing with the city secretary a request for withdrawal signed by at least six members of the petitioners’ committee. Upon filing of such request the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
(a) 
Initiative: If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a proposed initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind adopted by the city council. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.
(b) 
Limitation of Council Repeal: The city council may not repeal or amend the initiated ordinance for one (1) year after the effective date and then only by the affirmative vote of five (5) members of the city council.
(c) 
Referendum: If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a referred ordinance vote against it, it shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results.
The qualified voters shall have the power to recall any elected official of the city on grounds of incompetency, noncompliance with this charter, misconduct or malfeasance in office. Such power shall be exercised by filing with the city secretary a petition, signed by currently qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least twenty percent (20%) of the total number of qualified voters registered to vote at the last regular city election, per district effected, demanding the removal of such elected official. The petition shall be signed and verified in the manner required for an initiative petition.
The provisions regulating initiation, certification, amendment and withdrawal of initiative petitions shall apply to recall petitions. If the petition is certified by the city secretary to be sufficient, the city council shall order an election forthwith to determine whether such officer shall be recalled.
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be against removal of the elected official named on the ballot, she/he shall continue in office. If the majority of the votes cast at the election are for the removal of the elected official named on the ballot, the city council shall immediately declare her/his office vacant and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this charter for the filling of vacancies. An elected official thus removed shall not be a candidate to succeed herself/himself.
No elected official shall be subjected to more than one (1) recall in a twelve (12) month period.
The elected official whose removal is sought may, within five (5) days after such recall petition has been presented to the city council, request that a public hearing be held to permit her/him to present facts pertinent to the charges specified in the recall petition. In this event, the city council shall order such public hearing to be held, not less than five (5) days or more than fifteen (15) days after receiving such request for a public hearing.
In case all of the requirements of this charter shall have been met and the city council fails or refuses to receive the recall petition, or order such recall election, or discharge other duties imposed upon said city council by the provisions of this charter with reference to such recall, then the County Judge of Hale County, Texas, shall discharge any such duties herein provided to be discharged by the city secretary or by the city council. In addition, any qualified voter in the city may seek judicial relief in the District Court of Hale County, Texas, to have any of the provisions of this charter pertaining to recall carried out by the proper official.