Term of office; limitation of terms.
Houston City Charter, art. V, § 6a
in effectSection 6a. - Term of office; limitation of terms.
(a) For the purposes of term limits, City elective offices are Mayor, City Controller, and City Council Member (either At-Large or District). The term of office for a City elective office shall be four years. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall be eligible to be elected to more than two four-year terms in the same City elective office.
(b) For positions to be elected at the City General Election to be held in November 2015, the eligibility of persons then holding City elective office to seek re-election to a City elective office shall be as follows:
1. A person serving his or her first two-year term shall be eligible to seek two additional terms of four years duration in that same office. A person having then served two additional terms of four years duration shall not be eligible to seek re-election to the same office.
2. A person serving his or her second two-year term shall be eligible to seek one additional term of four years duration in that same office. A person having then served one additional term of four years duration shall not be eligible to seek re-election to the same office.
3. A person serving his or her third two-year term shall not be eligible to seek election to that same office.
(c) In all City General Elections after the City General Election to be held in November 2015, a term to which a City elective officer was elected or appointed shall be counted only if the City elective officer served one-half or more of the term.
(d) Persons term limited under prior law shall continue to be term limited. Persons who served a single term prior to 2016 who are not serving in City elective office in 2015 and thus not subject to subsection (b), shall be eligible to serve one additional four-year term in the same City elective office.
(e) A prohibition against eligibility to seek election to a certain City elective office shall not bar a person from seeking election to another City elective office that such person has not previously held. (Added by amendment November 5, 1991; amended 11-3-2015)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH_ARTVOFEL_S6ATEOFLITEFetched: 10/26/2026