Sec. 87.018. TRIAL. (a) Officers may be removed only following a trial by jury.

(b) The trial for removal of an officer and the proceedings connected with the trial shall be conducted as much as possible in accordance with the rules and practice of the court in other civil cases, in the name of the State of Texas, and on the relation of the person filing the petition.

(c) In a removal case, the judge may not submit special issues to the jury. Under a proper charge applicable to the facts of the case, the judge shall instruct the jury to find from the evidence whether the grounds for removal alleged in the petition are true. If the petition alleges more than one ground for removal, the jury shall indicate in the verdict which grounds are sustained by the evidence and which are not sustained.

(d) The county attorney shall represent the state in a proceeding for the removal of an officer except as otherwise provided by Subsection (e) or (f).

(e) In a proceeding to remove a county attorney from office, the district attorney shall represent the state. If the county does not have a district attorney, the county attorney from an adjoining county, as selected by the commissioners court of the county in which the proceeding is pending, shall represent the state.

(f) In a proceeding to remove the county attorney or district attorney from office, the county attorney from an adjoining county, as selected by the commissioners court of the county in which the proceeding is pending, shall represent the state if the attorney who would otherwise represent the state under this section is also the subject of a pending removal proceeding.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 563, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.