(a) A health authority must be appointed in a municipality or county that has established a local health department or public health district.
  (1) The director of a local health department or public health district, if the director is a physician, shall be the health authority within the jurisdiction of the local health department or public health district.
  (2) If a non-physician serves as the director of a local health department or public health district, the director shall appoint a physician to serve as the health authority within the jurisdiction of such local health department or public health district, subject to the approval of the governing body of the local health department or public health district. No action is required by the department to further approve the appointment.
(b) A health authority may be appointed, but is not required to be appointed, in a municipality or county that has not established a local health department or public health district. The governing body of the municipality or the commissioners court of the county may appoint the health authority within its jurisdiction.
(c) A health authority serves for a term of two years and may be appointed to successive terms.
(d) A regional director of the department shall perform the duties of a health authority when there is no health authority for a municipality, county, public health district, or entity authorized to appoint a health authority in a jurisdiction in the regional director's region.
(e) A regional director of the department may perform some or all of the duties of a health authority, if an appointed health authority fails to perform duties prescribed by the department in this section. At the request of the appointing authority, a regional director may serve as a health authority because of the absence or incapacity of the appointed health authority. No action by the department is necessary to further approve a regional director's performance or service.
(f) A health authority shall perform each duty that is necessary to implement and enforce a law to protect the public health, as stated in the Texas Health and Safety Code, §121.024.
(g) An appointed health authority shall take the official oath required by the Texas Constitution, Article 16, §1, including the statement of appointed officer, and file a copy of the oath and appointment with the appropriate regional office within 10 working days of the date of taking the oath.
(h) If a health authority ceases to hold office for any reason, the appointing authority shall immediately notify the department and appropriate regional director. When a new health authority has been appointed, the person takes the action outlined in subsection (g) of this section and notifies the appropriate regional office of the change.

Source Note: The provisions of this §85.3 adopted to be effective February 1, 2021, 45 TexReg 8522