| (a) Eligibility for appointment. To be eligible for
appointment as an arbitrator to a particular arbitration proceeding,
an arbitrator must satisfy the requirements of this section.
(b) Engaging in activities in county's appraisal district.
An arbitrator is ineligible for and shall not accept any appointment
in a county in which the property that is the subject of the arbitration
is located, if at any time during the two years preceding the appointment
at issue, the arbitrator has engaged in the following activities in
that county's appraisal district:
(1) represented any person or entity for compensation,
or served as an officer or employee of any firm, company, or other
organization that has represented another person or entity for compensation,
in any proceeding under Tax Code, Title 1 (Property Tax Code);
(2) served as an officer or employee of the appraisal
district; or
(3) served as a member of the appraisal review board
for the appraisal district.
(c) Duration of proceeding. For purposes of subsection
(b)(1) of this section, a proceeding under Tax Code, Title 1 (Property
Tax Code), begins with the filing of a notice of protest and includes
communications with appraisal district employees regarding a matter
under protest, protest settlement negotiations, any appearance at
an ARB hearing, any involvement in a binding arbitration under Tax
Code, Chapter 41A, and any involvement at either the district court
or appellate court level of an appeal pursued under Tax Code, Chapter
42.
(d) Family relationships. An arbitrator is ineligible
for and shall not accept an appointment to any arbitration in which
the arbitrator is related by affinity within the second degree or
by consanguinity within the third degree as determined under Government
Code, Chapter 573, to any of the following individuals:
(1) the property owner or the property owner's agent;
(2) an officer, employee, or contractor of the appraisal
district responsible for appraising the property at issue;
(3) a member of the board of directors of the appraisal
district responsible for appraising the property at issue; or
(4) a member of the ARB in the area in which the property
at issue is located.
(e) Business relationships. An arbitrator is ineligible
for and shall not accept an appointment to any arbitration in which
the arbitrator currently or during the previous two years has had
a business relationship with the property owner, the property owner's
agent, the ARB, or the appraisal district involved in that particular
arbitration.
(f) Other conflicts of interest. An arbitrator is ineligible
for and shall not accept an appointment to any arbitration in which
the arbitrator knows of any other conflict of interest that has not
been previously described above.
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