My State Guard unit has been called up to help manage shelter operations for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Government code gives all State, County and City employees 15 days of paid military leave, and Legislators unlimited paid military leave.

Has anyone had this come up with local elected officials? If I was on the beach at Cancun I would get paid until somebody sued and removed me from office, so I'm not sure the 15 days restriction applies, even I miss more than 15 business days.

You might call Bill Sowder in Lubbock, I think he was gone quite a while on military service when he was the DA.

Since elected officials generally aren't subject to leave constraints (e.g., sick or vacation), your underlying presumption is correct. Moreover, I have some difficulty envisioning how active duty service to assist in an unprecedented disaster on domestic soil fits within the pivotal chapter 87 concepts of official misconduct or incompetency. The only absence-related ground under chapter 87 is the component of "incompetency" that includes "unfitness or inability to promptly and properly discharge official duties because of a serious physical or mental defect that did not exist at the time of the officer's election." Tex. Loc. Gov't Code sec. 87.011(2)(C). By the same token, it would be difficult to plausibly make the argument that a failure to perform the duties of office caused by military service would constitute an "intentional or corrupt" failure so as to constitute official misconduct. See Tex. Loc. Gov't Code sec. 87.011(3). Appointment of an attorney pro tem during the absence is, of course, a possibility. Ultimately, I think the question becomes more political than legal. But it seems to me that a potential opponent would have to come up with something more than simple absence, when the explanation is military service. Unless your voters primarily consist of transplants from San Francisco.