Former Eustace Mayor Alicia Sanders lost her re-election bid im May 2017, but her legacy will live on in the form of sex offender legislation she lobbied Texas lawmakers to pass.

State Rep. Lance Gooden and State Sen. Robert Nichols pushed a bill through in June 2017 that allows small cities to regulate where sex offenders can live as is practiced in large cities.

Similiar attempts by stand-alone bills failed since 2009, but Gooden and Nichols championed the legislation again this year and suceeded by attaching an amendment to a Senate bill.

The bill is now headed for the governor's office, and it is expected to be signed into law. It survived a long, heated debate before its passage.

Opponents of the legislation argue that such laws make it more difficult to rehabilitate sex offenders and reintegrate them into society .Proponents counter that sex offenders often fail to achieve rehabilitation.

"I'm glad we were finally able to get this across the finish line after numerous sucessful attempts by Democrats to kill this legislation," Gooden said. "Sen. Nichols has been a wonderful partner in these efforts, and I cant thank him enough for helping us..."

Sanders and other outraged Eustace residents promoted the legislation because they could not prohibit registered sex offenders from living near schools.

Current Eustace Mayor Dustin Shelton praised the new law and said the City Council would act quickly to pass a local ordinance to regulate where sex offenders can live.