Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 10 amends provisions of the Local Government Code and the Government Code relating to the preservation of state and local historic property. The bill modifies provisions for serving on a county historical commission, increases the number of times that the commission must meet to at least four times a year, and requires that the meetings be conducted in accordance with the state's open meetings laws. The bill clarifies that archeological sites and private archeological collections are included in a county historical commission's survey of the existence of historical sites in the county. It provides that a commission should maintain its inventory of historical property in the county using standards set by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and should establish a system for the review and assessment of the condition of designated county properties.

            House Bill 10 authorizes a county commissioners court to make agreements with government agencies or private organizations and to use the county's general revenue fund for programs or activities that promote historic and cultural sites in the county. It provides that the commission should establish a system for the periodic review, assessment, and maintenance of Official Texas Historical Markers in the county and to prepare a preservation plan for the county's historic and cultural resources. The bill requires the THC to administer a program to assist local governments, museums, and county historical commissions in acquiring historical artifacts discovered in Texas that are significant in Texas or American history. The bill changes the composition of the advisory board of the Texas Preservation Trust Fund Account.

            House Bill 10 provides that the THC should establish a program to identify and preserve Texas underground railroad historical sites and abandoned cemeteries and that the legislature may appropriate money to the THC to implement the program. The bill authorizes the removal, relocation, or alteration of monuments or memorials on state property only by the legislature, the THC, the State Preservation Board, or as necessary to accommodate construction, repairs, or improvements to the monument or memorial or to the surrounding state property on which it is located.