By: Yarbrough H.B. No. 1279
73R5411 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to city and county procedures for abating certain
1-3 nuisances.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 5.09(b), (c), and (e), Chapter 741, Acts
1-6 of the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 4477-9a,
1-7 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) For a nuisance on private property, the procedures must
1-9 require not less than five <10> days' notice stating the nature of
1-10 the public nuisance on private property, that it must be removed
1-11 and abated within five <10> days, and that a request for a hearing
1-12 must be made before expiration of the five-day <10-day> period.
1-13 The notice must be mailed, by certified mail with a three-day
1-14 <5-day> return requested, to the last known registered owner of the
1-15 junked motor vehicle, any lien holder of record, and to the owner
1-16 or occupant of the private premises on which the public nuisance
1-17 exists. If the post office address of the last known registered
1-18 owner of the motor vehicle is unknown, notice to the last known
1-19 registered owner may be placed on the motor vehicle, or, if the
1-20 last known registered owner is physically located, the notice may
1-21 be hand delivered. If any notice is returned undelivered by the
1-22 United States Post Office, official action to abate the nuisance
1-23 shall be continued to a date not less than five <10> days after the
1-24 date of the return.
2-1 (c) For a nuisance on public property, the procedures must
2-2 require not less than five <10> days' notice, stating the nature of
2-3 the public nuisance on public property or on a public right-of-way,
2-4 that the nuisance must be removed and abated within five <10> days,
2-5 and that a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of
2-6 the five-day <10 day> period. The notice must be mailed, by
2-7 certified mail with a three-day <5-day> return requested, to the
2-8 last known registered owner of the junked motor vehicle, any lien
2-9 holder of record, and to the owner or occupant of the public
2-10 premises or to the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to
2-11 the public right-of-way on which the public nuisance exists. If
2-12 the post office address of the last known registered owner of the
2-13 motor vehicle is unknown, notice to the last known registered owner
2-14 may be placed on the motor vehicle, or, if the last known
2-15 registered owner is physically located, the notice may be hand
2-16 delivered. If any notice is returned undelivered by the United
2-17 States Post Office, official action to abate the nuisance shall be
2-18 continued to a date not less than five <10> days after the date of
2-19 the return.
2-20 (e) The procedures must require a public hearing before the
2-21 removal of the vehicle or vehicle part as a public nuisance. The
2-22 hearing shall be held before the governing body of the city, town,
2-23 or county or any board, commission, or official of the city, town,
2-24 or county as designated by the governing body, if a hearing is
2-25 requested by the owner or occupant of the public or private
2-26 premises or by the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to
2-27 the public right-of-way on which the vehicle is located, within
3-1 five <10> days after service of notice to abate the nuisance. At
3-2 the hearing it is presumed, unless demonstrated otherwise by the
3-3 owner, that the vehicle is inoperable. A resolution or order
3-4 requiring the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part must include a
3-5 description of the vehicle and the correct identification number
3-6 and license number of the vehicle if the information is available
3-7 at the site.
3-8 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993. The
3-9 changes in law made by this Act apply only to procedures for the
3-10 abatement and removal of a junked vehicle from private or public
3-11 property that are adopted or amended by a city, town, or county on
3-12 or after that date. Procedures for the abatement and removal of a
3-13 junked vehicle from public or private property that were adopted by
3-14 a city, town, or county before the effective date of this Act and
3-15 have not been amended since that date are governed by the law in
3-16 effect at the time the procedures were adopted or most recently
3-17 amended, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-18 purpose.
3-19 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.