By Bosse                                              H.B. No. 1852
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the control of outdoor advertising signs; providing
    1-3  penalties.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 4.03, Chapter 741, Acts of the 67th
    1-6  Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 4477-9a, Vernon's Texas
    1-7  Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsections (h), (i), and (j)
    1-8  to read as follows:
    1-9        (h)(1)  The legislature declares that signs erected and
   1-10  maintained in violation of this Act endanger the health, safety,
   1-11  welfare, morals, convenience, and enjoyment of the traveling public
   1-12  and the protection of the public investment in the interstate and
   1-13  primary highway systems and thereby constitute a public nuisance.
   1-14              (2)  An owner of a sign erected or maintained in
   1-15  violation of this section shall remove the sign upon written
   1-16  notification by certified mail from the Texas Department of
   1-17  Transportation.  If the owner of a sign does not remove the sign
   1-18  within 45 calendar days of the date of the notice, the department
   1-19  may direct the attorney general to initiate injunctive proceedings
   1-20  to enjoin the owner of the sign from maintaining the sign and
   1-21  requiring the effective removal of the sign.
   1-22              (3)  In an action brought under Subdivision (2) of this
   1-23  subsection, the state is entitled to recover from the owner of a
    2-1  sign removed as a result of injunctive proceedings all
    2-2  administrative and legal costs and expenses incurred to effect
    2-3  removal of the sign, including, but not limited to, court costs and
    2-4  reasonable attorney's fees.
    2-5        (i)  An owner or lessor of a tract of land who allows a
    2-6  person to erect or maintain a sign in violation of this section
    2-7  commits an offense.
    2-8        (j)(1)  In addition to being subject to a criminal penalty or
    2-9  injunctive action as otherwise provided by law, a person who
   2-10  intentionally violates this section is liable to the state for a
   2-11  civil penalty.  The attorney general may sue to collect the
   2-12  penalty.
   2-13              (2)  The amount of the civil penalty is not less than
   2-14  $500 nor more than $1,000 for each violation, depending on the
   2-15  seriousness of the violation.  A separate civil penalty may be
   2-16  collected for each day on which a continuing violation occurs.
   2-17              (3)  Civil penalties collected under this section shall
   2-18  be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the state
   2-19  highway fund.
   2-20        SECTION 2.  Section 4.12, Chapter 741, Acts of the 67th
   2-21  Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 4477-9a, Vernon's Texas
   2-22  Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
   2-23        Sec. 4.12.  PENALTY.  A person who wilfully commits an
   2-24  offense under this article or wilfully violates any rule adopted by
   2-25  the commission in accordance with this article is, on conviction,
    3-1  subject to a fine of not less than $500 <$25> nor more than $1,000
    3-2  <$200>.  Each day of the wilful offense or violation constitutes a
    3-3  separate offense.
    3-4        SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
    3-5  only to the punishment for an offense committed on or after the
    3-6  effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an
    3-7  offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
    3-8  element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
    3-9        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   3-10  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   3-11  and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
   3-12        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.