74R8471 CAG-D By Raymond H.B. No. 2030 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2030: By Longoria C.S.H.B. No. 2030 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the ability of a county, state agency, or other fire 1-3 suppression entity to recover the cost of furnishing fire 1-4 protection for a negligently, recklessly, or intentionally set 1-5 fire. 1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-7 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 11, Local Government Code, is 1-8 amended by adding Chapter 363 to read as follows: 1-9 CHAPTER 363. FIRE PROTECTION COSTS 1-10 Sec. 363.001. ACTIONS TO RECOVER COSTS OF FIRE PROTECTION. 1-11 (a) A county, state agency, or other public fire suppression entity 1-12 may recover from a person the reasonable costs incurred by the 1-13 county, state agency, or other public fire suppression entity in 1-14 furnishing fire protection to control or extinguish a fire if: 1-15 (1) the fire is negligently, recklessly, or 1-16 intentionally set by the person; or 1-17 (2) the fire is the result of a person's conduct for 1-18 which the person is adjudged guilty of an offense under Section 1-19 28.02 or 28.04, Penal Code. 1-20 (b) If a determination is made during a criminal trial that 1-21 a person committed an offense under Section 28.02 or 28.04, Penal 1-22 Code, and as a result of the offense the person caused an incident 1-23 resulting in a fire suppression response by a county, state agency, 1-24 or other public fire suppression entity, the court may include the 2-1 obligation for the liability as part of the judgment. A judgment 2-2 that includes such an obligation is enforceable as any other 2-3 judgment. 2-4 (c) The liability is a debt of the person to the county, 2-5 state agency, or other public fire suppression entity, and the debt 2-6 may be collected in the same manner as a public agency collects an 2-7 express or implied contractual obligation. 2-8 (d) A person's liability under this section for the 2-9 reasonable expense of a response may not exceed $5,000 for a 2-10 particular incident. For the purposes of this subsection, a 2-11 reasonable expense for a response includes only those costs 2-12 directly arising from the response to a particular incident, 2-13 including the costs of any salary of the fire suppression personnel 2-14 who participated in the response to the incident. 2-15 (e) A bill for the expense of a county, state agency, or 2-16 other public fire suppression entity for the provision of fire 2-17 protection for an incident must contain an itemized accounting of 2-18 the components of the total charge. 2-19 (f) Jurisdiction and venue of an action under this section 2-20 are in the district court, county court at law, or justice court of 2-21 the area where the fire occurred. 2-22 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and 2-23 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after that 2-24 date. An action that accrued before the effective date of this Act 2-25 is governed by the law applicable to the action as it existed 2-26 immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is 2-27 continued in effect for that purpose. 3-1 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 3-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.