By: Patterson S.B. No. 74
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of a county to regulate dangerous
1-2 structures; providing a penalty.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 7, Local Government Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Chapter 239 to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 239. COUNTY REGULATION OF STRUCTURES
1-7 Sec. 239.001. REQUIRING REPAIR, REMOVAL, OR DEMOLITION OF
1-8 BUILDING OR OTHER STRUCTURE. (a) If the commissioners court of a
1-9 county that borders the Gulf of Mexico and is adjacent to a county
1-10 with a population of more than 2.5 million finds that a building,
1-11 bulkhead or other method of shoreline protection, fence, shed,
1-12 awning, or other structure or part of a structure in an
1-13 unincorporated area of the county is likely to endanger persons or
1-14 property, the commissioners court may:
1-15 (1) order the owner of the structure, the owner's
1-16 agent, or the owner or occupant of the property on which the
1-17 structure is located to repair, remove, or demolish the structure
1-18 or the part of the structure within a specified time; or
1-19 (2) repair, remove, or demolish the structure or the
1-20 part of the structure at the expense of the county on behalf of the
1-21 owner of the structure or the owner of the property on which the
1-22 structure is located and assess the repair, removal, or demolition
1-23 expenses on the property on which the structure was located.
1-24 (b) The commissioners court shall provide by order for:
2-1 (1) the assessment of repair, removal, or demolition
2-2 expenses incurred under Subsection (a)(2);
2-3 (2) a method of giving notice of the assessment; and
2-4 (3) a method of recovering the expenses.
2-5 (c) Promptly after the assessment, the county must file for
2-6 record, in recordable form in the office of the county clerk in
2-7 which the property is located, a written notice of the imposition
2-8 of a lien, if any, that is imposed on the property. The notice
2-9 must contain a legal description of the property, the amount of the
2-10 assessment, and the owner if known. The lien arises and attaches
2-11 to the property at the time the notice of the assessment is
2-12 recorded and indexed in the office of the county clerk in the
2-13 county in which the property is located. The notice to secure the
2-14 assessment is inferior to any previously recorded bona fide
2-15 mortgage lien attached to the property to which the county's lien
2-16 attaches if the mortgage lien was filed for record in the office of
2-17 the county clerk of the county in which the property is located
2-18 before the date the notice is recorded and indexed in the office of
2-19 the county clerk. The assessment lien is superior to all other
2-20 previously recorded judgment liens.
2-21 (d) A person commits an offense if the person does not
2-22 comply with an order issued under Subsection (a)(1). An offense
2-23 under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
2-24 (e) This section does not apply to a:
2-25 (1) residential building; or
2-26 (2) building or other structure that is owned or held
2-27 in trust by a political subdivision of this state.
3-1 SECTION 2. 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,
3-6 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-7 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-8 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
3-9 Amend S.B. 74, Section 1, page 3, line 3, by inserting the
3-10 words "the state or" after the word "by" and before the words "a
3-11 political subdivision".
3-12 Amend S.B. 74, by striking Sec. 239.001(a) in its entirety
3-13 and substituting the following therefore:
3-14 Sec. 239.001. REQUIRING REPAIR, REMOVAL, OR DEMOLITION OF
3-15 BUILDING OF OTHER STRUCTURE. (a) If the commissioners court of a
3-16 county that borders the Gulf of Mexico and is adjacent to a county
3-17 with a population of more that 2.5 million finds that a bulkhead or
3-18 other method of shoreline protection, (hereafter called structure),
3-19 in an unincorporated area of the county is likely to endanger
3-20 persons or property, the commissioners may:
3-21 Amend S.B. 74, page 3, line 3, by striking the period after
3-22 "state" and replacing with "; or" and adding a section (c)(3) to
3-23 read:
3-24 (3) a building or structure used on or in connection
3-25 with an agriculture operation.
3-26 Longoria