1-1 By: Patterson S.B. No. 74
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed November 21, 1994; January 11, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; March 30, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0;
1-6 March 30, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 74 By: Patterson
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the authority of a county to regulate dangerous
1-11 structures; providing a penalty.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 7, Local Government Code, is
1-14 amended by adding Chapter 239 to read as follows:
1-15 CHAPTER 239. COUNTY REGULATION OF STRUCTURES
1-16 Sec. 239.001. REQUIRING REPAIR, REMOVAL, OR DEMOLITION OF
1-17 BUILDING OR OTHER STRUCTURE. (a) If the commissioners court of a
1-18 county that borders the Gulf of Mexico and is adjacent to a county
1-19 with a population of more than 2.5 million finds that a building,
1-20 bulkhead or other method of shoreline protection, fence, shed,
1-21 awning, or other structure or part of a structure in an
1-22 unincorporated area of the county is likely to endanger persons or
1-23 property, the commissioners court may:
1-24 (1) order the owner of the structure, the owner's
1-25 agent, or the owner or occupant of the property on which the
1-26 structure is located to repair, remove, or demolish the structure
1-27 or the part of the structure within a specified time; or
1-28 (2) repair, remove, or demolish the structure or the
1-29 part of the structure at the expense of the county on behalf of the
1-30 owner of the structure or the owner of the property on which the
1-31 structure is located and assess the repair, removal, or demolition
1-32 expenses on the property on which the structure was located.
1-33 (b) The commissioners court shall provide by order for:
1-34 (1) the assessment of repair, removal, or demolition
1-35 expenses incurred under Subsection (a)(2);
1-36 (2) a method of giving notice of the assessment; and
1-37 (3) a method of recovering the expenses.
1-38 (c) Promptly after the assessment, the county must file for
1-39 record, in recordable form in the office of the county clerk in
1-40 which the property is located, a written notice of the imposition
1-41 of a lien, if any, that is imposed on the property. The notice
1-42 must contain a legal description of the property, the amount of the
1-43 assessment, and the owner if known. The lien arises and attaches
1-44 to the property at the time the notice of the assessment is
1-45 recorded and indexed in the office of the county clerk in the
1-46 county in which the property is located. The notice to secure the
1-47 assessment is inferior to any previously recorded bona fide
1-48 mortgage lien attached to the property to which the county's lien
1-49 attaches if the mortgage lien was filed for record in the office of
1-50 the county clerk of the county in which the property is located
1-51 before the date the notice is recorded and indexed in the office of
1-52 the county clerk. The assessment lien is superior to all other
1-53 previously recorded judgment liens.
1-54 (d) A person commits an offense if the person does not
1-55 comply with an order issued under Subsection (a)(1). An offense
1-56 under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
1-57 (e) This section does not apply to a:
1-58 (1) residential building; or
1-59 (2) building or other structure that is owned or held
1-60 in trust by a political subdivision of this state.
1-61 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
1-62 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-63 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-64 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-65 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-66 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-67 passage, and it is so enacted.
1-68 * * * * *