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 * * * * *