S.B. No. 595
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of counties to abate a public nuisance on
1-2 certain property and assess costs of abatement.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 343, Health and Safety
1-5 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 343. ABATEMENT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES <IN CERTAIN COUNTIES>
1-7 SECTION 2. Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, is
1-8 amended to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 343.011. Public Nuisance IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.
1-10 (a) This section applies to the unincorporated area of a county
1-11 with a population of 125,000 or more.
1-12 (b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
1-13 nuisance under this section on any premises.
1-14 (c) <(b)> A public nuisance is:
1-15 (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on
1-16 premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained
1-17 in a closed receptacle;
1-18 (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish,
1-19 including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves,
1-20 furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood for 10
1-21 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed
1-22 in a building or is not visible from a public street;
1-23 (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an
1-24 unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
2-1 rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
2-2 (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a
2-3 neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another
2-4 residence or commercial establishment;
2-5 (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is
2-6 structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or
2-7 public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary
2-8 conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or
2-9 abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
2-10 (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property
2-11 in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
2-12 (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
2-13 that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
2-14 (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
2-15 cannot be removed by a child; or
2-16 (7) maintaining a flea market in a manner that
2-17 constitutes a fire hazard.
2-18 (d) <(c)> This section does not apply to a site or facility
2-19 that is permitted and regulated by a state agency.
2-20 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 343, Health and Safety
2-21 Code, is amended by adding Section 343.0111 to read as follows:
2-22 Sec. 343.0111. PUBLIC NUISANCE GENERALLY APPLICABLE.
2-23 (a) This section applies to the unincorporated area of a county,
2-24 regardless of the population size of the county.
2-25 (b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
2-26 nuisance under this section.
2-27 (c) A public nuisance is:
3-1 (1) discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual
3-2 obstruction on:
3-3 (A) county-owned land; or
3-4 (B) land or easements owned or held by a special
3-5 district that has the county commissioners court as its governing
3-6 body; or
3-7 (2) discarding refuse on the smaller of:
3-8 (A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of
3-9 a utility line; or
3-10 (B) the actual span of the utility easement.
3-11 SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 343.012, Health and
3-12 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-13 (a) A person commits an offense if:
3-14 (1) the person violates Section 343.011(b) or
3-15 343.0111(b) <343.011(a)>; and
3-16 (2) the nuisance remains unabated after the 30th day
3-17 after the date on which the person receives notice from a county
3-18 official, agent, or employee to abate the nuisance.
3-19 SECTION 5. Section 343.022, Health and Safety Code, is
3-20 amended to read as follows:
3-21 Sec. 343.022. Abatement Procedures. (a) The abatement
3-22 procedures adopted by the commissioners court must be administered
3-23 by a regularly salaried, full-time county employee, but the removal
3-24 or demolition of the nuisance may be made by a person authorized by
3-25 the person administering the abatement program.
3-26 (b) The abatement procedures must require that written
3-27 notice be given to:
4-1 (1) the owner, lessee, occupant, agent, or person in
4-2 charge of the premises; and
4-3 (2) the person responsible for causing a public
4-4 nuisance on the premises when:
4-5 (A) that person is not the owner, lessee,
4-6 occupant, agent, or person in charge of the premises; and
4-7 (B) the person responsible can be identified.
4-8 (c) The notice must state:
4-9 (1) the specific condition that constitutes a
4-10 nuisance;
4-11 (2) that the person receiving notice shall abate the
4-12 nuisance before the 31st day after the date on which the notice is
4-13 served;
4-14 (3) that failure to abate the nuisance may result in:
4-15 (A) abatement by the county;
4-16 (B) <,> assessment of costs to the person
4-17 responsible for causing the nuisance when that person can be
4-18 identified;<,> and
4-19 (C) a lien against the property on which the
4-20 nuisance exists, if the person responsible for causing the nuisance
4-21 has an interest in the property; and
4-22 (4) that the person receiving notice <owner, lessee,
4-23 occupant, agent, or person in charge of the premises> is entitled
4-24 to submit, before the 31st day after the date on which the notice
4-25 is served, a written request for a hearing.
4-26 (d) <(c)> The notice must be given:
4-27 (1) by service in person or by registered or certified
5-1 mail, return receipt requested; or
5-2 (2) if personal service cannot be obtained or the
5-3 address of the person to be notified <owner, lessee, agent, or
5-4 person in charge of the property> is unknown, by posting a copy of
5-5 the notice on the premises on which the nuisance exists and by
5-6 publishing the notice in a newspaper with general circulation in
5-7 the county two times within 10 consecutive days.
5-8 (e) <(d)> The abatement procedures must require a hearing
5-9 before the county abates the nuisance if a hearing is requested.
5-10 The hearing may be conducted before the commissioners court or any
5-11 board, commission, or official designated by the commissioners
5-12 court. The commissioners court may designate a board, commission,
5-13 or official to conduct each hearing.
5-14 SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 343.023,
5-15 Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
5-16 (a) A county may:
5-17 (1) assess the cost of abating the nuisance, the cost
5-18 of legal notification by publication, and an administrative fee of
5-19 not more than $100 on the person receiving notice under Section
5-20 343.022 <owner, lessee, or occupant of the premises on which the
5-21 nuisance exists>; or
5-22 (2) by resolution or order, assess the cost of abating
5-23 the nuisance, the cost of legal notification by publication, and an
5-24 administrative fee of not more than $100 against the property on
5-25 which the nuisance exists.
5-26 (c) To obtain a lien against the property to secure an
5-27 assessment, the commissioners court of the county must file a
6-1 notice that contains a statement of costs, a legal description of
6-2 the property sufficient to identify the property, and the name of
6-3 the property owner, if known, with the county clerk of the county
6-4 in which the property is located <and follow any other procedure
6-5 required by law to secure a lien against the property>.
6-6 (d) The county's lien to secure an assessment attaches when
6-7 the notice of lien is filed and is inferior to a previously
6-8 recorded bona fide mortgage lien attached to the real property to
6-9 which the county's lien attaches, if the mortgage was filed for
6-10 record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the
6-11 real property is located before the date on which the county files
6-12 the notice of lien with the county clerk <begins the abatement>.
6-13 SECTION 7. Section 343.001, Health and Safety Code, is
6-14 repealed.
6-15 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
6-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.