By Bivins S.B. No. 595
74R2116 PAM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to granting counties authority to abate a public nuisance
1-3 on certain property and assess costs of abatement.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 343, Health and Safety
1-6 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 343. ABATEMENT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES <IN CERTAIN COUNTIES>
1-8 SECTION 2. Section 343.001, Health and Safety Code, is
1-9 amended to read as follows:
1-10 Sec. 343.001. Application to Unincorporated Area of a
1-11 County <Having a Population of 125,000 or More>. This chapter
1-12 applies only to the unincorporated area of a county <having a
1-13 population of 125,000 or more>.
1-14 SECTION 3. Section 343.011(b), Health and Safety Code, is
1-15 amended to read as follows:
1-16 (b) A public nuisance is:
1-17 (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on
1-18 premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained
1-19 in a closed receptacle;
1-20 (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish,
1-21 including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves,
1-22 furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood for 10
1-23 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed
1-24 in a building or is not visible from a public street;
2-1 (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an
2-2 unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
2-3 rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
2-4 (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a
2-5 neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another
2-6 residence or commercial establishment;
2-7 (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is
2-8 structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or
2-9 public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary
2-10 conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or
2-11 abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
2-12 (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property
2-13 in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
2-14 (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
2-15 that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
2-16 (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
2-17 cannot be removed by a child; <or>
2-18 (7) maintaining a flea market in a manner that
2-19 constitutes a fire hazard; or
2-20 (8) discarding refuse on county-owned land or a
2-21 utility easement.
2-22 SECTION 4. Section 343.022, Health and Safety Code, is
2-23 amended to read as follows:
2-24 Sec. 343.022. Abatement Procedures. (a) The abatement
2-25 procedures adopted by the commissioners court must be administered
2-26 by a regularly salaried, full-time county employee, but the removal
2-27 or demolition of the nuisance may be made by a person authorized by
3-1 the person administering the abatement program.
3-2 (b) The abatement procedures must require that written
3-3 notice be given to:
3-4 (1) the owner, lessee, occupant, agent, or person in
3-5 charge of the premises; or
3-6 (2) the person responsible for causing a public
3-7 nuisance on the premises.
3-8 (c) The notice must state:
3-9 (1) the specific condition that constitutes a
3-10 nuisance;
3-11 (2) that the person receiving notice shall abate the
3-12 nuisance before the 31st day after the date on which the notice is
3-13 served;
3-14 (3) that failure to abate the nuisance may result in:
3-15 (A) abatement by the county;
3-16 (B) <,> assessment of costs;<,> and
3-17 (C) a lien against the property on which the
3-18 nuisance exists, if the person receiving notice has an interest in
3-19 the property; and
3-20 (4) that the person receiving notice <owner, lessee,
3-21 occupant, agent, or person in charge of the premises> is entitled
3-22 to submit, before the 31st day after the date on which the notice
3-23 is served, a written request for a hearing.
3-24 (d) <(c)> The notice must be given:
3-25 (1) by service in person or by registered or certified
3-26 mail, return receipt requested; or
3-27 (2) if personal service cannot be obtained or the
4-1 address of the person to be notified <owner, lessee, agent, or
4-2 person in charge of the property> is unknown, by posting a copy of
4-3 the notice on the premises on which the nuisance exists and by
4-4 publishing the notice in a newspaper with general circulation in
4-5 the county two times within 10 consecutive days.
4-6 (e) <(d)> The abatement procedures must require a hearing
4-7 before the county abates the nuisance if a hearing is requested.
4-8 The hearing may be conducted before the commissioners court or any
4-9 board, commission, or official designated by the commissioners
4-10 court. The commissioners court may designate a board, commission,
4-11 or official to conduct each hearing.
4-12 SECTION 5. Section 343.023(a), Health and Safety Code, is
4-13 amended to read as follows:
4-14 (a) A county may:
4-15 (1) assess the cost of abating the nuisance, the cost
4-16 of legal notification by publication, and an administrative fee of
4-17 not more than $100 on the person receiving notice under Section
4-18 343.022 <owner, lessee, or occupant of the premises on which the
4-19 nuisance exists>; or
4-20 (2) by resolution or order, assess the cost of abating
4-21 the nuisance, the cost of legal notification by publication, and an
4-22 administrative fee of not more than $100 against the property on
4-23 which the nuisance exists.
4-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.