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.