1-1 By: Bivins S.B. No. 595
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 16, 1995; February 20, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; April 19, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
1-6 April 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 595 By: Patterson
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the authority of counties to abate a public nuisance on
1-11 certain property and assess costs of abatement.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 343, Health and Safety
1-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-15 CHAPTER 343. ABATEMENT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES <IN CERTAIN COUNTIES>
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, is
1-17 amended to read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 343.011. Public Nuisance IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.
1-19 (a) This section applies to the unincorporated area of a county
1-20 with a population of 125,000 or more.
1-21 (b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
1-22 nuisance under this section on any premises.
1-23 (c) <(b)> A public nuisance is:
1-24 (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on
1-25 premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained
1-26 in a closed receptacle;
1-27 (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish,
1-28 including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves,
1-29 furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood for 10
1-30 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed
1-31 in a building or is not visible from a public street;
1-32 (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an
1-33 unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
1-34 rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
1-35 (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a
1-36 neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another
1-37 residence or commercial establishment;
1-38 (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is
1-39 structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or
1-40 public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary
1-41 conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or
1-42 abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
1-43 (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property
1-44 in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
1-45 (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
1-46 that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
1-47 (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
1-48 cannot be removed by a child; or
1-49 (7) maintaining a flea market in a manner that
1-50 constitutes a fire hazard.
1-51 (d) <(c)> This section does not apply to a site or facility
1-52 that is permitted and regulated by a state agency.
1-53 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 343, Health and Safety
1-54 Code, is amended by adding Section 343.0111 to read as follows:
1-55 Sec. 343.0111. PUBLIC NUISANCE GENERALLY APPLICABLE.
1-56 (a) This section applies to the unincorporated area of a county,
1-57 regardless of the population size of the county.
1-58 (b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
1-59 nuisance under this section.
1-60 (c) A public nuisance is:
1-61 (1) discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual
1-62 obstruction on:
1-63 (A) county-owned land;
1-64 (B) land or easements owned or held by a special
1-65 district that has the county commissioners court as its governing
1-66 body;
1-67 (2) discarding refuse on the smaller of:
1-68 (A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of
2-1 a utility line; or
2-2 (B) the actual span of the utility easement.
2-3 SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 343.012, Health and
2-4 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-5 (a) A person commits an offense if:
2-6 (1) the person violates Section 343.011(b) or
2-7 343.0111(b) <343.011(a)>; and
2-8 (2) the nuisance remains unabated after the 30th day
2-9 after the date on which the person receives notice from a county
2-10 official, agent, or employee to abate the nuisance.
2-11 SECTION 5. Section 343.022, Health and Safety Code, is
2-12 amended to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 343.022. Abatement Procedures. (a) The abatement
2-14 procedures adopted by the commissioners court must be administered
2-15 by a regularly salaried, full-time county employee, but the removal
2-16 or demolition of the nuisance may be made by a person authorized by
2-17 the person administering the abatement program.
2-18 (b) The abatement procedures must require that written
2-19 notice be given to:
2-20 (1) the owner, lessee, occupant, agent, or person in
2-21 charge of the premises; and
2-22 (2) the person responsible for causing a public
2-23 nuisance on the premises when:
2-24 (A) that person is not the owner, lessee,
2-25 occupant, agent, or person in charge of the premises; and
2-26 (B) the person responsible can be identified.
2-27 (c) The notice must state:
2-28 (1) the specific condition that constitutes a
2-29 nuisance;
2-30 (2) that the person receiving notice shall abate the
2-31 nuisance before the 31st day after the date on which the notice is
2-32 served;
2-33 (3) that failure to abate the nuisance may result in:
2-34 (A) abatement by the county;
2-35 (B) <,> assessment of costs to the person
2-36 responsible for causing the nuisance when that person can be
2-37 identified;<,> and
2-38 (C) a lien against the property on which the
2-39 nuisance exists, if the person responsible for causing the nuisance
2-40 has an interest in the property; and
2-41 (4) that the person receiving notice <owner, lessee,
2-42 occupant, agent, or person in charge of the premises> is entitled
2-43 to submit, before the 31st day after the date on which the notice
2-44 is served, a written request for a hearing.
2-45 (d) <(c)> The notice must be given:
2-46 (1) by service in person or by registered or certified
2-47 mail, return receipt requested; or
2-48 (2) if personal service cannot be obtained or the
2-49 address of the person to be notified <owner, lessee, agent, or
2-50 person in charge of the property> is unknown, by posting a copy of
2-51 the notice on the premises on which the nuisance exists and by
2-52 publishing the notice in a newspaper with general circulation in
2-53 the county two times within 10 consecutive days.
2-54 (e) <(d)> The abatement procedures must require a hearing
2-55 before the county abates the nuisance if a hearing is requested.
2-56 The hearing may be conducted before the commissioners court or any
2-57 board, commission, or official designated by the commissioners
2-58 court. The commissioners court may designate a board, commission,
2-59 or official to conduct each hearing.
2-60 SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 343.023,
2-61 Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-62 (a) A county may:
2-63 (1) assess the cost of abating the nuisance, the cost
2-64 of legal notification by publication, and an administrative fee of
2-65 not more than $100 on the person receiving notice under Section
2-66 343.022 <owner, lessee, or occupant of the premises on which the
2-67 nuisance exists>; or
2-68 (2) by resolution or order, assess the cost of abating
2-69 the nuisance, the cost of legal notification by publication, and an
2-70 administrative fee of not more than $100 against the property on
3-1 which the nuisance exists.
3-2 (c) To obtain a lien against the property to secure an
3-3 assessment, the commissioners court of the county must file a
3-4 notice that contains a statement of costs, a legal description of
3-5 the property sufficient to identify the property, and the name of
3-6 the property owner, if known, with the county clerk of the county
3-7 in which the property is located <and follow any other procedure
3-8 required by law to secure a lien against the property>.
3-9 (d) The county's lien to secure an assessment attaches when
3-10 the notice of lien is filed and is inferior to a previously
3-11 recorded bona fide mortgage lien attached to the real property to
3-12 which the county's lien attaches, if the mortgage was filed for
3-13 record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the
3-14 real property is located before the date on which the county files
3-15 the notice of lien with the county clerk <begins the abatement>.
3-16 SECTION 7. Section 343.001, Health and Safety Code, is
3-17 repealed.
3-18 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-23 * * * * *