S.B. No. 1198
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the power of a municipality to abate certain nuisances,
1-2 including substandard buildings, that are dangerous to the public
1-3 health or safety; creating a civil penalty.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsections (g) and (o), Section 214.001, Local
1-6 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (g) After the hearing, the municipality shall promptly mail
1-8 by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the order to
1-9 the owner of the building<,> and <if the owner does not take the
1-10 ordered action within the allotted time, the municipality shall
1-11 promptly mail by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy
1-12 of the order> to any lienholder or mortgagee of the building. The
1-13 municipality shall use its best efforts <the records in the office
1-14 of the county clerk in the county in which the building is located>
1-15 to determine<, if possible,> the identity and address of any owner,
1-16 lienholder, or mortgagee of the building through the records of the
1-17 county clerk in the county in which the building is located and
1-18 through any other sources available to the municipality.
1-19 (o) If the notice is given and the opportunity to relocate
1-20 the tenants of the building or to repair, remove, or demolish the
1-21 building is afforded to each mortgagee and lienholder as authorized
1-22 by Subsection (d), <or> (e), or (g), the lien is a privileged lien
1-23 subordinate only to tax liens <and all previously recorded bona
1-24 fide mortgage liens attached to the real property to which the
2-1 municipality's lien attaches>.
2-2 SECTION 2. Section 214.0015, Local Government Code, is
2-3 amended by adding Subsections (j), (k), and (l) to read as follows:
2-4 (j) The municipality by order may assess and recover a civil
2-5 penalty against a property owner at the time of an administrative
2-6 hearing on violations of an ordinance, in an amount not to exceed
2-7 $1,000 a day for each violation or, if the owner shows that the
2-8 property is the owner's lawful homestead, in an amount not to
2-9 exceed $10 a day for each violation, if the municipality proves:
2-10 (1) the property owner was notified of the
2-11 requirements of the ordinance and the owner's need to comply with
2-12 the requirements; and
2-13 (2) after notification, the property owner committed
2-14 an act in violation of the ordinance or failed to take an action
2-15 necessary for compliance with the ordinance.
2-16 (k) An assessment of a civil penalty under Subsection (j) is
2-17 final and binding and constitutes prima facie evidence of the
2-18 penalty in any suit brought by a municipality in a court of
2-19 competent jurisdiction for a final judgment in accordance with the
2-20 assessed penalty.
2-21 (l) To enforce a civil penalty under this subchapter, the
2-22 clerk or secretary of the municipality must file with the district
2-23 clerk of the county in which the municipality is located a
2-24 certified copy of an order issued under Subsection (j) stating the
2-25 amount and duration of the penalty. No other proof is required for
2-26 a district court to enter a final judgment on the penalty.
2-27 SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 342, Health and Safety
3-1 Code, is amended by adding Section 342.008 to read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 342.008. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO ABATE DANGEROUS WEEDS.
3-3 (a) A municipality may abate, without notice, weeds that:
3-4 (1) have grown higher than 48 inches; and
3-5 (2) are an immediate danger to the health, life, or
3-6 safety of any person.
3-7 (b) Not later than the 10th day after the date the
3-8 municipality abates weeds under this section, the municipality
3-9 shall give notice to the property owner in the manner required by
3-10 Section 342.006.
3-11 (c) The notice shall contain:
3-12 (1) an identification, which is not required to be a
3-13 legal description, of the property;
3-14 (2) a description of the violations of the ordinance
3-15 that occurred on the property;
3-16 (3) a statement that the municipality abated the
3-17 weeds; and
3-18 (4) an explanation of the property owner's right to
3-19 request an administrative hearing about the municipality's
3-20 abatement of the weeds.
3-21 (d) The municipality shall conduct an administrative hearing
3-22 on the abatement of weeds under this section if, not later than the
3-23 30th day after the date of the abatement of the weeds, the property
3-24 owner files with the municipality a written request for a hearing.
3-25 (e) An administrative hearing conducted under this section
3-26 shall be conducted not later than the 20th day after the date a
3-27 request for a hearing is filed. The owner may testify or present
4-1 any witnesses or written information relating to the municipality's
4-2 abatement of the weeds.
4-3 (f) A municipality may assess expenses and create liens
4-4 under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under
4-5 Section 342.007. A lien created under this section is subject to
4-6 the same conditions as a lien created under Section 342.007.
4-7 (g) The authority granted a municipality by this section is
4-8 in addition to the authority granted by Section 342.006.
4-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-15 passage, and it is so enacted.