1-1 By: Ellis S.B. No. 1198
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1995; March 16, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; March 30, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
1-6 March 30, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1198 By: Ellis
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the power of a municipality to abate certain nuisances,
1-11 including substandard buildings, that are dangerous to the public
1-12 health or safety; creating a civil penalty.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Subsection (o), Section 214.001, Local Government
1-15 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-16 (o) If the notice is given and the opportunity to relocate
1-17 the tenants of the building or to repair, remove, or demolish the
1-18 building is afforded to each mortgagee and lienholder as authorized
1-19 by Subsection (d) or (e), the lien is a privileged lien subordinate
1-20 only to tax liens <and all previously recorded bona fide mortgage
1-21 liens attached to the real property to which the municipality's
1-22 lien attaches>.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 214.0015, Local Government Code, is
1-24 amended by adding Subsections (j), (k), and (l) to read as follows:
1-25 (j) The municipality by order may assess and recover a civil
1-26 penalty against a property owner at the time of an administrative
1-27 hearing on violations of an ordinance, in an amount not to exceed
1-28 $1,000 a day for each violation, if the municipality proves:
1-29 (1) the property owner was notified of the
1-30 requirements of the ordinance and the owner's need to comply with
1-31 the requirements; and
1-32 (2) after notification, the property owner committed
1-33 an act in violation of the ordinance or failed to take an action
1-34 necessary for compliance with the ordinance.
1-35 (k) An assessment of a civil penalty under Subsection (j) is
1-36 final and binding and constitutes prima facie evidence of the
1-37 penalty in any suit brought by a municipality in a court of
1-38 competent jurisdiction for a final judgment in accordance with the
1-39 assessed penalty.
1-40 (l) To enforce a civil penalty under this subchapter, the
1-41 clerk or secretary of the municipality must file with the district
1-42 clerk of the county in which the municipality is located a
1-43 certified copy of an order issued under Subsection (j) stating the
1-44 amount and duration of the penalty. No other proof is required for
1-45 a district court to enter a final judgment on the penalty.
1-46 SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 342, Health and Safety
1-47 Code, is amended by adding Section 342.008 to read as follows:
1-48 Sec. 342.008. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO ABATE DANGEROUS WEEDS.
1-49 (a) A municipality may abate, without notice, weeds that:
1-50 (1) have grown higher than 48 inches; and
1-51 (2) are an immediate danger to the health, life, or
1-52 safety of any person.
1-53 (b) Not later than the 10th day after the date the
1-54 municipality abates weeds under this section, the municipality
1-55 shall give notice to the property owner in the manner required by
1-56 Section 342.006.
1-57 (c) The notice shall contain:
1-58 (1) an identification, which is not required to be a
1-59 legal description, of the property;
1-60 (2) a description of the violations of the ordinance
1-61 that occurred on the property;
1-62 (3) a statement that the municipality abated the
1-63 weeds; and
1-64 (4) an explanation of the property owner's right to
1-65 request an administrative hearing about the municipality's
1-66 abatement of the weeds.
1-67 (d) The municipality shall conduct an administrative hearing
1-68 on the abatement of weeds under this section if, not later than the
2-1 30th day after the date of the abatement of the weeds, the property
2-2 owner files with the municipality a written request for a hearing.
2-3 (e) An administrative hearing conducted under this section
2-4 shall be conducted not later than the 20th day after the date a
2-5 request for a hearing is filed. The owner may testify or present
2-6 any witnesses or written information relating to the municipality's
2-7 abatement of the weeds.
2-8 (f) A municipality may assess expenses and create liens
2-9 under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under
2-10 Section 342.007. A lien created under this section is subject to
2-11 the same conditions as a lien created under Section 342.007.
2-12 (g) The authority granted a municipality by this section is
2-13 in addition to the authority granted by Section 342.006.
2-14 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-20 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-21 * * * * *