Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

      Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

      By Uher                                         H.B. No. 2978

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the regulation of professional land surveying.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Amend subsection (1) of Section 2, Article 5282c,

 1-5     Revised Statutes, to read as follows:

 1-6                 (1)  "Professional surveying" means the practice of

 1-7     land, boundary, or property surveying or other similar professional

 1-8     practices.  The term includes any service or work the adequate

 1-9     performance of which involves the application of special knowledge

1-10     of the principles of geodesy, mathematics, related applied and

1-11     physical sciences, and relevant laws to the measurement, mapping

1-12     and location of sites, points, lines, angles, elevations, natural

1-13     features, and existing man-made works in the air, on the surface of

1-14     the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies

1-15     of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes for:

1-16                       (A)  the location of real property boundaries;

1-17                       (B)  the platting and layout of lands and

1-18     subdivisions of land; and

1-19                       (C)  the preparation and perpetuation of maps,

1-20     record plats, field note records, easements, and real property

1-21     descriptions that represent those surveys.

1-22           SECTION 2.  Amend subsection (a) of Section 16, Article

1-23     5282c, Revised Statutes, to read as follows:

1-24           (a)  Each applicant seeking certification as a

 2-1     surveyor-in-training, registration as a registered professional

 2-2     land surveyor, or licensure as a licensed state land surveyor shall

 2-3     file an application in writing with the Texas Board of Professional

 2-4     Land Surveying.  The [An] required application fee [not to exceed

 2-5     $100,] shall be submitted with the application.  If the board

 2-6     determines that the applicant is qualified to take the appropriate

 2-7     section of the examination, it shall set and notify the applicant

 2-8     of the section of the examination that the applicant is approved to

 2-9     take and the time and place of the examination.  The applicant may

2-10     take the section of the examination that the applicant is approved

2-11     to take on payment of [an] the required examination fee [determined

2-12     by the board, not to exceed $100].

2-13           SECTION 3.  Amend subsection (a) of Section 24, Article

2-14     5282c, Revised Statutes, to read as follows:

2-15           (a)  Any person may file a complaint with the Texas Board of

2-16     Professional Land Surveying regarding a violation of this Act or

2-17     any rule or regulation of the board.  The board may also institute

2-18     proceedings against a registrant or licensee on its behalf without

2-19     a formal written third party complaint.  Each alleged violation of

2-20     applicable statutes, when duly reported and substantiated by sworn

2-21     affidavits, shall be investigated.  The board may employ the

2-22     investigators or inspectors necessary to enforce properly the

2-23     provisions of this Act.  The board may utilize the services of

2-24     volunteers to assist in performing investigations.  An

2-25     investigation volunteer is not liable for civil damages or subject

2-26     to criminal prosecution for performing official duties unless the

2-27     volunteer acts in bad faith or with a malicious purpose.

2-28           SECTION 4.  Amend Section 24 of Article 5282c, Revised

2-29     Statutes, by adding subsection (e) to read as follows:

2-30           (e)  If investigation reveals that a complaint is groundless

 3-1     and does not contain a violation of the Act, board rule or

 3-2     regulation of the board, the board may expunge a complaint from the

 3-3     registrant's file.

 3-4           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three separate

 3-8     days in each house be suspended, and that this Act take effect and

 3-9     be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.