By Wilson                                       H.B. No. 3293

      75R9299 JJT-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to certain franchises granted by a municipality for use of

 1-3     municipal rights-of-way and remedies for certain uses of municipal

 1-4     rights-of-way without a franchise.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Chapter 13, Title 28, Revised Statutes, is

 1-7     amended by adding Article 1175a to read as follows:

 1-8           Art. 1175a.  USE OF MUNICIPAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY.  (a)  A person

 1-9     may not use a municipal right-of-way unless the person has a

1-10     franchise granted by the municipality in the manner provided by

1-11     Article 1175, Revised Statutes, or other applicable law.  A person

1-12     may not use the right-of-way in a manner or for a purpose that is

1-13     inconsistent with the manner or purpose of the use provided by the

1-14     franchise or the ordinance granting the franchise.

1-15           (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, a person who, without a

1-16     franchise or in a manner or for a purpose that is inconsistent with

1-17     a franchise held by the  person or by another person, uses a

1-18     right-of-way for a pipeline, power line, or other means of

1-19     conveyance or transportation used to distribute or deliver any

1-20     product for sale in the municipality or the municipality's

1-21     extraterritorial jurisdiction shall pay to the municipality an

1-22     amount of money equal to the amount the person would have been

1-23     charged for use of the right-of-way if the municipality had charged

1-24     the highest rate or amount the municipality normally charges for

 2-1     the use.

 2-2           (c)  A person who uses a municipal right-of-way without

 2-3     paying the amount required by Subsection (b) of this article is

 2-4     liable to the municipality for an amount equal to the amount due

 2-5     under that subsection plus a penalty of 12 percent of that amount.

 2-6     If a municipality prevails in a suit brought to collect money and

 2-7     the penalty under this subsection, the court shall award to the

 2-8     municipality its reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.

 2-9           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

2-10     the use of a municipality's rights-of-way on or after the effective

2-11     date of this Act, regardless of the date on which the use began.

2-12           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-13     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-14     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-15     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-16     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.