By Hilbert                                            H.B. No. 3338

         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to alternative pleading to condemn.

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

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 21.017, Property Tax Code, is amended to

 1-5     read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 21.017.  ALTERNATIVE PLEADING TO CONDEMN.  (a)  A

 1-7     condemnor shall not enter upon or use a person's property without

 1-8     the property owner's written persmission until it has acquired all

 1-9     rights necessary to enter upon and use that property for a public

1-10     purpose.

1-11           (b)  If there is a proceeding in which a condemnor's proposed

1-12     ownership in and right to possession of a property is put in

1-13     dispute and it is found in that proceeding that the condemnor owns

1-14     no interest, the condemnor may alternatively seek to condemn that

1-15     property interest in the same proceeding so that it is not

1-16     displaced from possession of the property.

1-17           (c)  In the event a condemnor seeks to condemn an interest in

1-18     property in the alternative as provided in subsection (b), the

1-19     condemnor shall not be required to comply with the procedural steps

1-20     provided in Sec. 21.014, Sec. 21.015 or Sec. 21.016 if it is found

1-21     that the condemnor's ownership claim and right to possession of the

1-22     property was made in good faith.  However, the condemnor may not

 2-1     plead in the alternative to acquire any interest in property in

 2-2     which it has no legal ownership or that the condemnor admits it

 2-3     does not own.

 2-4           (d)  A plea in the alternative to condemn an ownership

 2-5     interest in property as provided in subsection (b) is not an

 2-6     admission of an adverse party's title to the property in

 2-7     controversy.

 2-8           (e)  If a condemnor claims an ownership interest in property

 2-9     that it does not own, the property owner shall be entitled to any

2-10     damages caused by the condemnor's wrongful possession and use of

2-11     the property and for all expenses including, but not limited to,

2-12     reasonable and necessary attorneys' fees the property owner incurs

2-13     in connection with the same proceeding.

2-14           [(a)  This state, a political subdivision of this state, a

2-15     person, an association of persons, or a corporation that is a party

2-16     to a suit covered by Sec. 21.003 of this code by petition,

2-17     cross-bill, or plea of intervention may assert a claim to the

2-18     property or, alternatively, seek to condemn the property.]

2-19           [(b)  A plea under this section is not an admission of an

2-20     adverse party's title to the property in controversy.]

2-21           SECTION 3.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation

2-22     and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-23     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-24     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-25     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-26     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-27     passage, and it is so enacted.