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.