By Hilbert H.B. No. 3339
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the procedure for an eminent domain proceeding.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 21.017, Property Code, is amended by
1-5 adding Subsections (c)-(e) to read as follows:
1-6 (c) A party who pleads in the alternative may not enter or
1-7 use the property that is the subject of the proceeding without
1-8 written permission of the adverse party until the court determines
1-9 that the party who pleads in the alternative has acquired the
1-10 rights necessary to enter and use the property for a public
1-11 purpose.
1-12 (d) If the court determines that a party described by
1-13 Subsection (a) does not own all of the necessary property interests
1-14 in the property, the court shall award the property owner the
1-15 damages and expenses provided in Section 21.019, including:
1-16 (1) any trespass damages caused by the party's
1-17 wrongful possession and use of the property; and
1-18 (2) all reasonable expenses, including reasonable and
1-19 necessary attorney's fees.
1-20 (e) This section does not apply to a party described by
1-21 Subsection (a) that has acquired an interest in property, but has
1-22 in good faith constructed an improvement on property outside the
1-23 boundaries of the property the party has acquired.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 21.019, Property Code, is amended to read
2-1 as follows:
2-2 Sec. 21.019. DISMISSAL OF CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS. (a) A
2-3 party that files a condemnation petition may move to dismiss the
2-4 proceedings, and the court shall conduct a hearing on the motion.
2-5 The court may grant the motion only if the court determines that
2-6 the property owner's interest will not be materially affected by
2-7 the dismissal. A [However, after the special commissioners have
2-8 made an award, in an effort to obtain a lower award a] condemnor
2-9 may not dismiss the condemnation proceedings merely to institute
2-10 new proceedings that involve substantially the same condemnation
2-11 against the same property owner solely to obtain a lower
2-12 condemnation award.
2-13 (b) If any [A] court dismisses [that hears and grants a
2-14 motion to dismiss] a condemnation proceeding, the court [made by a
2-15 condemnor under Subsection (a)] shall make an allowance to the
2-16 property owner for the value of the condemnor's use of the property
2-17 while in possession of the property, any damage that the
2-18 condemnation has caused to the property owner in the use of the
2-19 property affected by the condemnation, and any expenses the
2-20 property owner has incurred in connection with the condemnation,
2-21 including reasonable and necessary fees for attorneys[, appraisers,
2-22 and photographers and for the other expenses incurred by the
2-23 property owner to the date of the hearing].
2-24 [(c) A court that hears and grants a motion to dismiss a
2-25 condemnation proceeding made by a property owner seeking a judicial
2-26 denial of the right to condemn or that otherwise renders a judgment
2-27 denying the right to condemn may make an allowance to the property
3-1 owner for reasonable and necessary fees for attorneys, appraisers,
3-2 and photographers and for the other expenses incurred by the
3-3 property owner to the date of the hearing or judgment.]
3-4 SECTION 3. (a) The changes in law made by Sections
3-5 21.017(c)-(e), Property Code, as added by this Act, apply to any
3-6 pending suit on the effective date of this Act and any suit filed
3-7 after the effective date of this Act.
3-8 (b) The changes in law made by Section 21.019, Property
3-9 Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to dismissal of a
3-10 condemnation proceeding for which a motion is made on or after the
3-11 effective date of this Act. Dismissal of a condemnation proceeding
3-12 for which a motion is made before the effective date of this Act is
3-13 governed by the law in effect at the time the motion was made, and
3-14 that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-15 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-21 passage, and it is so enacted.