By:  Lindsay                                          S.B. No. 1391

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to establishing and maintaining a county road.

 1-2           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-3           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 251, Transportation Code,

 1-4     is amended by adding Section 251.059 to read as follows:

 1-5           Sec. 251.059.  MAINTAINING ESTABLISHED COUNTY ROADS.

 1-6     (a)  When the commissioners court of a county has established a

 1-7     county road and (i) the laying out of the road has been established

 1-8     by a jury of view, (ii) the county road has been in continuous use

 1-9     for more than 30 years, and (iii) public funds have been expended

1-10     for the upkeep and maintenance of the road for at least 10 of the

1-11     last 20 years, the commissioners court of a county may declare that

1-12     the road shall continue to be used as a public road.

1-13           (b)  When the commissioners court of a county determines

1-14     after declaring such road a public road that it is in more than one

1-15     county, the commissioners courts of the counties in which the road

1-16     is located may allocate by mutual agreement the costs of

1-17     maintenance of the road upon a finding by the commissioners courts

1-18     of the counties that the continued maintenance of the road as a

1-19     public road would be of benefit to the counties.

1-20           (c)  It is hereby found by the legislature that all orders

1-21     enacted by the commissioners court of a county in establishing such

1-22     county roads and orders authorizing the expenditure of public funds

1-23     for the construction and maintenance of public roads were enacted

 2-1     for a public purpose and all such orders are validated in all

 2-2     respects.

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

 2-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 2-8     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 2-9     passage, and it is so enacted.

2-10                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1

2-11           S.B. No. 1391 is amended by adding a new Section 1 as follows

2-12     and renumbering all following Sections appropriately.

2-13           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 251.005, Transportation

2-14     Code, is amended to read as follows:

2-15           (a)  A county commissioner serving as a road supervisor shall

2-16     make a sworn annual report during the ninth month of the fiscal

2-17     year on a form approved by [to each regular term of] the

2-18     commissioners court showing:

2-19                 (1)  the condition of each road or part of a road and

2-20     of each culvert and bridge in the commissioner's precinct;

2-21                 (2)  the amount of money reasonably necessary for

2-22     maintenance of [held by overseers available to be spent on] the

2-23     roads in the precinct during the following fiscal year;

2-24                 (3)  the number of traffic control devices [mileposts

2-25     and fingerboards] in the precinct defaced or torn down;

 3-1                 (4)  any new road that should be opened in the

 3-2     precinct; and

 3-3                 (5)  any bridges, culverts, or other improvements

 3-4     necessary to place the roads in the precinct in good condition, and

 3-5     the probable cost of the improvements[; and]

 3-6                 [(6)  the name of each overseer who has failed to work

 3-7     on the roads or who in any way neglected to perform the overseer's

 3-8     duties].

 3-9                                                               Alexander