HBA-SEB C.S.H.B. 323 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 323
By: Brown, Fred
Judicial Affairs
4/21/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Texas cities may own land and facilities located outside their city limits,
including parks, playgrounds, water plants, sewer plants,
electricity-generating facilities, and libraries.  Currently, cities have
the authority to adopt and enforce ordinances relating to acts committed at
these places, but county justice courts rather than municipal courts have
jurisdiction over criminal violations of those ordinances.  C.S.H.B. 323
gives a municipality exclusive original jurisdiction in a criminal case
that occurs in a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction if the case
involves the violation of a city ordinance and the activity is punishable
only by a fine.     

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Sections 29.003(a) and (b), Government Code, as follows:

(a)  Includes municipal property located in the municipality's
extraterritorial jurisdiction as territory over which a municipal court is
required to have exclusive original jurisdiction in certain criminal cases.
Cases that fall under that jurisdiction are those which arise under the
municipality's ordinances and are punishable by a fine of no more than $500
or no more than $2000 in cases arising under a municipal ordinance
governing fire safety, zoning, or public health and sanitation.  Makes
conforming and nonsubstantive changes.   

(b)  Includes criminal cases that arise on municipal property in the
municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction as cases over which a
municipal court shares concurrent jurisdiction with the justice court in
the municipality's precinct. 

SECTION 2.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.
 
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute modifies the original to conform to Legislative Council
format.  The substitute places the contents of SECTIONS 1 and 2 of the
original in SECTION 1 of the substitute and redesignates SECTION 3 of the
original (emergency clause) to SECTION 2 of the substitute.  The substitute
also makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes.