By Corte                                               H.B. No. 322
         76R1894 CAG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain annexations by a municipality with a population
 1-3     of more than 1.5 million.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 43.0541 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 43.0541.  ANNEXATIONS BY MUNICIPALITY WITH POPULATION OF
 1-8     MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION.  (a)  A municipality with a population of
 1-9     more than 1.5 million may not annex a strip of area following the
1-10     course of a road, highway, river, stream, creek, or other natural
1-11     or constructed feature if the commissioners court of the county in
1-12     which a majority of the area is located, by resolution, finds that:
1-13                 (1)  the municipality did not allow landowners of the
1-14     area proposed for annexation the opportunity to vote on the
1-15     annexation; and
1-16                 (2)  the area:
1-17                       (A)  is composed primarily of commercial property
1-18     or property with a high taxable value;
1-19                       (B)  is part of a larger area in which a sense of
1-20     community exists among a significant number of the residents and
1-21     landowners; and
1-22                       (C)  does not include all parts of the larger
1-23     area in which the sense of community exists.
1-24           (b)  To prevent the annexation, the commissioners court must
 2-1     adopt the resolution before the completion of the annexation by the
 2-2     municipality.
 2-3           (c)  Each finding by a commissioners court under this section
 2-4     shall be reviewed by an annexation review committee consisting of:
 2-5                 (1)  the county judge;
 2-6                 (2)  a county commissioner designated by the
 2-7     commissioners court;
 2-8                 (3)  a member of the governing body of the municipality
 2-9     designated by that governing body;
2-10                 (4)  a person appointed by the state representative
2-11     whose district includes the majority of the area proposed for
2-12     annexation;
2-13                 (5)  a person appointed by the state senator whose
2-14     district includes the majority of the area proposed for annexation;
2-15     and
2-16                 (6)  six persons owning land in the area proposed for
2-17     annexation, or their representatives, selected by the commissioners
2-18     court from a group of volunteers from the area landowners.
2-19           (d)  The designations and appointments to the committee shall
2-20     be made not later than the 14th day after the date of the adoption
2-21     of the commissioners court resolution.
2-22           (e)  The county judge is the presiding officer of the
2-23     committee.  The committee shall meet at the call of the presiding
2-24     officer at a place convenient to the majority of the area proposed
2-25     for annexation.
2-26           (f)  The committee may affirm or reverse the finding of the
2-27     commissioners court.  The committee must issue its decision not
 3-1     later than the 60th day after the date of the adoption of the
 3-2     commissioners court resolution.  The decision of the committee may
 3-3     be appealed to a district court serving the county in which a
 3-4     majority of the area proposed for annexation is located.  The
 3-5     district court may not substitute its judgment for that of the
 3-6     commissioners court or the annexation review committee unless the
 3-7     decision by the commissioners court or the committee was arbitrary,
 3-8     capricious, unlawful, or not supported by substantial evidence.
 3-9           (g)  If the finding of the commissioners court is reversed by
3-10     the annexation review committee or by a court, the time during
3-11     which the municipality was prevented from annexing the area as a
3-12     result of the commissioners court resolution is not included in
3-13     computing the period within which the municipality must complete
3-14     the annexation under Section 43.053.
3-15           SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to an annexation begun on
3-16     or after the effective date of this Act.
3-17           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-18     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.