By Ellis H.B. No. 1159
76R4091 JJT-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public nuisances in a county's unincorporated area.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 343.011 and 343.0111, Health and Safety
1-5 Code, are amended and reenacted as Section 343.011 to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 343.011. PUBLIC NUISANCE IN UNINCORPORATED AREA OF
1-8 COUNTY [CERTAIN COUNTIES]. (a) This section applies only to the
1-9 unincorporated area of a county. This section does not apply to a
1-10 site or facility that is:
1-11 (1) permitted and regulated by a state agency; or
1-12 (2) licensed or permitted under Chapter 361 [with a
1-13 population of 125,000 or more].
1-14 (b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
1-15 nuisance [under this section on any premises].
1-16 (c) In this section, "public nuisance" means [A public
1-17 nuisance is]:
1-18 (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on
1-19 premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained
1-20 in a closed receptacle;
1-21 (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish,
1-22 including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves,
1-23 furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood for 10
1-24 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed
2-1 in a building or is not visible from a public street;
2-2 (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an
2-3 unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
2-4 rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
2-5 (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a
2-6 neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another
2-7 residence or commercial establishment;
2-8 (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is
2-9 structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or
2-10 public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary
2-11 conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or
2-12 abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
2-13 (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property
2-14 in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
2-15 (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
2-16 that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
2-17 (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
2-18 cannot be removed by a child; [or]
2-19 (7) maintaining a flea market in a manner that
2-20 constitutes a fire hazard;
2-21 (8) [.]
2-22 [(d) This section does not apply to a site or facility that
2-23 is permitted and regulated by a state agency.]
2-24 [Sec. 343.0111. PUBLIC NUISANCE GENERALLY APPLICABLE. (a)
2-25 This section applies to the unincorporated area of a county,
2-26 regardless of the population size of the county.]
2-27 [(b) A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public
3-1 nuisance under this section.]
3-2 [(c) A public nuisance is:]
3-3 [(1)] discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual
3-4 obstruction on:
3-5 (A) county-owned land; or
3-6 (B) land or easements owned or held by a special
3-7 district that has the county commissioners court as its governing
3-8 body; or
3-9 (9) [(2)] discarding refuse on the smaller of:
3-10 (A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of
3-11 a utility line; or
3-12 (B) the actual span of the utility easement.
3-13 SECTION 2. Section 343.012(a), Health and Safety Code, is
3-14 amended to read as follows:
3-15 (a) A person commits an offense if:
3-16 (1) the person violates Section 343.011(b) [or
3-17 343.0111(b)]; and
3-18 (2) the nuisance remains unabated after the 30th day
3-19 after the date on which the person receives notice from a county
3-20 official, agent, or employee to abate the nuisance.
3-21 SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
3-22 an offense under or violation of Section 343.011, as amended by
3-23 this Act, that is committed or that occurs on or after the
3-24 effective date of this Act. An offense that is committed or
3-25 violation that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
3-26 governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
3-27 of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-1 purpose.
4-2 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-3 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.