76R11368 SMH-F
By Uher H.B. No. 1328
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1328:
By Wilson C.S.H.B. No. 1328
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of professional land
1-3 surveying.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2(1), Professional Land Surveying
1-6 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (1) "Professional surveying" means the practice of
1-9 land, boundary, or property surveying or other similar professional
1-10 practices. The term includes any service or work the adequate
1-11 performance of which involves the application of special knowledge
1-12 of the principles of geodesy, mathematics, related applied and
1-13 physical sciences, and relevant laws to the measurement or [and]
1-14 location of sites, points, lines, angles, elevations, natural
1-15 features, and existing man-made works in the air, on the surface of
1-16 the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies
1-17 of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes for:
1-18 (A) the location of real property boundaries;
1-19 (B) the platting and layout of lands and
1-20 subdivisions of land; or [and]
1-21 (C) the preparation and perpetuation of maps,
1-22 record plats, field note records, easements, and real property
1-23 descriptions that represent those surveys.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 9(a), Professional Land Surveying
2-1 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
2-2 amended to read as follows:
2-3 (a) The board shall have the authority and power to make and
2-4 enforce all reasonable and necessary rules, regulations, and bylaws
2-5 not inconsistent with the Texas Constitution, the laws of this
2-6 state, and this Act for the performance of its duties in
2-7 administering this Act and for the purpose of establishing
2-8 standards of conduct and ethics for surveyors registered or
2-9 licensed under this Act. The board by rule shall prescribe the
2-10 minimum standards for professional surveying. A surveyor
2-11 registered or licensed under this Act who performs mapping services
2-12 is subject to regulation by the board as necessary to protect the
2-13 public interest. The board by rule shall prescribe standards for
2-14 compliance with Subchapter A, Chapter 2254, Government Code, but
2-15 may not otherwise adopt rules restricting competitive bidding or
2-16 advertising by a person regulated by the board except to prohibit
2-17 false, misleading, or deceptive practices by the person. The board
2-18 may not include in its rules to prohibit false, misleading, or
2-19 deceptive practices by a person regulated by the board a rule that:
2-20 (1) restricts the use of any medium for advertising;
2-21 (2) restricts the person's personal appearance or use
2-22 of the person's voice in an advertisement;
2-23 (3) relates to the size or duration of an
2-24 advertisement by the person; or
2-25 (4) restricts the person's advertisement under a trade
2-26 name.
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 16(a), Professional Land Surveying
3-1 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
3-2 amended to read as follows:
3-3 (a) Each applicant seeking certification as a
3-4 surveyor-in-training, registration as a registered professional
3-5 land surveyor, or licensure as a licensed state land surveyor shall
3-6 file an application in writing with the Texas Board of Professional
3-7 Land Surveying. An application fee in an amount determined by the
3-8 board[, not to exceed $100,] shall be submitted with the
3-9 application. If the board determines that the applicant is
3-10 qualified to take the appropriate section of the examination, it
3-11 shall set and notify the applicant of the section of the
3-12 examination that the applicant is approved to take and the time and
3-13 place of the examination. The applicant may take the section of
3-14 the examination that the applicant is approved to take on payment
3-15 of an examination fee in an amount determined by the board[, not to
3-16 exceed $100].
3-17 SECTION 4. Section 24, Professional Land Surveying Practices
3-18 Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
3-19 read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 24. ENFORCEMENT; COMPLAINTS; HEARINGS. (a) Any person
3-21 may file a complaint with the Texas Board of Professional Land
3-22 Surveying regarding a violation of this Act or any rule or
3-23 regulation of the board. The board may also institute proceedings
3-24 against a registrant or licensee on its behalf without a formal
3-25 written third party complaint. Each alleged violation of
3-26 applicable statutes, when duly reported and substantiated by sworn
3-27 affidavits, shall be investigated. The board may employ the
4-1 investigators or inspectors necessary to enforce properly the
4-2 provisions of this Act.
4-3 (b) If after an investigation of a complaint the board
4-4 determines that a registrant or licensee did not violate this Act
4-5 or a board rule or regulation, the board shall expunge the
4-6 complaint from the registrant's or licensee's file. The complaint,
4-7 and any information obtained by the board in the investigation of
4-8 the complaint, is confidential and not subject to disclosure under
4-9 Chapter 552, Government Code.
4-10 (c) If the board proposes to suspend or revoke a person's
4-11 certificate of registration or licensure, the person is entitled to
4-12 a hearing before the board or a hearings officer appointed by the
4-13 board. The board shall prescribe procedures by which all decisions
4-14 to suspend or revoke are made by or are appealable to the board.
4-15 (d) [(c)] The board for reasons it may deem sufficient may
4-16 reissue a certificate of registration or licensure to any surveyor
4-17 whose certificate has been revoked provided six or more members
4-18 vote in favor of the reissuance. A new certificate of registration
4-19 or licensure to replace a certificate revoked, lost, destroyed, or
4-20 mutilated may be issued, subject to the rules of the board and a
4-21 charge of $20.
4-22 (e) [(d)] The attorney general or his assistants shall act
4-23 as legal advisor to the board and shall render such legal
4-24 assistance as may be necessary in enforcing the provisions of this
4-25 Act and the rules and regulations of the board.
4-26 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-5 passage, and it is so enacted.