By Hilbert                                            H.B. No. 1465
         76R5811 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     the area:
1-14                 (1)  is composed primarily of commercial property or
1-15     property with a high taxable value;
1-16                 (2)  is part of a larger area in which a sense of
1-17     community exists among a significant number of the residents and
1-18     landowners; and
1-19                 (3)  does not include all parts of the larger area in
1-20     which the sense of community exists.
1-21           (b)  To prevent the annexation, the commissioners court must
1-22     adopt the resolution before the completion of the annexation by the
1-23     municipality.
1-24           (c)  Each finding by a commissioners court under this section
 2-1     shall be reviewed by an annexation review committee consisting of:
 2-2                 (1)  the county judge;
 2-3                 (2)  a county commissioner designated by the
 2-4     commissioners court;
 2-5                 (3)  a member of the governing body of the municipality
 2-6     designated by that governing body;
 2-7                 (4)  a person appointed by the state representative
 2-8     whose district includes the majority of the area proposed for
 2-9     annexation; and
2-10                 (5)  a person appointed by the state senator whose
2-11     district includes the majority of the area proposed for annexation.
2-12           (d)  The designations and appointments to the committee shall
2-13     be made not later than the 14th day after the date of the adoption
2-14     of the commissioners court resolution.
2-15           (e)  The county judge is the presiding officer of the
2-16     committee.  The committee shall meet at the call of the presiding
2-17     officer at a place convenient to the majority of the area proposed
2-18     for annexation.
2-19           (f)  The committee may affirm or reverse the finding of the
2-20     commissioners court.  The committee must issue its decision not
2-21     later than the 60th day after the date of the adoption of the
2-22     commissioners court resolution.  The decision of the committee may
2-23     be appealed to a district court serving the county in which a
2-24     majority of the area proposed for annexation is located.  The
2-25     district court may not substitute its judgment for that of the
2-26     commissioners court or the annexation review committee unless the
2-27     decision by the commissioners court or the committee was arbitrary,
 3-1     capricious, unlawful, or not supported by substantial evidence.
 3-2           (g)  If the finding of the commissioners court is reversed by
 3-3     the annexation review committee or by a court, the time during
 3-4     which the municipality was prevented from annexing the area as a
 3-5     result of the commissioners court resolution is not included in
 3-6     computing the period within which the municipality must complete
 3-7     the annexation under Section 43.053.
 3-8           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
 3-9     to an annexation for which the first hearing notice required by
3-10     Section 43.052, Local Government Code, is published on or after the
3-11     effective date of this Act. An annexation for which the first
3-12     hearing notice is published before that date is governed by the law
3-13     in effect at the time the notice is published, and the former law
3-14     is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-15           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.