C.S.H.B. 1904 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


C.S.H.B. 1904
By: Farrar
State Affairs
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to 1999, the Department of Public Safety of Texas (DPS) owned a
tract of land in Houston, Texas that includes a communication tower.  DPS
permitted the City of  Houston (the City) to install radio antennae and
communication equipment on the tower.  In 1999, DPS conveyed the property
on which the tower is located to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ), which has no need for the communications tower but needs the rest
of the property for its use.  No state equipment is currently located on
the tower, and the City has no place to put the equipment without
purchasing new land and constructing a new tower.  TDCJ is willing to
convey the tower site to the City so that the City can keep its
communications equipment for that quadrant in place, and DPS is willing to
grant the City access and utility easements across DPS property adjacent
to the tower.  The purpose of C.S.H.B. 1904 is to authorize DPS and TDCJ
to grant the necessary easements and fee title to the tower site to the
City. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the committee that this bill does not expressly grant
any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department,
institution, or agency. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1904 requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and
the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to transfer to the City of Houston
(the City), for consideration to which the parties mutually agree, their
respective interests in the real property located at 10110 Northwest
Freeway (U.S. Highway 290) in Houston, Texas, including any improvements
affixed to the property.  The transfer is required to take place before
November 1, 2003.  The consideration is authorized to be in the form of an
agreement between the parties that requires the City to use the property
for a purpose that benefits the public interest of the state.  The bill
provides that if the consideration for the transfer takes such a form, the
City is authorized to use the property for a purpose that benefits the
public interest of the state, and that the ownership of the property
automatically reverts to TDCJ and DPS if the City no longer uses it for
such purposes.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2003. 


COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1904 adds language to include the legal descriptions of the tract
of land and easements to be transferred to the City of Houston.