S.B. 982 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


S.B. 982
By: Whitmire
State Affairs
Committee Report (Unamended)



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 the state
agencies are willing to grant the City access and utility easements across
state property adjacent to the tower. The purpose of Senate Bill 982 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

Senate Bill 982 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 certain real property located on Northwest
Freeway (U.S. Highway 290) in Houston, Texas, as specifically described in
the bill, including any improvements affixed to the property.  The bill
also grants necessary easements.  The transfer of the tract of land and
granting of easements must 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.  If the consideration for the
transfer is in the form of such an agreement: 

_the City of Houston may use the property only for a purpose that benefits
the public interest of the state; and 

_ownership of the property automatically reverts to TDCJ and the easements
granted automatically terminate if the City no longer uses the property
for such purposes.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

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