78R11356 MI-D


By:  Dutton                                                       H.B. No. 378

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 378:                                    

By:  Woolley                                                  C.S.H.B. No. 378



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the remedies available to a person to abate a public 
nuisance in a municipality.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subchapter B, Chapter 125, Civil Practice and 
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 125.023 to read as 
follows:
	Sec. 125.023.  ADDITIONAL REMEDIES IN MUNICIPALITY.  (a)  In 
addition to the other remedies available under this chapter, 
residents of a municipality by petition may require the 
municipality to file suit to take remedial action against an 
alleged public nuisance that is occurring in the municipality.  The 
suit may be brought only in a county in which the nuisance occurs.
	(b)  A petition authorized by Subsection (a) must:                      
		(1)  be signed by a number of registered voters of the 
voting precinct in which the alleged nuisance is located equal to at 
least 20 percent of the number of voters who voted in the precinct 
in the most recent general election for state and county officers;
		(2)  allege that the activity that is the subject of the 
petition is occurring within the boundaries of the voting precinct 
and within 1,000 feet of a residence; and
		(3)  be submitted to the governing body of the 
municipality.         
	(c)  Not later than the 30th day after the date the petition 
is submitted to the governing body of the municipality, the 
municipal secretary or another officer performing the duties of the 
municipal secretary shall certify in writing to the governing body 
whether the petition is valid or invalid.
	(d)  If the petition is determined invalid under Subsection 
(c), the officer shall state all reasons for that determination.
	(e)  The municipality shall initiate a suit as provided by 
Subsection (a) if:
		(1)  the petition is determined valid under Subsection 
(c); and      
		(2)  the governing body of the municipality determines 
that the allegation made in the petition under Subsection (b)(2) is 
true.
	(f)  The governing body of the municipality shall consider 
the allegation and make or reject a determination under Subsection 
(e)(2) before the 60th day after the date the governing body 
receives the certification of a valid petition.
	(g)  If the court determines that the alleged nuisance that 
is the object of the suit is a public nuisance and a threat to the 
public health or welfare of the residents of the municipality, the 
court may order the municipality to:
		(1)  warn any person who uses or is about to use the 
premises for the purposes constituting the nuisance that the use 
constitutes a public nuisance;
		(2)  investigate whether the municipality should file a 
suit under this subchapter or other law to abate the nuisance;
		(3)  purchase property on which a use that constitutes 
the public nuisance has occurred; or
		(4)  exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire 
the property on which a use that constitutes the public nuisance has 
occurred.
	(h)  Before ordering relief under Subsection (g)(3) or (4), 
the court must find that the acquisition of the property by the 
municipality serves a public purpose of the municipality.
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.