78R7847 T

By:  Farrar                                                       H.B. No. 1906



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, 
ordinance, or police regulation governing certain offenses in 
certain municipalities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 54.001(b), Local Government Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, 
ordinance, or police regulation may not exceed $500.  However:
		(1)  [,] a fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, 
ordinance, or police regulation that governs fire safety, zoning, 
or public health and sanitation, including dumping of refuse, may 
not exceed $2,000; or
		(2)  a fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, 
ordinance, or police regulation that is adopted by a municipality 
with a population of 1.9 million or more and that governs municipal 
beautification may not exceed $2,000.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and the 
change in law made by this Act applies only to the violation of a 
rule, ordinance, or police regulation committed on or after that 
date. The violation of a rule, ordinance, or police regulation 
committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the 
law in effect when the violation was committed, and the former law 
is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this 
section, a violation was committed before the effective date of 
this Act if any element of the violation occurred before that date.