79R10392 MXM-D
By: Leibowitz H.B. No. 1287
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1287:
By: Naishtat C.S.H.B. No. 1287
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to county abatement of a public nuisance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 343.013, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A county may bring suit under this section to prohibit
or control access to the premises to prevent a continued or future
violation of Section 343.011(c)(1), (8), or (9). The court may
grant relief under this subsection only if the county demonstrates
that the owner of the premises, or the person responsible for
causing the public nuisance, has not responded sufficiently to
previous attempts to abate a nuisance on the premises. In a suit
brought under Section 343.011(c)(9), the court may not grant relief
that prohibits or controls access by the owner or operator of a
utility line or utility easement to that utility line or utility
easement.
SECTION 2. Section 343.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 343.021. AUTHORITY TO ABATE NUISANCE. A county may
abate a nuisance under this chapter by demolition, [or] removal, or
prohibition or control of access to the premises if the county
adopts abatement procedures that are consistent with the general
purpose of this chapter and that conform to this chapter.
SECTION 3. Sections 343.022(a) and (c), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The abatement procedures adopted by the commissioners
court must be administered by a regularly salaried, full-time
county employee, but the prohibition or control of access to the
premises, or the removal or demolition of the nuisance, may be made
by a person authorized by the person administering the abatement
program.
(c) The notice must state:
(1) the specific condition that constitutes a
nuisance;
(2) that the person receiving notice shall abate the
nuisance before the:
(A) 31st day after the date on which the notice is
served, if the person has not previously received a notice
regarding a nuisance on the premises; or
(B) 10th day after the date on which the notice is
served, if the person has previously received a notice regarding a
nuisance on the premises;
(3) that failure to abate the nuisance may result in:
(A) abatement by the county;
(B) assessment of costs to the person responsible
for causing the nuisance when that person can be identified; and
(C) a lien against the property on which the
nuisance exists, if the person responsible for causing the nuisance
has an interest in the property;
(4) that the county may prohibit or control access to
the premises to prevent a continued or future nuisance; and
(5) [(4)] that the person receiving notice is entitled
to submit[, before the 31st day after the date on which the notice
is served,] a written request for a hearing before the:
(A) 31st day after the date on which the notice is
served, if the person has not previously received a notice
regarding a nuisance on the premises; or
(B) 10th day after the date on which the notice is
served, if the person has previously received a notice regarding a
nuisance on the premises.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 343, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 343.0235 to read as follows:
Sec. 343.0235. USE OF COUNTY FUNDS. A county is entitled to
use any money available under other law for a cleanup or remediation
of private property to abate a nuisance.
SECTION 5. Section 343.022(c), Health and Safety Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to notice given on or after the
effective date of this Act. Notice given before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.