By: Leibowitz (Senate Sponsor - Madla) H.B. No. 1287
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 2005;
April 25, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 18, 2005, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 18, 2005, sent to printer.)
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 Subsections (c) and (d) 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:
(1) the person responsible for causing the public
nuisance has not responded sufficiently to previous attempts to
abate a nuisance on the premises, if the relief sought prohibits or
controls access of a person other than the owner; or
(2) the owner of the premises knew about the nuisance
and has not responded sufficiently to previous attempts to abate a
nuisance on the premises, if the relief sought controls access of
the owner.
(d) In granting relief under Subsection (c), the court:
(1) may not, in a suit brought under Section
343.011(c)(9), prohibit or control access by the owner or operator
of a utility line or utility easement to that utility line or
utility easement; and
(2) may not prohibit the owner of the premises from
accessing the property but may prohibit a continued or future
violation.
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, in
the case of a nuisance under Section 343.011(c)(1), (8), or (9), by
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 to prevent a violation of Section 343.011(c)(1), (8), or
(9), 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 business 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 described by
Section 343.011(c)(1), (8), or (9); 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 business 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 described by Section
343.011(c)(1), (8), or (9).
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.
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