BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2665

By: Ritter

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

When emergency responders are dispatched, the time in which they are able to reach their destination is of extreme importance.  Minutes can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. 

In some rural areas, the lack of visible addresses can impede emergency responders' ability to arrive at the site they are searching for in a timely manner.  Having more visible addresses would improve emergency responders' ability to more quickly arrive at a location.

H.B. 2665 authorizes the commissioners court of a county to adopt and impose standards and specifications for the design and installation of address number signs to identify properties located in unincorporated areas of the county. The bill creates a Class C misdemeanor offense for a person who knowingly fails or refuses to comply with an order of the commissioners court relating to standards and specifications for the design and installation of address number signs.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2665 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the commissioners court of a county by order to adopt standards and specifications for the design and installation of address number signs to identity properties located in unincorporated areas of the county, including standards or specifications as to sign size, material, longevity, ability to be seen and to reflect light, and any other factor the commissioners court considers necessary or appropriate, and authorizes the commissioners court to require by order the owners or occupants of properties in unincorporated areas of the county to obtain address number signs that comply with the standards and specifications adopted by the county and to install and maintain those signs at the locations and in the manner required by those standards and specifications. The bill makes it a Class C misdemeanor to knowingly fail or refuse to comply with an order of the commissioners court relating to standards and specifications for the design and installation of address number signs.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.