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BILL ANALYSIS |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
In 1992, Mitchell County transferred five tracts of property totaling almost 800 acres to the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Of that property, tract 1, totaling approximately
222 acres, is used for agricultural production, and tract 2, totaling approximately 513 acres,
encompasses the Wallace Unit.
S.B. 1652 authorizes the TDCJ to transfer the property in tract 1 back to Mitchell County and
requires the land to be used in a way that benefits the public interest of Texas, or the property
automatically reverts to TDCJ. The bill requires any transaction fees resulting from the transfer
to be paid by Mitchell County.
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
S.B. 1652 requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to transfer certain property
to Mitchell County not later than the 30th day after the effective date of the bill.
S.B. 1652 requires Mitchell County to use the transferred property only for a purpose that
benefits the public interest of Texas and specifies that if the county uses the property for any
other purpose ownership of the property automatically reverts to the department.
S.B. 1652 requires TDCJ to transfer the property by an appropriate instrument of transfer that
must provide that the county use the property only for a purpose that benefits the public interest
of Texas and that ownership of the property will automatically revert to TDCJ if the county uses
the property for any other purpose and must describe the property to be transferred by metes and
bounds. The bill requires TDCJ to retain custody of the instrument of transfer after the
instrument is filed in the real property records of the county and requires the county to pay any
transaction fees resulting from a property transfer.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2009.