BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1749

By: Kuempel

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

When a portion of a public road thought to be located in one county and maintained by that county is determined to be located in an adjoining county, the counties are left with few options to determine which local government is responsible for the maintenance of that road.  In many cases, the county in which the road was thought to be located is prohibited from further maintaining the road because counties are prohibited from establishing a road in an adjoining county, while the county in which the road is actually located most likely has not acquired an easement because the road was thought to not be part of that county's road system.  In such cases, the public road may be left unmaintained because neither county has the authority to maintain it.

C.S.H.B. 1749 seeks to resolve this dilemma by requiring a county that discovers that a public road established by the county is not actually located in that county to cease maintaining the road and to allow the commissioners court of the county in which the road lies to include the road in the proper county road system.

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

C.S.H.B. 1749 amends the Transportation Code to require a county that discovers that a public road established by the county and considered by the county as part of the county's road system is not located in the county to declare by order of the commissioners court that the road lies outside the county; cease maintaining the road; send certified copies of the order and supporting documentation, including maps, plats, and surveys, to the county or counties in which the road lies; and send a certified copy of the order to the Texas Department of Transportation.  The bill specifies that these actions by a county do not affect a right of the public to use the road as a public road. 

C.S.H.B. 1749 authorizes the commissioners court of a county in which the road lies, after receipt of certified copies of the adjoining county's order and supporting documentation, to by order confirm the findings in the order received by the county and include the road in the county's road system.  The bill specifies that the inclusion of a road in a county's road system under the bill's provisions does not affect the county's standards for subdivision roads.  The bill exempts the included road from the requirement that the county maintain it to meet the standards required for county subdivision roads.  The bill specifies that the inclusion of a road in a county's road system does not affect the liability in tort of the original establishing county for an injury that occurs before the date the road is included.  The bill authorizes any action authorized to be taken under the bill's provisions regarding a public road to also be taken regarding a portion of a public road.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1749 contains a requirement not included in the original, in the actions a county is required to take upon discovering that a public road established by the county and considered by the county as part of the county's road system is not located in the county, that the county send to the Texas Department of Transportation a certified copy of the county's declaration by order of the county commissioners court that the road lies outside the county.