BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 503

By: Wu

Urban Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Houston homeowners and area law enforcement have raised issue with current inefficiencies in enforcing prohibited yard parking ordinances, under which law enforcement must issue citations face-to-face with the accused. It has been noted that, if violations of such ordinances were civil offenses, law enforcement would be allowed to enforce the ordinance by leaving the citation on the windshield of a vehicle in violation. H.B. 503 seeks to address this issue by allowing large municipalities such as Houston to declare violations of municipal parking ordinances to be a civil offense, punishable by fine.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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. 503 amends the Local Government Code to authorize a municipality with a population of 1.9 million or more to declare the violation of a municipal ordinance relating to the parking of an unattended motor vehicle in the front or side yard of a single-family residence in a residential area to be a civil offense and to establish an administrative adjudication hearing procedure under which a civil fine may be imposed.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.