BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2610

By: Harless

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In Texas, the time frame within which a county must begin a fire code inspection is five days after receipt of the written inspection request of the building's owner. For some more populous counties, this time frame is unattainable due to the high volume of requests. Without increasing current county budgets, there is insufficient available personnel to keep up with the growing demand for these inspections. H.B. 2610 seeks to address this issue by extending the time frame within which certain counties must begin fire code inspections.

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. 2610 amends the Local Government Code to increase from five to 10 the number of business days within which a county with a population of more than 3.3 million is required to begin an inspection of an applicable building for compliance with the county fire code on receipt of the written request of the building's owner.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.