By: Creighton  S.B. No. 1481
         (In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Border Security;
  May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 3,
  Nays 2; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
              COMMITTEE VOTE              YeaNayAbsent PNVBirdwell       X              Flores         X              Blanco            X           Hinojosa          X           King           X              
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the exercise of eminent domain authority by the Texas
  Facilities Commission to build a wall along this state's
  international border.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter L, Chapter 2166, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 2166.555 to read as follows:
         Sec. 2166.555.  INTERNATIONAL BORDER WALL. (a)  The
  commission may exercise the power of eminent domain under Section
  2166.055 to acquire an interest in real property for the
  construction, extension, improvement, or development of a wall
  along this state's international border for the purposes of
  preventing:
               (1)  human trafficking; and
               (2)  illegal entry into the United States of:
                     (A)  aliens without official approval of an
  appropriate federal governmental authority;
                     (B)  terrorists and instruments of terrorism; and
                     (C)  contraband, including narcotics and other
  controlled substances.
         (b)  The commission may exercise the power of eminent domain
  under Subsection (a) to acquire:
               (1)  land in fee simple; or
               (2)  any interest less than fee simple in, on, under, or
  above land, including an easement, right-of-way, or right of use of
  airspace or subsurface space.
         (c)  The commission must adopt a resolution in accordance
  with Section 2206.053 before filing a condemnation petition under
  Chapter 21, Property Code, to exercise the power of eminent domain
  under this section.
         (d)  The resolution required by Subsection (c):
               (1)  must include a statement that the commission's
  acquisition of the property interest described in the resolution:
                     (A)  is a public necessity; and
                     (B)  is necessary and proper for the construction,
  extension, improvement, or development of a wall along this state's
  international border and is in the public interest; and
               (2)  is conclusive evidence of the public necessity of
  the proposed acquisition and that the property interest is
  necessary for public use.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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