By: Flores  S.B. No. 2018
         (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
  April 6, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 6, 2023,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2018 By:  Parker
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to prohibitions on camping in a public place.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 364.002(a), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A local entity may not adopt or enforce a policy under
  which the entity prohibits or discourages the enforcement of any
  public camping ban, including prohibiting or discouraging the
  investigation or enforcement of a violation of a public camping
  ban.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 364, Local Government Code, is amended
  by adding Sections 364.0021, 364.0022, 364.0023, and 364.0024 to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 364.0021.  USE OF PROPERTY FOR CAMPING PURPOSE. A local
  entity may not permit camping by homeless individuals on a property
  designated for that purpose until the Texas Department of Housing
  and Community Affairs has approved a plan for the property under
  Section 2306.1122, Government Code.
         Sec. 364.0022.  COMPLAINTS AND REPORTING. (a)  A local
  entity shall develop and implement a process that allows a person to
  file a complaint with the local entity regarding a violation of a
  public camping ban. 
         (b)  Each year, a local entity shall report to the attorney
  general, in the form and manner prescribed by the attorney general,
  the following information:
               (1)  the number of complaints received as part of the
  local entity's complaint process implemented under Subsection (a);
               (2)  the disposition of each complaint, including
  court-ordered diversion programs; 
               (3)  the number of arrests made or citations in lieu of
  arrest issued for a violation of a public camping ban; and
               (4)  any other information related to public camping
  bans as required by the attorney general.
         Sec. 364.0023.  ENFORCEMENT REQUIRED BY LOCAL ENTITY;
  DECLARATION AS "VIOLATING LOCAL ENTITY."  (a)  For each complaint
  received by a local entity under Section 364.0022(a), the local
  entity shall take an action to resolve the complaint not later than
  the 90th day after the date the complaint is received.
         (b)  If the local entity does not take the required action
  before the end of the period prescribed by Subsection (a), the
  attorney general shall issue a written declaration that the local
  entity is a "violating local entity" for the state fiscal year in
  which the end of the period prescribed by Subsection (a) occurs.  
  The attorney general shall send a copy of the written declaration to
  the local entity and the comptroller.
         Sec. 364.0024.  ENFORCEMENT BY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
  AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; RECOVERY OF COSTS.  (a)  The attorney general
  or the Department of Public Safety may enforce Section 48.05, Penal
  Code.
         (b)  For each enforcement action described by Subsection (a)
  that occurs within the boundaries of a local entity that is a
  "violating local entity," the attorney general or Department of
  Public Safety may recover any costs associated with the enforcement
  action from the local entity in accordance with Section 321.5026 or
  323.5026, Tax Code, as applicable.
         SECTION 3.  Section 48.05, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (i) and adding Subsection (i-1) to read as
  follows:
         (i)  Subject to Subsection (i-1), if [If] the person is
  arrested or detained solely for an offense under this section, a
  peace officer enforcing this section shall ensure that all of the
  person's personal property not designated as contraband under other
  law is preserved by:
               (1)  permitting the person to remove all the property
  from the public place at the time of the person's departure; or
               (2)  taking custody of the person's nonhazardous
  personal property and allowing the person to retrieve the property
  after the person is released from custody.
         (i-1)  Subsection (i) does not apply to personal property
  that is a permanent or semipermanent structure unless the structure
  is a camping tent.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter F, Chapter 321, Tax Code, is amended
  by adding Section 321.5026 to read as follows:
         Sec. 321.5026.  DISTRIBUTION OF TRUST FUNDS TO MUNICIPALITY
  THAT FAILS TO ACT ON PUBLIC CAMPING BAN COMPLAINT.  (a)  In this
  section, "violating local entity" means a municipality declared by
  the attorney general to be a violating local entity for a state
  fiscal year under Section 364.0023, Local Government Code.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Section 321.502, the comptroller may
  not, after the date the comptroller receives notice that a
  municipality is a violating local entity for a state fiscal year,
  send to the municipality its share of the taxes collected by the
  comptroller under this chapter during the state fiscal year until
  the comptroller makes any deduction required by Subsection (c).
         (c)  Before sending a violating local entity its share of the
  taxes collected by the comptroller under this chapter during a
  state fiscal year, the comptroller shall deduct the amount reported
  to the comptroller for the violating local entity under Subsection
  (d) and credit that deducted amount to the general revenue fund.  
  Money credited to the general revenue fund under this subsection
  may be appropriated only to the attorney general or the Department
  of Public Safety, as applicable.
         (d)  Not later than August 1 of each state fiscal year, the
  attorney general and the Department of Public Safety shall report
  to the comptroller the amount of money the attorney general or
  department spent in that state fiscal year taking enforcement
  actions described by Section 364.0024, Local Government Code, in
  each violating local entity.  The attorney general and the
  department shall make a reasonable estimate of the amount spent
  after the date the report is made until the end of the state fiscal
  year based on amounts spent before the date the report is made.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter F, Chapter 323, Tax Code, is amended
  by adding Section 323.5026 to read as follows:
         Sec. 323.5026.  DISTRIBUTION OF TRUST FUNDS TO COUNTY THAT
  FAILS TO ACT ON PUBLIC CAMPING BAN COMPLAINT.  (a)  In this section,
  "violating local entity" means a county declared by the attorney
  general to be a violating local entity for a state fiscal year under
  Section 364.0023, Local Government Code.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Section 323.502, the comptroller may
  not, after the date the comptroller receives notice that a county is
  a violating local entity for a state fiscal year, send to the county
  its share of the taxes collected by the comptroller under this
  chapter during the state fiscal year until the comptroller makes
  any deduction required by Subsection (c).
         (c)  Before sending a violating local entity its share of the
  taxes collected by the comptroller under this chapter during a
  state fiscal year, the comptroller shall deduct the amount reported
  to the comptroller for the violating local entity under Subsection
  (d) and credit that deducted amount to the general revenue fund.  
  Money credited to the general revenue fund under this subsection
  may be appropriated only to the attorney general or the Department
  of Public Safety, as applicable.
         (d)  Not later than August 1 of each state fiscal year, the
  attorney general and the Department of Public Safety shall report
  to the comptroller the amount of money the attorney general or
  department spent in that state fiscal year taking enforcement
  actions described by Section 364.0024, Local Government Code, in
  each violating local entity. The attorney general and the
  department shall make a reasonable estimate of the amount spent
  after the date the report is made until the end of the state fiscal
  year based on amounts spent before the date the report is made.
         SECTION 6.  Section 48.05, Penal Code, as amended by this
  Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
  date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
  committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
  purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
  occurred before that date.
         SECTION 7.  Sections 321.5026 and 323.5026, Tax Code, as
  added by this Act, apply only to a distribution of sales and use tax
  revenue to a municipality or county in a state fiscal year that
  begins on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 8.  Not later than December 1, 2023, each local
  entity, as defined by Section 364.001, Local Government Code, shall
  develop and implement the complaint process required by Section
  364.0022, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 9.  Not later than January 1, 2024, the attorney
  general by rule shall prescribe the form and manner for reporting as
  required by Section 364.0022, Local Government Code.
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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