| 1 | 1 | | 81R8370 EAH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Leibowitz H.B. No. 1424 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the procedure for the disannexation of territory from a |
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| 8 | 8 | | municipality. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Sections 43.141(a) and (b), Local Government |
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| 11 | 11 | | Code, are amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) The registered [A majority of the qualified] voters of |
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| 13 | 13 | | an annexed area may submit a petition to the governing body of the |
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| 14 | 14 | | municipality to require disannexation of [disannex] the area if the |
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| 15 | 15 | | municipality fails or refuses to provide services or to cause |
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| 16 | 16 | | services to be provided to the area within the period specified by |
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| 17 | 17 | | Section 43.056 or by the service plan prepared for the area under |
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| 18 | 18 | | that section. The petition must contain the signatures of a number |
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| 19 | 19 | | of registered voters of the area equal to more than 50 percent of |
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| 20 | 20 | | the number of registered voters of the area. |
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| 21 | 21 | | (b) The [If the] governing body shall certify whether a |
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| 22 | 22 | | petition submitted under Subsection (a) is valid. If the petition |
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| 23 | 23 | | is certified as valid, the municipality shall [fails or refuses to] |
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| 24 | 24 | | disannex the area within 60 days after the date the petition is |
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| 25 | 25 | | certified unless within that period the municipality brings [of the |
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| 26 | 26 | | receipt of the petition, any one or more of the signers of the |
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| 27 | 27 | | petition may bring] a cause of action in a district court of the |
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| 28 | 28 | | county in which the area is principally located to request that the |
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| 29 | 29 | | area remain annexed to the municipality [be disannexed]. On the |
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| 30 | 30 | | filing of an answer by any registered voter who signed the petition |
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| 31 | 31 | | [the governing body], and on application of either party, the case |
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| 32 | 32 | | shall be advanced and heard without further delay in accordance |
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| 33 | 33 | | with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court shall |
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| 34 | 34 | | enter an order disannexing the area if the court finds that a valid |
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| 35 | 35 | | petition was filed with the municipality unless the court finds |
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| 36 | 36 | | [and that] the municipality performed [failed to perform] its |
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| 37 | 37 | | obligations in accordance with the service plan and Section 43.056. |
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| 38 | 38 | | Either party may request that the factual determinations in the |
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| 39 | 39 | | proceeding be made by a jury [or failed to perform in good faith]. |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 41 | 41 | | 43.141, Local Government Code, applies only to a disannexation for |
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| 42 | 42 | | which a petition is submitted to a municipality on or after the |
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| 43 | 43 | | effective date of this Act. A disannexation for which the petition |
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| 44 | 44 | | was submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by |
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| 45 | 45 | | the law in effect at the time the petition was submitted, and the |
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| 46 | 46 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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