By: Phillips H.B. No. 3557
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the waiving of sovereign immunity by certain
municipalities for certain suits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Add Section 272.006 to Local Government Code as
follows:
Sec. 272.006. WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY BY CERTAIN
MUNICIPALITIES FOR CERTAIN SUITS.
(a) This section applies only to a home-rule municipality
with a population of less than 30,000 in a county with a population
of less than 140,000 that enters into a contract with a
nongovernmental entity for the sale or conveyance of more than 400
acres and less than 1,000 acres of land which the municipality
acquires from an agency or department of the United States
government.
(b) A municipality to which this section applies waives
sovereign immunity to suit for the purpose of adjudicating a claim
for the specific performance of a contract entered into by the
municipality for the sale, purchase or exchange of not greater than
1,000 acres nor less than 400 acres of land which the municipality
has acquired from an agency or department of the United States.
(c) Relief in an adjudication brought against a
municipality to which this section applies is limited to the
following:
(1) Specific performance of the terms of the contract;
(2) Costs of court; and
(3) Attorney's fees.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.