By: Coleman H.B. No. 3275
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of counties and political
subdivisions of this state and entities created by those
subdivisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 375, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 375.005 to read as follows:
Sec. 375.005. ELIGIBILITY FOR INCLUSION IN SPECIAL ZONES.
All or any part of the area of the district is eligible to be
included in:
(1) a tax increment reinvestment zone created under
Chapter 311, Tax Code;
(2) a tax abatement reinvestment zone created under
Chapter 312, Tax Code;
(3) an enterprise zone created under Chapter 2303,
Government Code; or
(4) an industrial district created under Chapter 42,
Local Government Code.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 375, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 375.098 to read as follows:
Sec. 375.098. DISTRICT ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID.
(a) A governmental act or proceeding of a district is conclusively
presumed, as of the date it occurred, valid and to have occurred in
accordance with all applicable statutes and rules if:
(1) the third anniversary of the effective date of the
act or proceeding has expired; and
(2) a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or
proceeding has not been filed on or before that third anniversary.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) an act or proceeding that was void at the time it
occurred;
(2) an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
the act or proceeding occurred;
(3) a rule that, at the time it was passed, was
preempted by a statute of this state or the United States, including
Section 1.06 or 109.57, Alcoholic Beverage Code; or
(4) a matter that on the effective date of this
section:
(A) is involved in litigation if the litigation
ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
judgment of a court; or
(B) has been held invalid by a final judgment of a
court.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 382.113 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.113. ANNEXATION OR EXCLUSION OF LAND. (a) A
district may annex or exclude land from the district as provided by
Subchapter J, Chapter 49, Water Code.
(b) Before a district may adopt an order adding or excluding
land, the district must obtain the consent of:
(1) the county that created the district by a
resolution of the county commissioners court; and
(2) if powers have been delegated under Section
382.101(c), a municipality in which the district is located by a
resolution adopted by the municipality's governing body.
SECTION 4. Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (c), (e), (f), and
(h) and adding Subsections (a-1), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court of the county may call an
election on the question of creating a county assistance district
under this chapter. More than one county assistance district may be
created in a county.
(a-1) A district may [to] perform the following functions in
the district:
(1) the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
roads or highways;
(2) the provision of law enforcement and detention
services;
(3) the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
(4) the provision of services that benefit the public
health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
prevention services; or
(5) the promotion of economic development and tourism.
(b) The order calling the election must:
(1) define the boundaries of the district to include
any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
by the district if approved at the election, would not exceed the
maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
subdivisions of this state that is prescribed by Sections 321.101
and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent]; and
(2) call for the election to be held within those
boundaries.
(b-1) If the proposed district includes any territory of a
municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
commissioners court's intent to create the district. If the
municipality has created a development corporation under Chapter
504 or 505, the commissioners court shall also send the notice to
the board of directors of the corporation. The commissioners court
must send the notice not later than the 60th day before the date the
commissioners court orders the election. The governing body of the
municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
municipal territory from the district. The governing body must
send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
this subsection. The territory of a municipality that is excluded
under this subsection may subsequently be included in:
(1) the district in an election held under Subsection
(f) with the consent of the municipality; or
(2) another district after complying with the
requirements of this subsection and after an election held under
Subsection (f).
(c) The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation of
the ______ County Assistance District No. ____ (insert name of
district) and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of
____ [of one] percent (insert [one eighth, one fourth, three
eighths, or one half, as] appropriate rate) for the purpose of
financing the operations of the district."
(e) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
against the creation of the district, the district is not created.
The failure to approve the creation of a district under this
subsection does not affect the authority of the county to call one
or more elections [another election] on the question of creating
one or more [a] county assistance districts [district may not be
held in the county before the first anniversary of the most recent
election concerning the creation of a district].
(f) The commissioners court may call an election to be held
in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
under this section to determine whether the area should be included
in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
be imposed in the area. An election may not be held in an area in
which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
approved at the election, would exceed the maximum combined rate of
sales and use taxes imposed by political subdivisions of this state
that is prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two
percent].
(h) If more than one election to authorize a local sales and
use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed district or
an area proposed to be added to a district and if the resulting
approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a local sales
and use tax in any area to exceed the maximum combined rate of sales
and use taxes of political subdivisions of this state that is
prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent],
only a tax authorized at an election under this section may be
imposed.
(i) In addition to the authority to include an area in a
district under Subsection (f), the governing body of a district by
order may include an area in the district on receipt of a petition
or petitions signed by the owner or owners of the majority of the
land in the area to be included in the district. If there are no
registered voters in the area to be included in the district, no
election is required.
(j) The commissioners court by order may exclude an area
from the district if the district has no outstanding bonds payable
wholly or partly from sales and use taxes and the exclusion does not
impair any outstanding district debt or contractual obligation.
SECTION 5. Section 387.005, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 387.005. GOVERNING BODY. (a) The commissioners court
of the county in which the district is created by order shall
provide that:
(1) the commissioners court is the governing body of
the district; or
(2) the commissioners court shall appoint a governing
body of the district.
(b) A member of the governing body of the district
[commissioners court] is not entitled to compensation for service
[on the governing body of the district] but is entitled to
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses.
(c) A board of directors appointed by the commissioners
court under this section shall consist of five directors who serve
staggered terms of two years. To be eligible to serve as a
director, a person must be a resident of the county in which the
district is located. The initial directors shall draw lots to
achieve staggered terms, with three of the directors serving
one-year terms and two of the directors serving two-year terms.
SECTION 6. Section 387.006(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A district may:
(1) perform any act necessary to the full exercise of
the district's functions;
(2) accept a grant or loan from:
(A) the United States;
(B) an agency or political subdivision of this
state; or
(C) a public or private person;
(3) acquire, sell, lease, convey, or otherwise dispose
of property or an interest in property under terms determined by the
district;
(4) employ necessary personnel; [and]
(5) adopt rules to govern the operation of the
district and its employees and property; and
(6) enter into agreements with municipalities
necessary or convenient to achieve the district's purposes,
including agreements regarding the duration, rate, and allocation
between the district and the municipality of sales and use taxes.
SECTION 7. Section 387.007, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
(b) A district may not adopt a sales and use tax under this
chapter if the adoption of the tax would result in a combined tax
rate of all local sales and use taxes that would exceed the maximum
combined rate prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code,
[of more than two percent] in any location in the district.
(c) A district may define areas in the district to pay for
improvements, facilities, or services that primarily benefit that
area and do not generally and directly benefit the district as a
whole. The district may impose different rates of sales and use tax
in each defined area. The sales and use tax rate in each area may
not exceed the rate approved at an election held under Section
387.003.
SECTION 8. Section 387.009, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 387.009. TAX RATE. The rate of a tax adopted under
this chapter must be in increments of one-eighth[, one fourth,
three eighths, or one half] of one percent.
SECTION 9. Sections 387.010(a), (b), and (c), Local
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b):
(1) reduce [, change] the rate of the tax or repeal the
tax without an election, except that the district may not repeal the
sales and use tax or reduce the rate of the sales and use tax below
the amount pledged to secure payment of an outstanding district
debt or contractual obligation;
(2) increase the rate of the sales and use tax, if the
increased rate of the sales and use tax will not exceed the rate
approved at an election held under Section 387.003; or
(3) increase the rate of the sales and use tax to a
rate that exceeds the rate approved at an election held under
Section 387.003 after [if] the increase [change or repeal] is
approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at an
election held for that purpose.
(b) The tax may be changed under Subsection (a) in one or
more increments of one-eighth of one percent [to a maximum of one
half of one percent].
(c) The ballot for an election to increase [change] the tax
shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
"The increase [change] of a sales and use tax for the ______ County
Assistance District No. ____ (insert name of district) from the
rate of ____ [of one] percent (insert [one fourth, three eighths, or
one half, as] appropriate rate) to the rate of ____ [of one] percent
(insert [one fourth, three eighths, or one half, as] appropriate
rate)."
SECTION 10. Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 387.012. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
tax, the increase or reduction [change] of the tax rate, or the
repeal of the tax takes effect on the first day of the first
calendar quarter occurring after the expiration of the first
complete quarter occurring after the date the comptroller receives
a copy of the order of the district's governing body [notice of the
results of the election] adopting, increasing, reducing
[changing], or repealing the tax.
SECTION 11. Section 552.014, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 552.014. CONTRACTS WITH WATER DISTRICTS OR NONPROFIT
CORPORATIONS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Project" means a water supply or treatment system, a
water distribution system, a sanitary sewage collection or
treatment system, works or improvements necessary for drainage of
land, recreational facilities, roads and improvements in aid of
roads, or facilities to provide firefighting services.
(2) "Water district" [, "water district"] means a
district created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas
Constitution.
(b) A municipality or county may enter into a contract with
a water district or with a corporation organized to be operated
without profit under which the district or corporation will acquire
for the benefit of and convey to the municipality or county, either
separately or together, one or more projects [a water supply or
treatment system, a water distribution system, a sanitary sewage
collection or treatment system, or works or improvements necessary
for drainage of land in the municipality]. In connection with the
acquisition, the district or corporation shall improve, enlarge, or
extend the existing municipal or county facilities as provided by
the contract.
(c) If the contract provides that the municipality or county
assumes ownership of the project [water, sewer, or drainage system]
on completion of construction or at the time that all debt incurred
by the district or corporation in the acquisition, construction,
improvement, or extension of the project [system] is paid in full,
the municipality or county may make payments to the district or
corporation for project [water, sewer, or drainage] services to
part or all of the residents of the municipality or county. The
contract may provide for purchase of the project [system] by the
municipality or county through periodic payments to the district or
corporation in amounts that, together with the net income of the
district or corporation, are sufficient to pay the principal of and
interest on the bonds of the district or corporation as they become
due. The contract may provide:
(1) that any payments due under this section are
payable from and are secured by a pledge of a specified part of the
revenues of the municipality or county, including revenues from
municipal or county sales and use taxes [municipal water system,
sewer system, or drainage system];
(2) for the levying of a tax to make payments due under
this section; or
(3) that the payments due under this section be made
from a combination of revenues [from the system] and taxes.
(d) The contract may provide that the district or
corporation may use the streets, alleys, and other public ways and
places of the municipality or county for project [water, sewer, or
drainage] purposes for a period that ends at the time the
indebtedness of the district or corporation is paid in full and the
municipality or county acquires title to the project [system] in
accordance with this section.
(e) The contract may provide for the operation of the
project [system] by the municipality or county, and, if so
authorized, the municipality or county may operate the project
[system].
(f) A contract under this section must be authorized by a
majority vote of the governing body of the municipality or county.
(g) This section does not authorize a water district or
corporation described by Subsection (b) to participate in a project
that the water district or corporation is not authorized to
participate in under other law.
SECTION 12. Sections 311.006(a) and (b), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A municipality may not designate [create] a
reinvestment zone if:
(1) more than 30 [10] percent of the property in the
proposed zone, excluding property that is publicly owned, is used
for residential purposes; or
(2) the total appraised value of taxable real property
in the proposed zone and in existing reinvestment zones exceeds:
(A) 25 [20] percent of the total appraised value
of taxable real property in the municipality and in the industrial
districts created by the municipality, if the municipality has a
population of 100,000 or more [is the county seat of a county:
[(i) that is adjacent to a county with a
population of 3.3 million or more; and
[(ii) in which a planned community is
located that has 20,000 or more acres of land, that was originally
established under the Urban Growth and New Community Development
Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. Section 4501 et seq.), and that is subject to
restrictive covenants containing ad valorem or annual variable
budget based assessments on real property]; or
(B) 50 [15] percent of the total appraised value
of taxable real property in the municipality and in the industrial
districts created by the municipality, if [Paragraph (A) does not
apply to] the municipality has a population of less than 100,000.
(b) A municipality may not change the boundaries of an
existing reinvestment zone to include property in excess of the
restrictions on composition of a zone described by Subsection (a)
[more than 10 percent of which, excluding property dedicated to
public use, is used for residential purposes or to include more than
15 percent of the total appraised value of taxable real property in
the municipality and in the industrial districts created by the
municipality].
SECTION 13. Sections 311.009(a), (b), and (e), Tax Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the board of
directors of a reinvestment zone consists of at least five and not
more than 15 members, unless more than 15 members are required to
satisfy the requirements of this subsection. Each taxing unit other
than the municipality or county that designated [created] the zone
that levies taxes on real property in the zone may appoint one
member of the board if the taxing unit has approved the payment of
all or part of the tax increment produced by the unit into the tax
increment fund for the zone. A unit may waive its right to appoint a
director. The governing body of the municipality or county that
designated [created] the zone may appoint not more than 10
directors to the board; except that if there are fewer than five
directors appointed by taxing units other than the municipality or
county, the governing body of the municipality or county may
appoint more than 10 members as long as the total membership of the
board does not exceed 15.
(b) If the zone was designated under Section 311.005(a)(4),
the governing body of the municipality or county that designated
the zone may provide that the board of directors of the zone
consists of nine members appointed as provided by this subsection,
unless more than nine members are required to comply with this
subsection. Each taxing unit [school district, county, or
municipality], other than the municipality or county that
designated [created] the zone, that levies taxes on real property
in the zone may appoint one member of the board if the taxing unit
[school district, county, or municipality] has approved the payment
of all or part of the tax increment produced by the unit into the
tax increment fund for the zone. The member of the state senate in
whose district the zone is located is a member of the board, and the
member of the state house of representatives in whose district the
zone is located is a member of the board, except that either may
designate another individual to serve in the member's place at the
pleasure of the member. If the zone is located in more than one
senate or house district, this subsection applies only to the
senator or representative in whose district a larger portion of the
zone is located than any other senate or house district, as
applicable. If fewer than seven taxing units, other than the
municipality or county that designated the zone, are eligible to
appoint members of the board of directors of the zone, the
municipality or county may appoint a number of members of the board
such that the board comprises nine members. If at least seven taxing
units, other than the municipality or county that designated the
zone, are eligible to appoint members of the board of directors of
the zone, the municipality or county may appoint one member. [The
remaining members of the board are appointed by the governing body
of the municipality or county that created the zone.]
(e) To be eligible for appointment to the board by the
governing body of the municipality or county that designated
[created] the zone, an individual must be at least 18 years of age
and:
(1) if the board is covered by Subsection (a):
(A) be a resident of the county in which the zone
is located or a county adjacent to that county [qualified voter of
the municipality or county, as applicable]; or
(B) [be at least 18 years of age and] own real
property in the zone, whether or not the individual resides in the
[municipality or] county in which the zone is located or a county
adjacent to that county; or
(2) if the board is covered by Subsection (b), [:
[(A) be at least 18 years of age; and
[(B)] own real property in the zone or be an
employee or agent of a person that owns real property in the zone.
SECTION 14. Sections 311.010(g) and (h), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(g) Chapter 252, Local Government Code, does not apply to a
dedication, pledge, or other use of revenue in the tax increment
fund for a reinvestment zone [by the board of directors of the zone
in carrying out its powers] under Subsection (b).
(h) Subject to the approval of the governing body of the
municipality or county that designated [created] the zone, the
board of directors of a reinvestment zone, as necessary or
convenient to implement the project plan and reinvestment zone
financing plan and achieve their purposes, may establish and
provide for the administration of one or more programs for the
public purposes of developing and diversifying the economy of the
zone, eliminating unemployment and underemployment in the zone, and
developing or expanding transportation, business, and commercial
activity in the zone, including programs to make grants and loans
[from the tax increment fund of the zone in an aggregate amount not
to exceed the amount of the tax increment produced by the
municipality and paid into the tax increment fund for the zone] for
activities that benefit the zone and stimulate business and
commercial activity in the zone. For purposes of this subsection,
on approval of the municipality or county, the board of directors of
the zone has all the powers of a municipality under Chapter 380,
Local Government Code. The approval required by this subsection may
be granted in an ordinance, in the case of a zone designated by a
municipality, or in an order, in the case of a zone designated by a
county, approving a project plan or reinvestment zone financing
plan or approving an amendment to a project plan or reinvestment
zone financing plan.
SECTION 15. Sections 311.013(f), (l), and (n), Tax Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(f) A taxing unit is not required to pay into the tax
increment fund any of its tax increment produced from property
located in a reinvestment zone designated under Section 311.005(a)
or in an area added to a reinvestment zone under Section 311.007
unless the taxing unit enters into an agreement to do so with the
governing body of the municipality or county that designated
[created] the zone. A taxing unit may enter into an agreement under
this subsection at any time before or after the zone is designated
[created] or enlarged. The agreement may include conditions for
payment of that tax increment into the fund and must specify the
portion of the tax increment to be paid into the fund and the years
for which that tax increment is to be paid into the fund. In
addition to any other terms to which the parties agree, the
agreement may specify the projects to which a participating taxing
unit's tax increment will be dedicated and that the taxing unit's
participation may be computed with respect to a base year later
than the original base year of the zone. The agreement and the
conditions in the agreement are binding on the taxing unit, the
municipality or county, and the board of directors of the zone.
(l) The governing body of a municipality or county
that designates an area as a reinvestment zone may determine, in the
designating ordinance or order adopted under Section 311.003 or in
the ordinance or order adopted under Section 311.011 approving the
reinvestment zone financing plan for the zone, the portion of the
tax increment produced by the municipality or county that the
municipality or county is required to pay into the tax increment
fund for the zone. If a municipality or county does not determine
the portion of the tax increment produced by the municipality or
county that the municipality or county is required to pay into the
tax increment fund for a reinvestment zone, the municipality or
county is required to pay into the fund for the zone the entire tax
increment produced by the municipality or county, except as
provided by Subsection (b)(1).
(n) This subsection applies only to a school district whose
taxable value computed under Section 403.302(d), Government Code,
is reduced in accordance with Subdivision (5) [(4)] of that
subsection. In addition to the amount otherwise required to be paid
into the tax increment fund, the district shall pay into the fund an
amount equal to the amount by which the amount of taxes the district
would have been required to pay into the fund in the current year if
the district levied taxes at the rate the district levied in 2005
exceeds the amount the district is otherwise required to pay into
the fund in the year of the reduction. This additional amount may
not exceed the amount the school district receives in state aid for
the current tax year under Section 42.2514, Education Code. The
school district shall pay the additional amount after the district
receives the state aid to which the district is entitled for the
current tax year under Section 42.2514, Education Code.
SECTION 16. Chapter 311, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Section 311.021 to read as follows:
Sec. 311.021. ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID. (a) A
governmental act or proceeding of a municipality or county, the
board of directors of a reinvestment zone, or an entity acting
under Section 311.010(f) relating to the designation, operation, or
administration of a reinvestment zone or the implementation of a
project plan or reinvestment zone financing plan under this chapter
is conclusively presumed, as of the date it occurred, valid and to
have occurred in accordance with all applicable statutes and rules
if:
(1) the second anniversary of the effective date of
the act or proceeding has expired; and
(2) a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or
proceeding has not been filed on or before the later of that second
anniversary or August 1, 2011.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) an act or proceeding that was void at the time it
occurred;
(2) an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
the act or proceeding occurred;
(3) a rule that, at the time it was passed, was
preempted by a statute of this state or the United States,
including Section 1.06 or 109.57, Alcoholic Beverage Code; or
(4) a matter that on the effective date of the Act
enacting this section:
(A) is involved in litigation if the litigation
ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
judgment of a court; or
(B) has been held invalid by a final judgment of a
court.
SECTION 17. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2514 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2514. TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PAYMENTS. For each
school year, a school district, including a school district that is
otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled
to state aid in an amount equal to the amount the district is
required to pay into the tax increment reinvestment fund for a
reinvestment zone under Section 311.013(n), Tax Code.
SECTION 18. Section 42.2516(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a
school district that imposes a maintenance and operations tax at a
rate at least equal to the product of the state compression
percentage multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax rate
adopted by the district for the 2005 tax year is entitled to at
least the amount of state revenue necessary to provide the district
with the sum of:
(1) as calculated under Subsection (e), the amount of
state and local revenue per student in weighted average daily
attendance for maintenance and operations that the district would
have received during the 2009-2010 school year under Chapter 41 and
this chapter, as those chapters existed on January 1, 2009, at a
maintenance and operations tax rate equal to the product of the
state compression percentage for that year multiplied by the
maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by the district for the
2005 tax year;
(2) an amount equal to the product of $120 multiplied
by the number of students in weighted average daily attendance in
the district; and
(3) [an amount equal to the amount the district is
required to pay into the tax increment fund for a reinvestment zone
under Section 311.013(n), Tax Code, in the current tax year; and
[(4)] any amount to which the district is entitled
under Section 42.106.
SECTION 19. Section 49.063, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 49.063. NOTICE OF MEETINGS. (a) Notice of meetings of
the board shall be given as set forth in the open meetings law,
Chapter 551, Government Code, except that if a district does not
have a meeting place within the district, the district shall post
notice of its meeting at a public place within the district
specified by the board in a written resolution, rather than at its
administrative office. The board shall specify such public place to
be a bulletin board or other place within the district which is
reasonably available to the public.
(b) The validity of an action taken at a board meeting is not
affected by:
(1) [Neither] failure to provide notice of the meeting
if the meeting is a regular meeting;
(2) [nor] an insubstantial defect in notice of the
[any] meeting; or
(3) failure of a county clerk to timely or properly
post or maintain public access to a district notice of the meeting
furnished to the county clerk in sufficient time for posting under
Section 551.043(a) or 551.045, Government Code [shall affect the
validity of any action taken at the meeting].
SECTION 20. Section 49.216, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(e) Any peace officer who is directly employed by a
district, before beginning to perform any duties and at the time of
appointment, must take an oath and execute a bond conditioned on
faithful performance of such officer's duties in the amount of
$1,000 payable to the district. The oath and the bond shall be filed
in the district office.
(f) A peace officer contracted for by the district,
individually or through a county, sheriff, constable, or
municipality, is an independent contractor, and the district is
responsible for the acts or omissions of the peace officer only to
the extent provided by law for other independent contractors.
SECTION 21. The following laws are repealed:
(1) Section 382.155(d), Local Government Code; and
(2) Section 387.010(d), Local Government Code.
SECTION 22. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.