| 1 | 1 | | 82R4196 TJB-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Brown, Garza, et al. H.B. No. 524 |
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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 a court order to disannex an area from a municipality. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 43.141(b), Local Government Code, is |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (b) If the governing body fails or refuses to disannex the |
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| 12 | 12 | | area within 60 days after the date of the receipt of the petition, |
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| 13 | 13 | | any one or more of the signers of the petition may bring a cause of |
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| 14 | 14 | | action in a district court of the county in which the area is |
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| 15 | 15 | | principally located to request that the area be disannexed. On the |
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| 16 | 16 | | filing of an answer by the governing body, and on application of |
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| 17 | 17 | | either party, the case shall be advanced and heard without further |
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| 18 | 18 | | delay in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The |
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| 19 | 19 | | district court shall enter an order disannexing the area if the |
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| 20 | 20 | | court finds that a valid petition was filed with the municipality |
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| 21 | 21 | | and that the municipality failed to perform its obligations in |
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| 22 | 22 | | accordance with the service plan or with the provisions of Section |
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| 23 | 23 | | 43.056 [failed to perform in good faith]. |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by Section 43.141(b), |
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| 25 | 25 | | Local Government Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a |
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| 26 | 26 | | cause of action relating to a petition submitted as provided by |
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| 27 | 27 | | Section 43.141(a), Local Government Code, to the governing body of |
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| 28 | 28 | | a municipality on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause |
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| 29 | 29 | | of action relating to a petition submitted before the effective |
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| 30 | 30 | | date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the |
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| 31 | 31 | | petition was submitted, and the former law is continued in effect |
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| 32 | 32 | | for that purpose. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 34 | 34 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 35 | 35 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 36 | 36 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 37 | 37 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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