By: Harless (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 1709
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2015;
May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources and Economic Development; May 15, 2015, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 15, 2015,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the closing, abandoning, and vacating of a public road
by a county; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 251.058, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (d), (e),
and (f) to read as follows:
(b) Title to a public road or portion of a public road that
is closed, abandoned, and vacated to the center line of the road
vests on the date the order is signed by the county judge in the
owner of the property that abuts the portion of the road being
closed, abandoned, and vacated. A copy of the order shall be filed
in the deed records of the county and serves as the official
instrument of conveyance from the county to the owner of the
abutting property. The order shall:
(1) include the name of each property owner who
receives a conveyance under this section;
(2) include the dimensions of the property being
conveyed to each property owner; [and]
(3) be indexed in the deed records of the county in a
manner that describes:
(A) the county conveying the property as grantor;
and
(B) the property owner receiving the conveyance
as grantee; and
(4) if a public utility or common carrier that has the
right of eminent domain is using the property being conveyed for a
right-of-way or easement purpose, state that the title to the
property is subject to the right-of-way or easement and the
continued use by the public utility or common carrier of utility
infrastructure in existence on the date the order is signed.
(b-1) Not later than the 30th day before the date an order is
signed under Subsection (b), the commissioners court shall notify a
public utility or common carrier described by Subsection (b)(4) of
the proposal to close, abandon, and vacate the public road or
portion of the public road.
(d) If a commissioners court closes, abandons, and vacates a
public road or a portion of a public road at the request of an owner
of property that abuts the portion of the road being closed,
abandoned, and vacated, the commissioners court may require the
owner to:
(1) pay all reasonable administrative costs incurred
for processing the request and recording the order described by
Subsection (b) in the county deed records; and
(2) reimburse the county for the market value of any
property interest conveyed to the owner.
(e) A county by order of the commissioners court may adopt
standard fees required to be paid under Subsection (d)(1) for
processing a request and recording an order.
(f) For purposes of Subsection (b), "utility
infrastructure" includes any facility owned by:
(1) an electric utility, as defined by Section 31.002,
Utilities Code; or
(2) a gas utility, as defined by Section 101.003 or
121.001, Utilities Code.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section
251.058, Transportation Code, applies only to a request to close,
abandon, and vacate a public road or a portion of a public road that
is submitted to a commissioners court on or after the effective date
of this Act. A request submitted to a commissioners court before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
request was submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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