85R12098 SCL-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 2631
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the remedies available to a person to abate a public
nuisance in a municipality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 125, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
is amended by adding Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. ADDITIONAL REMEDIES IN MUNICIPALITY
Sec. 125.021. ADDITIONAL REMEDIES IN MUNICIPALITY. (a) In
addition to the other remedies available under this chapter,
residents of a municipality by petition may require the
municipality to file suit to take remedial action against an
alleged public nuisance that is occurring in the municipality. The
suit may be brought only in a county in which the nuisance occurs.
(b) A petition authorized by Subsection (a) must:
(1) be signed by a number of registered voters of the
voting precinct in which the alleged nuisance is located equal to at
least 20 percent of the number of voters who voted in the precinct
in the most recent general election for state and county officers;
(2) allege that the activity that is the subject of the
petition is occurring within the boundaries of the voting precinct
and within 1,000 feet of a residence; and
(3) be submitted to the governing body of the
municipality.
(c) Not later than the 30th day after the date the petition
is submitted to the governing body of the municipality, the
municipal secretary or another officer performing the duties of the
municipal secretary shall certify in writing to the governing body
whether the petition is valid or invalid.
(d) If the petition is determined invalid under Subsection
(c), the officer shall state all reasons for that determination.
(e) The municipality shall initiate a suit as provided by
Subsection (a) if:
(1) the petition is determined valid under Subsection
(c); and
(2) the governing body of the municipality determines
that the allegation made in the petition under Subsection (b)(2) is
true.
(f) The governing body of the municipality shall consider
the allegation and make or reject a determination under Subsection
(e)(2) before the 60th day after the date the governing body
receives the certification of a valid petition.
(g) If the court determines that the alleged nuisance that
is the object of the suit is a public nuisance and a threat to the
public health or welfare of the residents of the municipality, the
court may order the municipality to:
(1) warn any person who uses or is about to use the
premises for the purposes constituting the nuisance that the use
constitutes a public nuisance;
(2) investigate whether the municipality should file a
suit under this subchapter or other law to abate the nuisance;
(3) purchase property on which a use that constitutes
the public nuisance has occurred; or
(4) exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire
the property on which a use that constitutes the public nuisance has
occurred.
(h) Before ordering relief under Subsection (g)(3) or (4),
the court must find that the acquisition of the property by the
municipality serves a public purpose of the municipality.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.