By: Burns, Lozano (Senate Sponsor - Birdwell) H.B. No. 1038
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 25, 2019;
April 29, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 9, 2019, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1; May 9, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a petition by residents of certain counties for an
election regarding voter approval of municipal annexation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
is amended by adding Section 43.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.004. PETITION FOR ELECTION ON CONSIDERATION AS TIER
2 COUNTY. (a) The registered voters of a tier 1 county may file a
petition with the commissioners court of the county requesting an
election in the county to determine whether the county should be
considered a tier 2 county for the purposes of this chapter. The
petition must contain the signatures of at least 10 percent of the
registered voters of the county.
(b) The commissioners court of a county that receives a
petition for an election under Subsection (a) shall:
(1) verify the signatures on the petition; and
(2) if the county verifies that the petition satisfies
the signature requirement under Subsection (a):
(A) order the election; and
(B) provide notice of the verified petition as
soon as practicable to the governing body of each municipality:
(i) located wholly or partly in the county;
or
(ii) with extraterritorial jurisdiction in
the county.
(c) On receipt of the notice described by Subsection
(b)(2)(B), the governing body shall suspend any pending annexation
that would be affected by the outcome of the election until after
the election is held.
(d) If a majority of the votes cast at an election held under
Subsection (b) favor the proposition, the county is considered a
tier 2 county for the purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 43.001(3), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "Tier 2 county" means a county that[:
[(A)] is not a tier 1 county[; or
[(B) is a tier 1 county in which a majority of the
registered voters of the county have approved being a tier 2 county
at an election ordered by the commissioners court on the request by
petition of a number of registered voters of the county equal to or
greater than 10 percent of the registered voters of the county].
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, 2019.
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