86R8824 BEE-F
By: Hernandez H.B. No. 1568
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of certain municipal employees to request
the removal and storage of certain abandoned or illegally parked or
operated vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 215, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 215.0731 to read as follows:
Sec. 215.0731. AUTHORITY FOR REMOVAL AND STORAGE OF CERTAIN
ILLEGALLY OPERATED VEHICLES FOR HIRE. Under an ordinance of a
municipality regulating the operation of vehicles for hire in the
municipality, including a regulation adopted by a municipality
under Section 2402.003(b) or (c), Occupations Code, to aid in the
enforcement of the ordinance:
(1) the municipality may authorize a designated
employee to request the removal of a vehicle operated in violation
of the ordinance; and
(2) a towing company may remove, and a vehicle storage
facility may store, a vehicle requested to be removed by an employee
under Subdivision (1) without authorization by a peace officer for
the removal or storage.
SECTION 2. Section 2308.354, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 2308.354. AUTHORITY FOR REMOVAL OF VEHICLE FROM PUBLIC
ROADWAY. (a) Under an ordinance of a municipality regulating the
parking of vehicles in the municipality, to aid in the enforcement
of the ordinance, an employee designated by the municipality may be
authorized to:
(1) immobilize a vehicle parked in the municipality;
[and]
(2) remove an immobilized vehicle from a public
roadway in the municipality; and
(3) request the removal and storage of a vehicle that
is located in an area where on-street parking is regulated by the
ordinance and that:
(A) is parked illegally; or
(B) is parked legally and:
(i) has been unattended for more than 48
hours; and
(ii) the employee has reasonable grounds to
believe is abandoned.
(b) A parking facility owner or towing company may not
remove a vehicle from a public roadway except under:
(1) this chapter or a municipal ordinance that
complies with Section 2308.208; or
(2) the direction of a peace officer, a municipal
employee under Subsection (a)(3), or the owner or operator of the
vehicle.
(c) Subsection [In addition to the authority granted under
Subsection (a) and to aid in the enforcement of an ordinance
regulating the parking of vehicles, a municipality with a
population of 1.9 million or more may authorize a designated
employee to request the removal of a vehicle parked illegally in an
area designated as a tow-away zone in a residential area where
on-street parking is regulated by the ordinance.
[(d) Subsections] (a) does [and (c) do] not apply to a
vehicle owned by an electric, gas, water, or telecommunications
utility while the vehicle is parked for the purpose of conducting
work on a facility of the utility that is located below, above, or
adjacent to the street.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.