H.B. No. 3871
AN ACT
relating to the process for establishing speed limits on roads near
certain schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.355(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commissioners court of a county may declare a lower
speed limit of not less than:
(1) 30 miles per hour on a county road or highway to
which this section applies, if the commissioners court determines
that the prima facie speed limit on the road or highway is
unreasonable or unsafe; or
(2) 20 miles per hour:
(A) in a residence district, unless the roadway
has been designated as a major thoroughfare by a city planning
commission; or
(B) on a county road or highway to which this
section applies that is located within 500 feet of an elementary,
secondary, or open-enrollment charter school or an institution of
higher education, if approved under Section 545.357.
SECTION 2. Section 545.357, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 545.357. CONSIDERATION OF [PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER]
SPEED LIMITS WHERE CERTAIN SCHOOLS ARE LOCATED. (a) The governing
body of a municipality in which a public or private elementary or
secondary school, an open-enrollment charter school, or an
institution of higher education [as defined by Section 61.003(8) or
(15), Education Code,] is located shall, on request of the
governing body of a school or institution of higher education, hold
a public hearing at least once each calendar year to consider prima
facie speed limits on a highway in the municipality, including a
highway of the state highway system, near the school or institution
of higher education.
(b) If a county road outside the state highway system is
located within 500 feet of a public or private elementary or
secondary school, an open-enrollment charter school, or an
institution of higher education that is not in a municipality, the
commissioners court of the county, on request of the governing body
of a school or institution of higher education, shall hold a public
hearing at least once each calendar year to consider the prima facie
speed limit on the road near the school or institution of higher
education.
(c) A municipal governing body or commissioners court, on
request of the governing body of a school or institution of higher
education, may hold one public hearing for all public and private
elementary and secondary schools, open-enrollment charter schools,
and institutions of higher education in its jurisdiction.
(d) The Texas Transportation Commission, on request of the
governing body of a school or institution of higher education,
shall hold a public hearing at least once each calendar year to
consider prima facie speed limits on highways in the state highway
system that are near public or private elementary or secondary
schools, open-enrollment charter schools, or institutions of
higher education.
(e) On request of the governing body of a school or
institution of higher education following a public hearing held
under this section, the commissioners court, municipal governing
body, or Texas Transportation Commission, as applicable, shall
conduct an engineering and traffic investigation for the highway or
road that is the subject of the request. On review of the results of
the investigation, the commissioners court, municipal governing
body, or Texas Transportation Commission has the same authority and
discretion to alter prima facie speed limits as provided by Section
545.353, 545.355, or 545.356, as applicable. Following each public
hearing held under this section, the governing body of a school or
institution of higher education may make only one request under
this subsection for an engineering and traffic investigation.
(f) In this section:
(1) "Governing body of a school or institution of
higher education" means:
(A) the board of trustees of the school district
in which a public elementary or secondary school is located;
(B) the governing body of a private elementary or
secondary school;
(C) the governing body of an open-enrollment
charter school; or
(D) the governing board of an institution of
higher education.
(2) "Institution of higher education" means an
institution of higher education or a private or independent
institution of higher education, as those terms are defined by
Section 61.003, Education Code.
(3) "Open-enrollment charter school" has the meaning
assigned by Section 5.001, Education Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3871 was passed by the House on May 3,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3871 on May 24, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3871 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor