By: Huffman S.B. No. 416
(In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2019; February 14, 2019,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 6, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 6, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to legal counsel provided by the attorney general to a
political subdivision subject to a declared state of disaster.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 418.193 to read as follows:
Sec. 418.193. ATTORNEY GENERAL AS LEGAL ADVISOR ON ISSUES
RELATED TO DECLARED DISASTER. (a) This section applies only
during a declared state of disaster under Section 418.014 and the
90-day period following the expiration or termination of the
disaster declaration.
(b) The attorney general may provide legal counsel to a
political subdivision subject to a declared state of disaster under
Section 418.014 on issues related to disaster mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery applicable to the area subject
to the disaster declaration.
(c) A request for counsel under this section may be
submitted only by:
(1) the emergency management director designated
under Section 418.1015 for the political subdivision;
(2) the county judge or a commissioner of a county
subject to the declaration; or
(3) the mayor of a municipality subject to the
declaration.
SECTION 2. 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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