By: Creighton S.B. No. 1481
(In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Border Security;
May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 3,
Nays 2; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE YeaNayAbsent PNVBirdwell X Flores X Blanco X Hinojosa X King X
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exercise of eminent domain authority by the Texas
Facilities Commission to build a wall along this state's
international border.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter L, Chapter 2166, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2166.555 to read as follows:
Sec. 2166.555. INTERNATIONAL BORDER WALL. (a) The
commission may exercise the power of eminent domain under Section
2166.055 to acquire an interest in real property for the
construction, extension, improvement, or development of a wall
along this state's international border for the purposes of
preventing:
(1) human trafficking; and
(2) illegal entry into the United States of:
(A) aliens without official approval of an
appropriate federal governmental authority;
(B) terrorists and instruments of terrorism; and
(C) contraband, including narcotics and other
controlled substances.
(b) The commission may exercise the power of eminent domain
under Subsection (a) to acquire:
(1) land in fee simple; or
(2) any interest less than fee simple in, on, under, or
above land, including an easement, right-of-way, or right of use of
airspace or subsurface space.
(c) The commission must adopt a resolution in accordance
with Section 2206.053 before filing a condemnation petition under
Chapter 21, Property Code, to exercise the power of eminent domain
under this section.
(d) The resolution required by Subsection (c):
(1) must include a statement that the commission's
acquisition of the property interest described in the resolution:
(A) is a public necessity; and
(B) is necessary and proper for the construction,
extension, improvement, or development of a wall along this state's
international border and is in the public interest; and
(2) is conclusive evidence of the public necessity of
the proposed acquisition and that the property interest is
necessary for public use.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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