By: Paxton S.B. No. 1844
(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2025; March 13, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
April 29, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 29, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1844 By: Middleton
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to disannexation of certain areas of a municipality for
failure to provide services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 43.141, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), and (f) and adding
Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
(a) A majority of the property owners [qualified voters] of
an [annexed] area, including one or more lots, tracts, or parcels,
or a portion of a lot, tract, or parcel, may petition the governing
body of the municipality to disannex the area if the municipality
fails or refuses to provide the services described under Subsection
(b)(1) or (3) or to cause those services to be provided to the area:
(1) if the area was annexed under Subchapter C-1,
within the period specified by Section 43.056 or by the service plan
prepared for the area under that section; [or]
(2) if the area was annexed under Subchapter C-3, C-4,
or C-5, within the period specified by the written agreement under
Section 43.0672 or the resolution under Section 43.0682 or 43.0692,
as applicable; or
(3) notwithstanding Section 43.0505, if the area did
not become part of the municipality in compliance with and under
Subchapter C.
(b) If the governing body fails or refuses to disannex the
area within 60 days after the date of the receipt of the petition,
any one or more of the signers of the petition may bring a cause of
action in a district court of the county in which the area is
principally located to request that the area be disannexed. On the
filing of an answer by the governing body, and on application of
either party, the case shall be advanced and heard without further
delay in accordance with rules for expedited actions under the
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court shall enter an
order disannexing the area and award attorney's fees to the signers
of the petition if the court finds that a valid petition was filed
with the municipality and that the municipality [failed to]:
(1) failed to perform its obligations in accordance
with:
(A) the service plan under Section 43.056;
(B) the written agreement entered into under
Section 43.0672; or
(C) the resolution adopted under Section 43.0682
or 43.0692, as applicable; [or]
(2) failed to perform in good faith; or
(3) has not connected the majority of the properties
in the area covered by the petition, regardless of whether the area
was annexed by the municipality, to the municipality's water and
wastewater systems, if any other area in the municipality is
connected to the municipality's water and wastewater systems.
(d) The petition for disannexation must:
(1) be written;
(2) request the disannexation;
(3) be signed in ink or indelible pencil by the
appropriate property owners [voters];
(4) [be signed by each voter as that person's name
appears on the most recent official list of registered voters;
[(5)] contain a note made by each property owner
[voter] stating the person's residence address [and the precinct
number and voter registration number that appear on the person's
voter registration certificate];
(5) [(6)] describe the area to be disannexed and have
a plat, survey, or other likeness of the area attached; and
(6) [(7)] be presented to the secretary of the
municipality.
(f) For an area annexed under this chapter, before [Before]
the petition is circulated among the property owners [voters],
notice of the petition must be given by posting a copy of the
petition for 10 days in three public places in the [annexed] area
and by publishing a copy of the petition once in a newspaper of
general circulation serving the area before the 15th day before the
date the petition is first circulated. Proof of the posting and
publication must be made by attaching to the petition presented to
the secretary:
(1) the sworn affidavit of any property owner [voter]
who signed the petition, stating the places and dates of the
posting; and
(2) the sworn affidavit of the publisher of the
newspaper in which the notice was published, stating the name of the
newspaper and the issue and date of publication.
(g) If an area described by Subsection (a)(3) is disannexed
in accordance with this section, the landowners of the area are not
eligible for a refund of taxes or fees for the area under Section
43.148.
(h) The disannexation of an area under this section may not
include land that comprises the bed of a navigable waterway.
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, 2025.
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