By: Perry S.B. No. 1870
(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2025; March 17, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 10, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 10, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1870 By: Flores
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to municipal and county enforcement of drug and consumable
hemp product laws; providing civil penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 11, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 366, and a heading is added to that
chapter to read as follows:
CHAPTER 366. ENFORCEMENT OF DRUG AND CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCT LAWS
SECTION 2. Chapter 366, Local Government Code, as added by
this Act, is amended by adding Section 366.001 to read as follows:
Sec. 366.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "local entity"
means:
(1) the governing body of a municipality;
(2) a commissioners court of a county;
(3) a sheriff, constable, or municipal police
department; and
(4) a district attorney, county attorney, criminal
district attorney, or municipal attorney.
SECTION 3. Section 370.003, Local Government Code, is
transferred to Chapter 366, Local Government Code, as added by this
Act, redesignated as Section 366.002, Local Government Code, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 366.002 [370.003]. LOCAL ENTITY [MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY
POLICY REGARDING] ENFORCEMENT OF DRUG AND CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCT
LAWS. (a) A local entity [The governing body of a municipality, the
commissioners court of a county, or a sheriff, municipal police
department, municipal attorney, county attorney, district
attorney, or criminal district attorney] may not adopt or enforce
an ordinance, order, rule, [a] policy, or other measure under which
the local entity will not fully enforce state laws relating to drugs
or consumable hemp products, including Chapters 443, 481, and 483,
Health and Safety Code[, and federal law].
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a local entity may not
place an item on a ballot, including a municipal charter or charter
amendment, that would provide that the local entity will not fully
enforce a law described by Subsection (a).
SECTION 4. Chapter 366, Local Government Code, as added by
this Act, is amended by adding Sections 366.003, 366.004, and
366.005 to read as follows:
Sec. 366.003. COMPLAINT REGARDING DRUG OR CONSUMABLE HEMP
PRODUCT LAW ENFORCEMENT. (a) A citizen residing in this state may
file a complaint with the attorney general in the form and manner
prescribed by the attorney general if the citizen asserts facts
that support an allegation that a local entity has violated Section
366.002. The citizen must submit with the complaint a sworn
statement that to the best of the citizen's knowledge all of the
facts asserted in the complaint are true and correct.
(b) The attorney general shall:
(1) develop a form that a citizen residing in this
state may use to submit a complaint described by Subsection (a); and
(2) publish the complaint form on the attorney
general's Internet website.
Sec. 366.004. ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION FOR EQUITABLE RELIEF.
(a) If, in response to a valid complaint under Section 366.003 or
in the attorney general's own discretion, the attorney general
determines that a violation of Section 366.002 has occurred, the
attorney general may file a petition for a writ of mandamus or apply
for other appropriate equitable relief in a district court in
Travis County, in a county that is represented or served wholly or
partly by the local entity alleged to have violated Section
366.002, or in a county that is adjacent to a county that is
represented by or is served wholly or partly by the local entity
alleged to have violated Section 366.002 to compel the local entity
to comply with Section 366.002.
(b) An action that is brought by the attorney general under
this section in a venue authorized by Subsection (a) may not be
transferred to a different venue without the written consent of the
attorney general.
(c) An appeal of an action brought under this section is
governed by the procedures in the Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure for pursuing an accelerated appeal. The appellate court
shall render its final order or judgment with the least possible
delay.
Sec. 366.005. CIVIL PENALTIES. (a) A local entity that is
found by a court to have knowingly violated Section 366.002(a) is
liable to the state for a civil penalty in an amount not less than:
(1) $25,000 for the first violation; and
(2) $50,000 for each subsequent violation.
(b) A local entity that is found by a court to have knowingly
violated Section 366.002(b) is liable to the state for a civil
penalty in an amount not less than:
(1) $25,000 for the first violation; and
(2) $50,000 for each subsequent violation.
(c) Each day of a continuing violation described by
Subsection (a) or (b) is a separate violation. A violation is
considered to continue until the local entity proves by clear and
convincing evidence that the violation has been remedied.
(d) A local entity may incur a penalty under both
Subsections (a) and (b).
(e) A local entity's governmental immunity to suit and from
liability is waived to the extent of liability created by this
section. A local entity may not assert official immunity as a
defense to an action brought under this section.
(f) The attorney general may seek a civil penalty under this
section regardless of whether a citizen submitted a complaint under
Section 366.003.
SECTION 5. Chapter 366, Local Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 6. 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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