By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2589
(In the Senate - Filed March 13, 2025; April 3, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
April 23, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 23, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2589 By: Hinojosa of Hidalgo
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures for a commissioners court to close, abandon,
or vacate certain county roads.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 251.058, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-2) and (b-3)
to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-3), title [Title] to
a public road or portion of a public road that is closed, abandoned,
and vacated to the center line of the road vests on the date the
order is signed by the county judge in the owner of the property
that abuts the portion of the road being closed, abandoned, and
vacated. A copy of the order shall be filed in the deed records of
the county and serves as the official instrument of conveyance from
the county to the owner of the abutting property. The order shall:
(1) include the name of each property owner who
receives a conveyance under this section;
(2) include the dimensions of the property being
conveyed to each property owner;
(3) be indexed in the deed records of the county in a
manner that describes:
(A) the county conveying the property as grantor;
and
(B) the property owner receiving the conveyance
as grantee; and
(4) if a public utility or common carrier that has the
right of eminent domain is using the property being conveyed for a
right-of-way or easement purpose, state that the title to the
property is subject to the right-of-way or easement and the
continued use by the public utility or common carrier of utility
infrastructure in existence on the date the order is signed.
(b-2) Subsection (b-3) applies only to a county road that:
(1) is located wholly or partially:
(A) outside the corporate limits of a
municipality; and
(B) in a county located on the Texas-Mexico
border that has a population of less than 300,000 and contains a
municipality with a population of 200,000 or more; and
(2) abuts single family residential lots in a planned
residential subdivision that is located wholly in the corporate
limits of a municipality.
(b-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a commissioners court
that closes, abandons, or vacates a county road to which this
subsection applies:
(1) is not required to comply with the procedure
established under Subsection (b) if the commissioners court finds
that conveying the county road to any abutting property's owner
will create a public nuisance or safety hazard; and
(2) on a finding described by Subdivision (1), may:
(A) petition the municipality to annex the county
road; or
(B) use the county road for any public purpose
not related to motorized vehicle traffic, including as a hiking and
biking trail or as a linear park.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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