S.B. No. 1836
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the management and control of certain port improvements
  and facilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.053, Transportation Code, is amended
  by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to
  read as follows:
         (b)  A board may:
               (1)  manage, control, maintain, and operate each port
  improvement or facility constituting a port or harbor of the
  municipality;
               (2)  employ a general manager and any other officer,
  employee, or representative the board considers appropriate;
               (3)  notwithstanding any law or charter provision to
  the contrary:
                     (A)  prepare and adopt a budget for the operation
  of a port or harbor of the municipality;
                     (B)  set charges for a service or facility;
                     (C)  authorize an expenditure; and
                     (D)  manage and control the income and revenue of
  each port or harbor of the municipality;
               (4)  determine policies and adopt rules and procedures
  for the operation of each port or harbor of the municipality;
               (5)  acquire property or an interest in property for
  any purpose set forth in Section 54.003 in the manner provided by
  this chapter and construct a port improvement or facility on the
  property;
               (6)  contract in its own name, but not in the name of
  the municipality;
               (7)  sue and be sued in its own name;
               (8)  adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;
               (9)  establish a port security force, employ public
  security officers licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement
  Officer Standards and Education, and commission employees of the
  force as peace officers;
               (10)  own, establish, construct, improve, equip,
  maintain, operate, regulate, protect, or police any transportation
  facility and any necessary appurtenance to that facility; [and]
               (11)  construct, lease, improve, enlarge, extend,
  repair, maintain, replace, develop, or operate a port improvement
  or facility;
               (12)  exercise all powers of a municipality relating to
  the creation of an economic development program under Chapter 380,
  Local Government Code, for the purpose of making grants and loans;
  and
               (13) exercise any additional power granted by the
  ordinance or charter.
         (c)  A board has the power to construct a port improvement or
  facility on land acquired by purchase, lease, or otherwise, and a
  board may convey by lease, sublease, or sale by installment or
  otherwise, on the terms the board determines to be advantageous,
  the land, interest in the land, or port improvement or facility.
         (d)  Each power provided by this section is a public and
  governmental function, is exercised for a public purpose, and is a
  matter of public necessity.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 54.054, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the board
  may award a contract involving the expenditure of more than $25,000
  [$15,000] only by competitive bidding.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 54.056 to read as follows:
         Sec. 54.056.  BOARD ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID.
  (a)  A governmental act or proceeding of a board is conclusively
  presumed, as of the date it occurred, to be valid and to have
  occurred in accordance with all applicable law if:
               (1)  the third anniversary of the effective date of the
  act or proceeding has expired; and
               (2)  a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or
  proceeding has not been filed on or before that third anniversary.
         (b)  This section does not apply to:
               (1)  an act or proceeding that was void at the time it
  occurred;
               (2)  an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
  state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
  the act or proceeding occurred; or
               (3)  a matter that on the effective date of this
  section:
                     (A)  is involved in litigation if the litigation
  ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
  judgment of a court; or
                     (B)  has been held invalid by a final judgment of a
  court.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1836 passed the Senate on
  May 2, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1836 passed the House on
  May 9, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, two present
  not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor