By: Gooden (Senate Sponsor - Hall) H.B. No. 2825
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2017;
  May 4, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 19, 2017, reported
  adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
  vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 19, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2825 By:  Rodríguez
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the dissolution of a levee improvement district by a
  commissioners court.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter I, Chapter 57, Water Code, is amended
  by adding Section 57.3295 to read as follows:
         Sec. 57.3295.  DISSOLUTION OF DISTRICT BY COMMISSIONERS
  COURT WITHOUT PETITION. (a)  The commissioners court of a county
  that contains a portion of the Trinity River may dissolve a district
  at any time if the court finds the following:
               (1)  the district has been dormant for more than five
  years;
               (2)  the physical boundaries of the district cannot be
  determined;
               (3)  the board of directors of the district is not
  active, or cannot be determined;
               (4)  property owners of the district cannot be
  determined; or
               (5)  a levee partially or completely inside the
  boundaries of the district has received a rating of unacceptable
  from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the district has
  not undertaken, attempted to undertake, or made plans to undertake
  reasonable efforts to address the concerns of the United States
  Army Corps of Engineers.
         (b)  The commissioners court shall hold a public hearing
  before voting on a dissolution order. The hearing must be held not
  later than the seventh day before the date the dissolution order is
  subject to a vote by the commissioners court.
         (c)  Notice of the public hearing must be published in a
  regularly circulated newspaper within the county not later than the
  seventh day before the date the public hearing is scheduled to
  occur.
         (d)  If the commissioners court votes to dissolve the
  district, the commissioners court shall appoint the chairman of the
  board or some other suitable person as trustee to close the affairs
  of the district without delay, and shall determine the length of the
  term and the amount of compensation for the trustee.
         (e)  A district may not be dissolved under this section if
  the district:
               (1)  has any outstanding bonds or other indebtedness
  until that indebtedness has been repaid or defeased in accordance
  with the order or resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds;
  or
               (2)  has a contractual obligation to pay money until
  that obligation has been paid fully in accordance with the
  contract.
         (f)  This section applies only to a commissioners court of a
  county that:
               (1)  has a population of not less than 2.2 million and
  that is adjacent to a county with a population of not less than 1.8
  million;
               (2)  has a population of not more than 200,000 and that
  contains a portion of Joe Pool Lake;
               (3)  has a population of not less than 47,000 and that
  contains a portion of the Richland Chambers Reservoir; or
               (4)  has a population of not less than 100,000 and that
  contains a portion of the Cedar Creek Reservoir.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 57.322, Water Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 57.322.  REQUIREMENTS FOR DISSOLVING A DISTRICT BY
  PETITION.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
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