HBA-RBT H.B. 247 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 247
By: Puente
Urban Affairs
2/17/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the only recourse citizens can take when safety and health code
ordinances are violated in their neighborhoods is to contact their city's
Code Compliance Department.  City officials can take a significant amount
of time to respond to a complaint.  H.B. 247 provides for the institution
of neighborhood association volunteers to help enforce certain municipal
ordinances.  It provides for the training of volunteers and sets limits on
the authority of the volunteers. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Local Government Code, by
adding Section 54.020, as follows: 

Sec.  54.020.  USE OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IN ENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN
ORDINANCES.  (a) Defines "neighborhood association." 

(b) Authorizes a municipality to institute a program to use volunteers from
a neighborhood association to help enforce certain municipal health and
safety ordinances in the association's neighborhood.   Provides that health
and safety ordinances can only be included in the program if the violation
of the ordinance can be observed without entering the property where the
violation occurs. 

(c) Requires the municipality to establish a training program for the
volunteers.  Provides that the training must include instruction on which
ordinances are covered, and whether and how a volunteer should inform a
property owner or resident of an alleged violation.  
(d) Authorizes a trained volunteer to report a suspected violation to the
owner or resident of the property or to the appropriate agency of the
municipality.   

(e) Provides that a trained volunteer is not a peace officer, has no
authority other than that of an ordinary citizen, and may not carry a
weapon while performing volunteer activities. 

(f) Authorizes a municipality to enact an ordinance that allows the notice
of violation by the volunteer to be considered the first warning of a
violation of a municipal ordinance.  
(g) Provides that a trained volunteer is not entitled to compensation or
indemnification for injury or property damage the volunteer sustains, nor
for liability the person incurs while performing volunteer duties. 

(h) Provides that the municipality and the state are not liable for damage
arising from an act or omission of a trained volunteer performing actions
under this section. 

(i) Provides that a trained volunteer who makes more than one complaint to
the  municipality  against the same owner of property is liable to the
owner if a court determines that the volunteer acted in bad faith. 

(j)  Provides that the volunteer's liability under Subsection (i) is
limited to the attorney's fees and reasonable costs incurred by the owner
in establishing to the municipality's satisfaction that no violation
occurred.  Provides that it is a rebuttable presumption that the volunteer
acted in bad faith if the municipality has found three or more of the
volunteer's complaints during a six-month period to be invalid. 

SECTION 2.  Emergency clause.
            Effective date: upon passage.