By: Miles, Schaefer, Guillen (Senate Sponsor - Lucio)	H.B. No. 274
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015;
	May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
	Intergovernmental Relations; May 13, 2015, reported favorably by
	the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 1; May 13, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the enforcement of municipal rules, ordinances, or
	police regulations prohibiting illegal dumping; increasing a
	penalty.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 54.001(b), Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A fine or penalty for the violation of a rule,
	ordinance, or police regulation may not exceed $500 except that:
	(1)  [. However,] a fine or penalty for the violation
	of a rule, ordinance, or police regulation that governs fire
	safety, zoning, or public health and sanitation, other than the
	[including] dumping of refuse, may not exceed $2,000; and
	(2)  a fine or penalty for the violation of a rule,
	ordinance, or police regulation that governs the dumping of refuse
	may not exceed $4,000.
	SECTION 2.  Section 29.003(a), Government Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  A municipal court, including a municipal court of
	record, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction within the
	municipality's territorial limits and property owned by the
	municipality located in the municipality's extraterritorial
	jurisdiction in all criminal cases that:
	(1)  arise under:
	(A)  the ordinances of the municipality; or
	(B)  a resolution, rule, or order of a joint board
	operating an airport under Section 22.074, Transportation Code; and
	(2)  are punishable by a fine not to exceed:
	(A)  $2,000 in all cases arising under municipal
	ordinances or resolutions, rules, or orders of a joint board that
	govern fire safety, zoning, or public health and sanitation, other
	than the [including] dumping of refuse; [or]
	(B)  $4,000 in cases arising under municipal
	ordinances that govern the dumping of refuse; or
	(C) [(B)]  $500 in all other cases arising under a
	municipal ordinance or a resolution, rule, or order of a joint
	board.
	SECTION 3.  Article 4.14(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A municipal court, including a municipal court of
	record, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction within the
	territorial limits of the municipality in all criminal cases that:
	(1)  arise under the ordinances of the municipality;
	and
	(2)  are punishable by a fine not to exceed:
	(A)  $2,000 in all cases arising under municipal
	ordinances that govern fire safety, zoning, or public health and
	sanitation, other than the [including] dumping of refuse; [or]
	(B)  $4,000 in cases arising under municipal
	ordinances that govern the dumping of refuse; or
	(C) [(B)]  $500 in all other cases arising under a
	municipal ordinance.
	SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes
	of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date
	of this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
	date.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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