Bill Text: TX SB241 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to prohibitions on camping in a public place.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-12 - Filed [SB241 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB241-Introduced.html

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89R1487 MZM-F
By: Flores S.B. No. 241

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibitions on camping in a public place.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 364.002(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A local entity may not adopt or enforce a policy under
which the entity prohibits or discourages the enforcement of any
public camping ban, including prohibiting or discouraging the
investigation or enforcement of a violation of a public camping
ban.
SECTION 2. Chapter 364, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Sections 364.0021, 364.0022, 364.0023, and 364.0024 to
read as follows:
Sec. 364.0021. USE OF PROPERTY FOR CAMPING PURPOSE. A local
entity may not permit camping by homeless individuals on a property
designated for that purpose until the Texas Department of Housing
and Community Affairs has approved a plan for the property under
Section 2306.1122, Government Code.
Sec. 364.0022. COMPLAINTS AND REPORTING. (a) Each local
entity described by Section 364.001(1)(A) shall develop and
implement a process that allows a person to file a complaint with
the local entity regarding a violation of a public camping ban.
(b) Each year, a local entity described by Section
364.001(1)(A) shall report to the attorney general, in the form and
manner prescribed by the attorney general, the following
information:
(1) the number of complaints received as part of the
local entity's complaint process implemented under Subsection (a);
(2) the disposition of each complaint, including
court-ordered diversion programs;
(3) the number of arrests made or citations in lieu of
arrest issued for a violation of a public camping ban; and
(4) any other information related to public camping
bans as required by the attorney general.
Sec. 364.0023. ENFORCEMENT REQUIRED BY LOCAL ENTITY;
DECLARATION AS "VIOLATING LOCAL ENTITY." (a) For each complaint
received by a local entity under Section 364.0022(a), the local
entity shall take an action to resolve the complaint not later than
the 90th day after the date the complaint is received.
(b) If the local entity does not take the required action
before the end of the period prescribed by Subsection (a), the
attorney general shall issue a written declaration that the local
entity is a "violating local entity" for the state fiscal year in
which the end of the period prescribed by Subsection (a) occurs.
The attorney general shall send a copy of the written declaration to
the local entity and the comptroller.
Sec. 364.0024. ENFORCEMENT BY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; RECOVERY OF COSTS. (a) The attorney general
or the Department of Public Safety may enforce Section 48.05, Penal
Code.
(b) For each enforcement action described by Subsection (a)
that occurs within the boundaries of a local entity that is a
"violating local entity," the attorney general or Department of
Public Safety may recover any costs associated with the enforcement
action from the local entity in accordance with Section 321.5026 or
323.5026, Tax Code, as applicable.
SECTION 3. Section 48.05, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (i) and adding Subsection (i-1) to read as
follows:
(i) Subject to Subsection (i-1), if [If] the person is
arrested or detained solely for an offense under this section, a
peace officer enforcing this section shall ensure that all of the
person's personal property not designated as contraband under other
law is preserved by:
(1) permitting the person to remove all the property
from the public place at the time of the person's departure; or
(2) taking custody of the person's nonhazardous
personal property and allowing the person to retrieve the property
after the person is released from custody.
(i-1) Subsection (i) does not apply to personal property
that is a permanent or semipermanent structure unless the structure
is a camping tent.
SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 321, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 321.5026 to read as follows:
Sec. 321.5026. DISTRIBUTION OF TRUST FUNDS TO MUNICIPALITY
THAT FAILS TO ACT ON PUBLIC CAMPING BAN COMPLAINT. (a) In this
section, "violating local entity" means a municipality declared by
the attorney general to be a violating local entity for a state
fiscal year under Section 364.0023, Local Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 321.502, the comptroller may
not, after the date the comptroller receives notice that a
municipality is a violating local entity for a state fiscal year,
send to the municipality its share of the taxes collected by the
comptroller under this chapter during the state fiscal year until
the comptroller makes any deduction required by Subsection (c).
(c) Before sending a violating local entity its share of the
taxes collected by the comptroller under this chapter during a
state fiscal year, the comptroller shall deduct the amount reported
to the comptroller for the violating local entity under Subsection
(d) and credit that deducted amount to the general revenue fund.
Money credited to the general revenue fund under this subsection
may be appropriated only to the attorney general or the Department
of Public Safety, as applicable.
(d) Not later than August 1 of each state fiscal year, the
attorney general and the Department of Public Safety shall report
to the comptroller the amount of money the attorney general or
department spent in that state fiscal year taking enforcement
actions described by Section 364.0024, Local Government Code, in
each violating local entity. The attorney general and the
department shall make a reasonable estimate of the amount spent
after the date the report is made until the end of the state fiscal
year based on amounts spent before the date the report is made.
SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 323, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 323.5026 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.5026. DISTRIBUTION OF TRUST FUNDS TO COUNTY THAT
FAILS TO ACT ON PUBLIC CAMPING BAN COMPLAINT. (a) In this section,
"violating local entity" means a county declared by the attorney
general to be a violating local entity for a state fiscal year under
Section 364.0023, Local Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 323.502, the comptroller may
not, after the date the comptroller receives notice that a county is
a violating local entity for a state fiscal year, send to the county
its share of the taxes collected by the comptroller under this
chapter during the state fiscal year until the comptroller makes
any deduction required by Subsection (c).
(c) Before sending a violating local entity its share of the
taxes collected by the comptroller under this chapter during a
state fiscal year, the comptroller shall deduct the amount reported
to the comptroller for the violating local entity under Subsection
(d) and credit that deducted amount to the general revenue fund.
Money credited to the general revenue fund under this subsection
may be appropriated only to the attorney general or the Department
of Public Safety, as applicable.
(d) Not later than August 1 of each state fiscal year, the
attorney general and the Department of Public Safety shall report
to the comptroller the amount of money the attorney general or
department spent in that state fiscal year taking enforcement
actions described by Section 364.0024, Local Government Code, in
each violating local entity. The attorney general and the
department shall make a reasonable estimate of the amount spent
after the date the report is made until the end of the state fiscal
year based on amounts spent before the date the report is made.
SECTION 6. Section 48.05, Penal Code, as amended 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 on the date 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
occurred before that date.
SECTION 7. Sections 321.5026 and 323.5026, Tax Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to a distribution of sales and use tax
revenue to a municipality or county in a state fiscal year that
begins on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 8. Not later than December 1, 2025, each local
entity to which Section 364.0022(a), Local Government Code, as
added by this Act, applies shall develop and implement the
complaint process required by that section.
SECTION 9. Not later than January 1, 2026, the attorney
general by rule shall prescribe the form and manner for reporting as
required by Section 364.0022, Local Government Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.