Relating to territory in an emergency services district that is annexed by a municipality.

89(R) HB 3897 - House Committee Report version - Bill Text

89R10443 MCF-F

By: Bell of Montgomery, Patterson

H.B. No. 3897

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to territory in an emergency services district that is

annexed by a municipality.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 775.022, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to

read as follows:

(a) If a municipality completes all other procedures

necessary to annex territory in a district
, including the

preparation of a service plan if required by Section 43.056, Local

Government Code,
[
and if
] the municipality intends to remove the

territory from the district
,
and
the municipality is capable at the

time of the removal of being
[
be
] the sole provider of emergency

services to the territory by the use of municipal personnel or by

some method other than by use of the district, the municipality

shall send written notice of those facts
, and the completed service

plan, if applicable,
to the board
not later than the 30th day after

completing the necessary procedures
. The municipality must send

the notice to the secretary of the board by certified mail, return

receipt requested. The territory remains part of the district and

does not become part of the municipality until the secretary of the

board receives the notice
and the board by resolution disannexes

the territory from the district
.
If the board determines that the

municipal services planned to be provided in the territory will not

meet or exceed the level of service provided by the district in the

territory, the board shall adopt that determination in a resolution

and may not by resolution disannex the territory from the district.

If the board determines that municipal services planned to be

provided in the territory will meet or exceed the level of service

provided by the district in the territory at the time of

disannexation
[
On receipt of the notice
], the board shall
by

resolution disannex the territory from the district, notify the

appraisal district to
[
immediately
] change its records to show that

the territory has been disannexed from the district
,
and [
shall
]

cease to provide further services to the residents of that

territory. This subsection does not require a municipality to

remove from a district territory the municipality has annexed.
For

the purposes of this subsection, "level of service" for fire and

emergency medical protection means the location, deployment, and

response time of fire suppression or medical resources originally

dispatched to a structural or wildland fire or emergency medical

incident.

(a-1)

A board is considered to have approved a disannexation

of territory under Subsection (a) if the board fails to provide to

the municipality a resolution disapproving or approving the

disannexation before the 30th day after the date the board receives

the notice under Subsection (a) from the municipality.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.