Texas Legislative Council

Background information

Currently, the majority of local laws that govern individual special districts are published only in the volumes of legislative session laws, and these laws are not as readily accessible as the general laws printed in Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes. In addition, many of these local laws have been repeatedly amended over the years, which requires comparing the law as printed in several different session law volumes.

The Special District Local Laws Code project is the council's effort to have these local laws published and revised in the manner of the general laws, using the same numbering system employed in the other codes drafted by council attorneys.

The code is divided into titles by broad subject areas and subtitles by the general types of special districts governed by local laws. The subtitles are further divided into numbered chapters, with one chapter for each individual district. Chapters are divided into numbered sections—the number to the left of the decimal is the same as the number of the chapter in which the section is found. Gaps in chapter and section numbering are for later expansion of the code. Currently, the Special District Local Laws Code has six titles by subject, each having room for additional subtitles as they become necessary.

The code was adopted by the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, in a form that established the structure of the code with one or more chapters for each title and subtitle. The council anticipates filling the code with more revised chapters in the 82nd and subsequent legislative sessions. Also, the code allows new local laws to be placed directly into the proper subtitles as new chapters.

Contact information

This project is under the direction of Cathy Eady (hospital districts) and Jennifer Jackson (water districts) of the council staff. Questions, comments, or suggestions may be directed to the appropriate person at P.O. Box 12128, Austin, Texas 78711, at phone number (512) 463-1155, or by email: Cathy Eady or Jennifer Jackson.

83R Proposed Chapters

The Texas Legislative Council has prepared preliminary drafts of chapters of the Special District Local Laws Code to be included in a bill for consideration by the 83rd Legislature. Each proposed chapter revises the compiled legislation for a particular special district. For information on the structure of each proposed chapter and other helpful information see Review of proposed code chapters.

• 83R proposed chapters (PDF)

The council welcomes interested parties to review one or more of the proposed chapters. To meet internal council drafting deadlines, all review comments need to be returned in the manner specified in the contact information above by December 1, 2012. If you have a question about a chapter, please contact the appropriate chief revisor at (512) 463-1155: Cathy Eady (hospital districts) or Jennifer Jackson (water districts).

• Downloadable comments form (MS Word)

82R Legislation

The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 82nd Legislature passed in 2011 and is effective April 1, 2013.

• Senate Bill 1147

81R Legislation

The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 81st Legislature passed in 2009 and became effective April 1, 2011.

• House Bill 2619

80R Legislation

The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 80th Legislature passed in 2007 and became effective April 1, 2009.

• House Bill 3166

79R Legislation

The following legislation relating to the portions of the Special District Local Laws Code proposed for nonsubstantive revision by the 79th Legislature passed in 2005 and became effective April 1, 2007.

• House Bill 2019